The Positioning Era Cometh

By Al Ries and Jack Trout

Hard to believe I was born just a year before these groundbreaking articles my father wrote appeared in Advertising Age magazine. It has been 31 years since their publication, but the principles of positioning have stood the test of time. It is amazing to look back and see the origins of how it all started.

Many things have changed since 1972. For starters, advertising budgets have increased greatly; $200,000 will certainly not buy you a Super Bowl ad anymore. Furthermore, the text uses mostly "he" when companies today are just as likely to hire women as men. But except for the dollar figures and pronouns, not much else has changed in marketing. Many companies still make the same mistakes and don't understand the basic principles of positioning. They waste their advertising dollars trying to change minds, they give products bad names, they line-extend and they still try to appeal to everybody. Creativity still rules Madison Avenue and advertising clutter which seemed fierce in 1972 is almost unbearable today.

These are the three original articles which describe the thinking and philosophies that I would learn about from my father in the years to come. It is a joy to now be partnered with the man who started it all. Today we are working together as a team and writing about the new marketing realities that will hopefully stand the test of time for the next 31 years.

Read more at: http://www.ries.com/articles-positioningera.php