One of the most respected marketing gurus in the world shows why some of today's biggest brands are having trouble and how to avoid repeating their mistakes. It wasn't long ago that Levi-Strauss, Xerox, Crest, AT&T, Firestone, and Digital Equipment dominated their respective markets. What happened to undermine their standings and of those of other superbrands? Are their declines simply the inevitable consequence of change and the birth of new competition? In this important predecessor to the classic Differentiate or Die, "the king of positioning," Jack Trout answers that question with a resounding "No!" Writing in his signature, straight-from-the-hip style he reveals the disastrous marketing and strategy blunders that led to the dissolution of the most recognized superbrands. He clearly shows how those mistakes could have been avoided. With the help of in-depth case studies chronicling the events leading up to the falls from grace of Sears, Miller Brewing, Xerox, Crest, Burger King, and other past market leaders, he identifies the ten most common mistakes that big brands make, and he develops a set of expert guidelines for marketing managers and executives on how to build, protect, manage, and expand their companies' brands and avoid brand-killing blunders. Acclaim for Jack Trout's BIG BRANDS,BIG TROUBLE "Big Brands, Big Trouble is a crisp indictment of marketing executives who ought to be shouldering more responsibility. It is packed with useful insights about how to manage innovation."- Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail "Once again, Jack Trout manages to get to the very heart of what makes companies great and what makes them fail. Unlike so many others, Jack seems to write with the CEO in mind-frank, straightforward, and dead on."-Rick Fersch, President and CEO, Eddie Bauer, Inc. "Jack Trout invented the modern marketing book-fast, furious, full of attitude and examples. He's pushed the boundaries even further this time, looking not only into the past but predicting some of the big losers of the next decade. This book should keep marketing veeps in large corporations awake walking the floor."-Sam Hill, author of 60 Trends in 60 Minutes "Everything Jack Trout writes makes so much sense."-John Schnatter, CEO, Papa John's International, Inc. "Learning from mistakes is the greatest gift you can get. Read this gift!"-Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and High Five! "You're holding the Aesop's (Business) Fables for this age of discontinuity. Jack Trout's observations ring true for EMC where we've managed to stay out of trouble by anticipating the next thing."-Mike Ruettgers, Executive Chairman, EMC "Understanding branding is the key to success. This book shows you how."-Harry Paul, coauthor of Fish!: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results "It's 'True Trout'-clear, concise, and actionable. It's the best book I've read on stewarding big brands in today's competitive environment."-Bob Waldron, President, Yoplait-Colombo "Nobody understands marketing and brand building like Jack Trout."-Bill Samuels, President and CEO, Maker's Mark Bourbon