A, And Trout's Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind

John Pappalardo

Business 103

Section 23

2/4/17

Ries, A., & Trout, J. (1986). Positioning: the battle for your mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Central Theme

Marketing has evolved at astonishing speeds to become one of the most important aspects of any successful business. We have come a long way from catchy jingles and cheesy commercials. This is in part because of the rate at which people consume media in a modern climate. In the days of low technology and minimal substitutes advertisers were able to successfully market their product with much less resistance. News paper ads and radio jingles were enough to entice customers, in contemporary marketing we experience something different. A catchy jingle is not enough to attract people to a product,

In our modern climate a marketer is only successful if they can make a product stick in a consumers mind. This concept (the importance of making your product stick in a customer’s mind) is what Ries and Trout discuss in their book “Positioning: the battle for your mind” They argue that effective marketing involves placing the product at the forefront of a consumers thoughts.

Ries and Trout make it clear that this positioning of a product is no easy task. Technology has created a climate in which the consumer has almost infinite choice in products because substitutes are more abundant. In this technological climate it is more important than ever to differentiate ones product in the mind of the consumers. Technology has made it easier than ever for companies to reach a large audience. As Ries and Trout state 98% of all houses in America have a television set, and the average household in the U.S. watches more than 50 hours per week. In each hour program on television there are around 16 minutes of advertisements impregnated in the

It’s important for people to have your product in their head. The deeper a product or service is ingrained in the mind of the consumer the better. This sounds obvious but it can be a difficult thing to do in a modern climate, however they provided us with several ways in which we can do this. This is an extremely relevant book in our current technological climate. When people think of advertising they think of catchy jingles and slogans. This does play a part sure, but our authors wish for us to understand a very critical element. They discuss the importance of really establishing a brand in the mind of consumers. They made a number of strong points and some that were not so