Differentiate or Die

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What to expect

In today's ultra-competitive world, the average supermarket has forty thousand brand items on its shelves. Car shoppers can wander through the showrooms of over twenty auto makers. Differentiating products today is more challenging than at any time in history, yet it remains a key to a company's survival, the heart of successful marketing.

In Differentiate or Die, bestselling author Jack Trout takes marketers to task for taking the easy route of high-tech razzle-dazzle and sleight of hand instead of working to discover and market their product's uniquely valuable qualities. He examines successful differentiation initiatives from giants like Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, and Walmart to smaller success stories like Streit's Matzoh and Connecticut's tiny Trinity College to determine why some marketers succeed while others struggle and fail. The author outlines the many ways to achieve differentiation, while also warning of how difficult it is to achieve differentiation by being creative, cheap, customer oriented, or quality driven—things that your competitor can do as well.

Carve out your own image in a crowded marketplace. This book can help.

Critics Review

  • Differentiate or Die differentiates itself on the groaning marketing bookshelf with its lucid prose, its clear vision of the future marketplace…and its sensible solutions for surviving the frenzied competition we’re sure to find there.”

    Dan Rather, CBS News
  • “What I like about Differentiate or Die is the book’s emphasis on the power of logic, simplicity, and clarity—getting to the essence of a problem. In Silicon Valley, attributes like that can make the difference between having lunch and being lunch.”

    Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
  • “We’ve built our business by being first-and executing best. Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin are doing the same, delivering the timely, powerful insights that will drive tomorrow’s marketing strategies. A must read for anyone looking to win in an unforgiving competitive marketplace.”

    Mike Ruettgers, CEO, EMC Corporation
  • “Another great book by the king of positioning!”

    John Schnatter, CEO, Papa John's International

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