Mr Stephen Denny took the suggestion of a colleague and writer, named Roger von Oech, and he went beyond blog writing into book writing. Stephen Denny himself appears to have carved his own niche and, for me, he may well have toppled some of the Giants in the field of writing. In other words, Denny follows his own advice to others in writing this book.
Killing the Giants contains at least two “stories” of companies and/or people that have gone up against brand‐name giants, usually with minimal resources, and most of whom have done so successfully. His stories are the result of extensive research. The reading flowed with enjoyable style and built my curiosity to go on to the next stories until I reached the end of each chapter and then the end of the book.
In a casual way, Denny addresses and describes the intriguing picture on the cover of the book that shows a man lying on his back with the enlarged soles of his shoes facing the reader. When I reached page 93, I read the following: “Sometimes the giant you face is so big, you need to look up just to see the bottoms of their shoes.” Similarly, Denny casually includes the word “positioning” within the text, for example: “They have different problems, different strengths, and often a different focus than you have. You won't be able to find their blind spot ahead of time. You will have to create that blind spot for them with focus and positioning of your own” (p. 37). This casual use of “positioning” actually touches on the focus of the entire book. Denny has taken the rudiments of positioning from Al Ries' and Jack Trout's concept developed in their 1972 best‐seller Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Most of the stories show the way “newby's” have positioned themselves against giants in the marketplace and offer enduring lessons for readers who so choose to do the same.
After every story, Denny outlines these “enduring lessons” and then lists and discusses key takeaways. He is from California and yet introduces two stories that span the country to the Boston area, with the Boston Beer Company's Sam Adams and the recently elected Senator Scott Brown, both of Massachusetts. He also introduces readers to relevant stories in other countries, one of which is New Zealand and its product called 42Below, a beverage named for its location on the equator. As a preface to each story, he provides quotations from well‐known people. I was surprised and pleased to read a quotation from Bob Hamman, the world's number one ranked bridge player. Being an avid duplicate bridge player myself, I often draw strategic comparisons with the marketing and management courses I teach and the game of bridge. At another extreme, most all of the stories, with extensions and reviews of them, were about men. Only on page 140 do I recall seeing Mr Denny reference a woman as “she.” However, even there, this is a hypothetical female CEO.
Through extensive interviewing, his own consulting practices, and observations, Denny has researched and then written. He presents the stories in a consistent format that added to my cumulative learning of good opportunities taken for positioning and then made me wonder what was going to be next. It even contained a bit of mystery in my wondering throughout the reading if this book might be an insult to the referenced “Giants.” The answer to this did come in a later chapter, and Denny gave occasional credit to the giants. For example, in Chapter 6 “Inconvenient Truths,” in talking about Pepsi, Denny mentions that “Pepsi never claims product seniority” (p. 215). He states that “Giants are masters of the assumptive close. They assume the sale is theirs, and it shows in their sales processes and their marketing image … ” (p. 119). As he introduces new stories, Denny parlays them on top of comparisons with previously presented company stories, helping the reader review and retain the combined lessons.
A couple of stories that intrigued me were from the travel industry. The Jet Blue $599 All You Can Fly pass offered as much air travel as possible within a condensed time frame; this special deal took off like a rocket. And, then, Prizeotel created a service that was of good design with low‐cost appointments. They removed mini‐bars from the guest rooms and maintained standard room costs. They renovate every six months so “unlike many of its competitors, it never looks dilapidated” (p. 147). Closet space in the rooms ranged from a closet to accommodate the small percentage who stays in the room two‐to‐three days, while other rooms had only a bench and hanging space for luggage for the more common, one‐night stay.
Killing the Giants should be of use, as well as of interest, to all people involved with product and brand development, along with brand management. This would be a bonus for students studying marketing and strategy to read. It should be an inspiration to those who wish to go up against the giants!
