The book asserts that the 5Ps are no longer relevant. I interpret the provided analysis to suggest instead that the failure resides in the inability of many companies to design effective marketing strategy.
The discussion of "want based" marketing appears to have been written 20 years ago, put into deep storage, and just escaped from its cryogenic vault. The notion of marketing to consumer "wants" rather than "needs" has been a fixture of principles of marketing texts for at least 20 years. The advocay of VALs - as a methodology useful for illuminating consumer "wants" -- is also about 20 years old. SRI just introduced VALS-III to remedy shortcomings of VALS-II. Ettenberg proposes an update to the time proven 5Ps (or 5Cs, depending on how you prefer to express them). At the core, Ettenberg seems to be trying to reposition the core of marketing as relationship management. That, too, is a standard feature of contemporary marketing principles texts. Further, the book emphasizes marketing of traditional tangible goods (e.g., bread). More contemporary value offerings -- such as services or transformations -- receive limited attention. This is surprising given the demographic analysis with which the book opens. Could the predicted decline in Boomer consumption of conventional goods merely reflect increasing consumption of services and transformations?
Ettenberg's idea is simple--the old ways that dominated much of the 20th century are outdated, the "new" economy ideas have vanished since 9/11, and what is to come is something different, a paradigm shift.
The focus will transition from shareholders to customers (this is new? Hasn't a mantra been satisfying and keeping the customer?) In fact, forget the mass market, Ettenberg argues. Go for that one niche. Oh, and rich and poor in the U.S. will resemble the Third World.
Guerrilla PR: Wired by Michael Levine also preaches how to reach consumers in the new age, but hardly portrays the darkness that Ettenberg preaches like a fundamentalist Baptist preacher full of fire and brimstone.
I take comfort in the belief that no individual knows the future, including Ettenberg. While his work makes for a powerful read, I find the full implications of his words are chilling.