War in the Boardroom

'Why Left-Brain Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don't See Eye-to-Eye and What to Do About It.'

In WAR IN THE BOARDROOM‚ marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries -- bestselling authors of The Origin of Brands‚ The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding‚ and Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestseller The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR--offer another important investigation into marketing's role in the corporate landscape. This time‚ the Rieses shift their focus to the complicated relationship between marketing and management. Pulling away the "velvet curtain" that divides the two‚ they reveal not only the struggle that is endemic in corporations across the world‚ but how it harms companies' bottom lines‚ and why‚ in particular‚ management needs to understand how to think like marketing-and vice versa.

At the heart of this strife lies management's perception that their decisions are based on sound business practice and research while marketing decisions are simply based on common sense. This leads to fundamentally different approaches to creating brands and products--namely that management overvalues cost-cutting and "creating a better product" when they should really be worrying about better branding. Some of their observations‚ culled from years on the front lines include:

* Management deals in reality. Marketing deals in perception.
* Management thinks brand first. Marketing thinks category first.
* Management wants to build better products. Marketing wants to build different products.
* Management wants a full line. Marketing wants a narrow line.
* Management targets the center of the market. Marketing targets the ends.

By applying tried-and-true brands and products to these rules‚ the authors convincingly show why some brands remain successful for years (McDonald's‚ Gatorade‚ and Kleenex) while others have declined (Saturn‚ Home Depot‚ and Palmolive)‚ passed by slicker‚ more focused brands. With strong writing‚ a light touch‚ and a healthy sense of humor‚ WAR IN THE BOARDROOM will provide a game plan for companies that want to break through the deadlock‚ resolve this counterproductive struggle‚ and start reaping the rewards.