In this Ĺźradically conservativeĹź book, the authors advocate a Ĺźback-to-basicsĹź approach to marketing that replaces the relentless quest for differentiation with a relentless focus on these types of basic customer needsThe authorsĹź research shows that most companies have been ignoring the basics for too long.At the heart of the authorsĹź approach is a view of why customers buy what they do. Barwise and Meehan argue that marketers must understand what customers want from the entire product or service category. So rather than focus on new luxury attributes for a specific car Ĺźmarketers need to understand what basic needs customers have for automobiles in general (ie: safety, handling, etc). Once they figure that outĹźthey need to deliver on those basic needs better than everyone else.