Ten Deadly Marketing Sins

Marketing has ceased to work today. New products are failing at a disastrous rate. Most advertising campaigns do not register anything distinctive in the customer’s mind. Direct mail barely achieves a one percent response rate. Most products come across as interchangeable commodities rather than powerful brands.

No wonder CEOs are demanding more accountability from marketing! They want their marketers to provide financial estimates of ROI, before and after each major campaign. Without profit accountability, marketing budgets will continue to be the first ones reduced when companies must cut their costs.

Why is marketing not working? Prolific author Philip Kotler identifies the ten worst deficiencies in contemporary marketing practice. They are:

• The firm isn’t sufficiently market-focused and customer-driven
• The firm doesn’t understand its target customers
• The firm doesn’t monitor its competitors
• The firm mismanages its relationship with stakeholders
• The firm isn’t good at finding new opportunities
• The firm’s marketing planning process is deficient
• The firm’s product and service policies need tightening
• The firm’s brand-building and communications efforts are weak
• The firm isn’t well organized to carry out marketing
• The firm has not made maximum use of technology

Devoting a chapter to each deficiency, Kotler first lists the signs and symptoms that indicate whether a company is guilty of this weakness–then proposes key improvements to strengthen your company’s practice. Kotler offers proven, actionable responses for putting failing marketing efforts back on track. These aren’t quick fixes, but real long-term solutions for long-term problems. Ten Deadly Marketing Sins offers a methodology for building real marketing efforts from top to bottom that get results–and return failing businesses to profitability.

Covering crucial topics every marketer must understand, Ten Deadly Marketing Sins is a must-read for marketers who want to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging marketplace. Packed with the kind of marketing wisdom only Kotler can provide, this is an indispensable resource for every company–and every marketer–who wants to develop better products and services, better marketing plans, and better customer relationships.

• Introduction: The State of Marketing Today
• Chapter 1: Your Compnay Is Not Sufficiently Market Focused and Customer Driven
• Chapter 2: Your Company Does Not Fully Understand Its Target Customers
• Chapter 3: Your Company Needs to Better Define and Monitir Its Competitors
• Chapter 4: Your Company Has Not Properly Managed Its Relationships with Its Stakeholders
• Chapter 5: Your Company Is Not Good at Finding New Opportunities
  
• Chapter 6: Your Company's Marketing Planning Process Is Deficient
  
• Chapter 7: Your Company's Product and Service Policies Need Tightening
  
• Chapter 8: Your Company's Brand-Building and Communication Skills Are Weak
  
• Chapter 9: Your Company Is Not Well Organized to Carry on Effective and Efficient Marketing
  
• Chapter 10: Your Company Has Not Made Maximum Use of Technology
  
• Epilogue: The Ten Commandments of Marketing Effectiveness
  

Well, this could have been called "10 things to remember" or "10 conclusions to use as a marketing consultant".

Nothing wrong with the book, except it is a bit shallow and there is nothing new under the sun in it. Nice checklist, though, but I expected more from a Kotler.