"定位"之父杰克•特劳特先生辞世，有多少人因为"定位"才选择了营销？
媒体资源网 http://www.allchina.cn 2017/6/7 0:10:00
定位理论创始人之一、营销战略大师杰克·特劳特先生于2017年6月5日在美国家中因病去世。
1981年，杰克·特劳特与艾·里斯合著《定位》一书，标志着定位理论的诞生。2001年，定位理论被美国营销协会评为“有史以来对美国营销影响最大的观念”。杰克·特劳特与艾·里斯先后合著有《商战》、《营销革命》、《22条商规》等著作。
特劳特和里斯先生在共事的26年生涯中，为定位理论的建立以及在全球的普及和实践奠定坚实基础。尽管此后两人分别成立了特劳特伙伴和里斯伙伴咨询公司，但两位大师都将定位理论的发展和实践作为毕生事业，帮助全球企业建立起强大的品牌。特劳特先生的辞世是全球商业界的巨大损失，同时也是全球定位理论和实践领域的巨大损失，愿特劳特先生安息！
6月5日当天，美国最重要的商业杂志《广告时代》发文纪念特劳特先生，译文如下（后附原文）：
标题：《定位》合作者之一杰克·特劳特逝世，享年82岁
杰克·特劳特，定位理论的创始人之一，为定位理论命名者，《定位》、《商战》等一系列营销领域最具影响力书籍的合著者之一，因肠癌不治，于6月5日周一在美国康涅狄格州格林尼治家中逝世，享年82岁。
《定位》一书出版于1981年，由特劳特先生与其一生在咨询领域中合作时间最长的合伙人艾·里斯先生共同撰写完成。从概念的诞生到理论体系的形成，整个过程超过十年之久。特劳特首次在1969年的文章中使用了“定位”一词，在这一概念的基础之上，形成了系列文章，并于1972年刊登在《广告时代》的专栏中。
特劳特指出：“定位的基本方法并不是创造新的、不同的东西，而在于发掘已经存在于心智中的认知，并利用这些认知重新建立关联。”定位的基本原理包括成为第一的重要性、创造新品类、为产品找一个强大、清晰、容易理解的品牌名。在《定位》之后，特劳特先生撰写或共同撰写出版了15本定位著作，在全球发表演讲、实践咨询。
从特劳特伙伴咨询的网站来看，特劳特在全球20个国家设有分支机构，为众多企业提供营销咨询，包括苹果、AT&T、IBM、宝洁和通用磨坊。特劳特在病重期间委任其中国合伙人邓德隆先生为特劳特伙伴的全球总裁。
里斯先生说《定位》一书的总销量已经超过两百万册，仅在中国的销量就超过了四十万册。1994年，里斯先生与特劳特先生分开，并与自己的女儿劳拉·里斯成立了里斯咨询公司。中国已经成为特劳特伙伴和里斯咨询的最主要市场。里斯先生说，尽管这个理念诞生于美国，但如今看来，美国之外的市场对定位系列书籍和“定位”这个概念似乎有更好的理解。
1935年，特劳特先生出生在曼哈顿，家中有六个孩子，他是长子。在爱纳大学毕业之后，加入美国海军，成为一名领航员。
特劳特的职业生涯开始于通用电气的广告部。一位共同的朋友将特劳特推荐给里斯的公司，但由于当时里斯的广告公司并没有空缺的职位，因此又将特劳特推荐到了当时一家客户Uniroyal的广告部。在里斯公司有职位空缺出来的第一时间，特劳特加入了里斯公司，之后公司更名为特劳特-里斯公司，并开始了他们26年的共事历程。
“我们两个很不一样，”在被问及如何成功维系合伙关系时，里斯说道，“他性格外向，而我是个很内向的人。我们两人，总是一个有想法，另一个来挑剔。”
回忆起与特劳特共事的经历，里斯分享了一个有趣的故事。那是上世纪80年代早期，汉堡王的前任CEO Jeffrey Campbell向里斯索要一本亲笔签名书，并称这本书激发了汉堡王“火烤非油炸”的定位灵感。在听到这个消息后，特劳特对《全美餐饮新闻》的记者说“尽管汉堡王让智威汤逊给他们做广告，但他们请我们签书。”
“Campbell给我打来电话，问我说‘你的合伙人是这么对媒体说的吗？’”里斯说，“我当时非常尴尬，几乎想要钻到桌子底下去。但是Campbell又说，‘我觉得他有些想法，我想请你们作为我们的咨询顾问，’而且他们后来真的聘用了我们。”
特劳特先生与妻子Patricia Daley共同生活了60年，有六个孩子：蒂莫西·特劳特现居于纽约市，乔安妮·特劳特现居于康涅狄格州里弗赛德，南希·特劳特现居于康涅狄格州哈特福特，苏珊·特劳特现居于纽约市，克里斯汀·阿克顿现居于马里兰州安纳波利斯，彼得·特劳特现居于纽约州拉奇芒德镇。他有孙辈15人。
Jack Trout, Co-Author of 'Positioning,' Dies at 82
By Jack Neff. Published on June 05, 2017.
