Marketing Myths That Are Killing Business: The Cure for Death Wish Marketing

Starting with the position that American business sustained severe but avoidable losses during the 1980s, marketing consultants Clancy and Schulman provide an iconoclastic analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of marketing in this nation. Their methodology is controversial: they target 172 major myths that they believe are sapping the vitality of America's business enterprises, including the assumption that ``most marketing programs work.'' The authors expose what they consider to be the faulty logic and managerial fallacies that undermined efforts in the 1980s to cope with planning, research, marketing channels, brand equity, gap analysis and sales force management. While the assessment of myths is engaging and the coverage of positioning and small business issues enlightening, the book frequently leaves the reader wanting more hard data to understand both the problems and the proposed solutions. Fortune Book Club dual main selection. (Dec.)