Right Strategy, the key to survive: Trout

by Ramani Kangaraarachchi

Good strategy is how you survive in a competitive world. Many big brands ignored the reality of the marketplace and learned some painful lessons.

They are in big trouble because they did not have the right strategy, "said renowned marketing strategist Jack Trout addressing a large gathering of private sector executives at Water's Edge, Battaramulla last week.

Trout, the President of Trout and Partners in USA was in Sri Lanka to lecture on "Marketing strategies to swell the bottom line" organised by Sensei Lanka . The event was a summary of Jack Trout's best teachings from ten publications and demonstrated that the key to success is all about having the right strategy.

"The trick to survive is simply knowing where you are going. Because no one can follow you if you don't know where you are headed "he said, Many big company CEOs are barely in control of their companies' fate, much less their own. There is a growing legion of competitors coming from every corner of the globe. Technologies are ever changing and the pace of change is faster.

Therefore it is increasingly difficult for CEO's to digest the flood of information out there and make the right choices, he said.

He pointed out that it is probably better to learn from mistakes rather than learning only from success, so it could be more productive to study more downs than ups.

He summarised that strategy is all about perceptions, competition, specialisation, simplicity ,leadership, being different, and reality.