Something deeper and more substantial is afoot in business today, which is changing the familiar management script. The tables have been turned on the fortunes of many long-established firms. The authors believe that a majority of the firms that are in trouble, and those that have failed recently, have done so because they have been let down by their own marketing. Traditional marketing is now being turned on its head. The ideas of marketing and branding strategy that passed for conventional wisdom before do not hold true today. A small but growing number of innovative firms have adopted radically new and differentiated approaches based upon reverse psychology marketing, reflecting a clear and unmistakable change in the global culture. In this era of globalization and the Internet the consumer is behaving in a radically different way and is no longer susceptible to the timeworn ploys of push marketing. The present times call for a new game - one that strays from the prescriptions that traditional marketing theory holds dear, indeed that sometimes works in a way that is counter to it (what the authors call "anti-marketing") and that lays focus on network-building and "pulling the customer" above all else. Many experienced hands in corporate boardrooms are oblivious to these shifting sands and evolving trends, and are paying the price as a result. This book, supplementing ideas and insights with numerous engaging and topical anecdotes, will show you how to understand and connect with this change.
Prologue
Death Knell for Traditional Marketing
Over-Marketing and Brand Suicide
"Wal-Marts and Ferraris"
Network Buzz and Pull
The New Marketing Zeitgeist
The Era of Anti-Marketing
Conclusions: The Big Picture