Positioning

Al Ries and Jack Trout set out an approach for reaching a skeptical, overloaded public: building a position in the prospect's mind that takes account of the company's own strengths and weaknesses and its rivals'. The authors show how a market leader keeps its place in memory, how a follower can take a space the leader has left open, and why a second product should not lean on an established name. Other chapters cover naming a product, repositioning a strong competitor to create a weak spot, and when less is more. Case histories of advertising wins and failures carry the argument. A revised edition took in five more years of developments, and a 20th anniversary edition followed.

Seth Godin credited it with the insight that prospects care far less about an offering than the company selling it does, so the offering has to be boiled down to one distinct slot. Tim O'Reilly listed it among the books that shaped how he thinks and said anyone starting a business with impact should read it.