Jack Trout, who coined the term "positioning" and co-authored of one of the most influential marketing books ever, died Monday at his home in Greenwich, Conn.,of intestinal cancer. He was 82.
"Positioning:The Battle for Your Mind," co-written in 1981 with Trout's longtime agency and consulting partner Al Ries, was more than a decade in the making. Trout first used the word in a 1969 article, and the concept was the basis of a seriesof columns in Advertising Age in 1972.
"The basic approach of positioning is not to create something new and different," asTrout put it, "but to manipulate what's already up there in the mind, to re-tie the connections that already exist." Positioning fundamentals include the importance of being first, inventing new categories, and having brand names that are strong, clear and understandable. Trout would go on to author or co-author 15 other books on positioning, lecture around the world and develop a global consulting practice.
Trout's Greenwich,Conn.-based firm has offices in 20 countries, according to its website, and has consulted with a wide range of marketers, including Apple, AT&T, IBM, Procter & Gamble Co. and General Mills. Trout & Partners carries on under Deng Delong as global president, appointed to the role by Trout when he became ill.
The original book has sold more than 2 million copies, more than 400,000 in China alone, said Ries, who split off to form his own consulting firm with his daughter, Laura,in 1994. China has become a major market for both Trout & Partners and Ries & Ries, he said, and if anything the books and "positioning" concept are better known outside the U.S. than inside today.
Trout was born in1935 in Manhattan, the oldest of six children. He went to Iona College on an academic scholarship and after college joined the Navy as a flight navigator.
He began his business career in the advertising department of General Electric. A mutual friend recommended him to Ries to join his agency. Ries didn't have an opening at the time, so referred Trout to the advertising department of a client,Uniroyal. When a spot did soon become available, Trout joined Ries at what would become Trout & Ries, where they worked together for 26 years.
"We were different," Ries said, explaining the success of the partnership. "He was an extrovert. I was an introvert. One has the idea, and the other is a critic. It goes back and forth."
One of Ries' favorite stories about Trout comes from the early 1980s, when Jeffrey Campbell,former CEO of Burger King, then a unit of Pillsbury, asked Ries for anautographed copy of the book and noted it inspired the chain's "flame broiled, not fried" positioning. After hearing about the encounter, Trout told Nation's Restaurant News that "J. Walter Thompson gets the BurgerKing advertising, and we get the books to sign."
"Campbell called me and said, 'Did your partner say that?'" Ries said. "I nearly crawled under my desk, I was so embarrassed. But Campbell said, 'I think he has a point, and I would like to hire you as a consultant,' which they did."
Trout is survived by his wife of 60 years, Patricia Daley, and six children, Timothy Trout of New York City; Joanne Trout of Riverside, Conn.; Nancy Trout of Hartford, Conn.;Susan Trout of New York City; Christine Acton, of Annapolis, Md.; and Peter Trout of Larchmont, N.Y. He also had 15 grandchildren.