Description
The key to business success in the eighties-and beyond-has to be marketing. The markets of the present and the future are highly differentiated, easy to enter, and driven by desire rather than need. All that adds up to continued ferocious competition of the kind that has dominated the whole decade since the oil crisis of 1973: a marvellous economic decade, despite the slow growth and recessions induced by the two huge leaps in oil prices. The decade saw the creation of more genuine new companies, more self-made fortunes and more new and revolutionary product successes than any such period in history. The themes of innovation and competition are intertwined, and no company or businessman who hasn't mastered both can expect to prosper in the years ahead.
Robert Heller, editor in chief of Management Today and editorial director of Marketing, has looked at the market successes and failures of the times to draw invaluable lessons for managers who want to succeed in the naked, exposed markets of the eighties. His book covers the areas vital to success: how to get winning products, where to focus concentration, the impact of economic laws, the role of corporate and product identity, the dilemmas of diversification and, above all, the imperatives of growth. As he says, 'If you don't strive to succeed, in markets of such naked aggression, you must fail'. ISBN:0283990120
