Book Summary: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Summary · The Law of Leadership · The Law of Category · The Law of the Mind · The Law of Perception · The Law of Focus · The Law of ... Print|Hardcover|Audiobook The22ImmutableLawsofMarketingSummary TheLawofLeadershipTheLawofCategoryTheLawoftheMindTheLawofPerceptionTheLawofFocusTheLawofExclusivityTheLawoftheLadderTheLawofDualityTheLawoftheOppositeTheLawofDivisionTheLawofPerspectiveTheLawofLineExtensionTheLawofSacrificeTheLawofAttributesTheLawofCandorTheLawofSingularityTheLawofUnpredictabilityTheLawofSuccessTheLawofFailureTheLawofHypeTheLawofAccelerationTheLawofResources Chapter1:TheLawofLeadership Summary:It’sbettertobefirstthanitisbetter. It’smucheasiertogetintothemindfirstthantotrytoconvincesomeoneyouhaveabetterproductthantheonethatdidgettherefirst. Intoday’scompetitiveenvironment,ame-tooproductwithalineextensionnamehaslittlehopeofbecomingabigprofitablebrand. Theleadingbrandinanycategoryisalmostalwaysthefirstbrandintotheprospect’smind. Noteveryfirstisgoingtobecomesuccessful.Timingisanissue—yourfirstcouldbetoolate. Peopletendtostickwithwhatthey’vegot. Onereasonthefirstbrandtendstomaintainitsleadershipisthatthenameoftenbecomesgeneric(e.g.“HowdoImakeaXerox?”). Ifyou’reintroducingthefirstbrandinanewcategory,youshouldalwaystrytoselectanamethatcanworkgenerically. Marketingisabattleofperceptions,notproducts. Chapter2:TheLawofCategory Summary:Ifyoucan’tbefirstinacategory,setupanewcategoryyoucanbefirstin. Ifyoudidn’tgetintotheprospect’smindfirst,don’tgiveuphope.Findanewcategoryyoucanbefirstin.It’snotasdifficultasyoumightthink. Whenyoulaunchanewproduct,thefirstquestiontoaskyourselfisnot“Howisthisproductbetterthanthecompetition?”but“Firstwhat?”Inotherwords,whatcategoryisthisnewproductfirstin? Everyoneisinterestedinwhat’snew.Fewpeopleareinterestedinwhat’sbetter. Whenyou’rethefirstinanewcategory,promotethecategory.Inessence,youhavenocompetition. Chapter3:TheLawofTheMind Summary:It’sbettertobefirstinthemindthantobefirstinthemarketplace. Beingfirstinthemarketplaceisimportantonlytotheextentthatitallowsyoutogetinthemindfirst. Youcan’tchangeamindonceamindismadeup. Thesinglemostwastefulthingyoucandoinmarketingistryingtochangeamind. Ifyouwanttomakeabigimpressiononanotherperson,youcannotwormyourwayintotheirmindandthenslowlybuildupafavorableopinionoveraperiodoftime.Theminddoesn’tworkthatway.Youhavetoblastyourwayintothemind. Chapter4:TheLawofPerception Summary:Marketingisnotabattleofproducts,it’sabattleofperception. Allthatexistsintheworldofmarketingareperceptionsinthemindsofthecustomerorprospect.Theperceptionisreality.Everythingelseisanillusion. Onlybystudyinghowperceptionsareformedinthemindandfocusingyourmarketingprogramsonthoseperceptionscanyouovercomeyourbasicallyincorrectmarketinginstincts. Whatmakesthebattleevenmoredifficultisthatcustomersfrequentlymakebuyingdecisionsbasedonsecond-handperceptions.Insteadofusingtheirownperceptions,theybasetheirbuyingdecisionsonsomeoneelse’sperceptionofreality.Thisisthe“everybodyknows”principle. Chapter5:TheLawofFocus Summary:Themostpowerfulconceptinmarketingisowningawordintheprospect’smind. Acompanycanbecomeincrediblysuccessfulifitcanfindawaytoownawordinthemindoftheprospect.Notacomplicatedword.Notaninventedone.Thesimplewordsarebest,wordstakenrightoutofthedictionary. Theleaderownsthewordthatstandsforthecategory.  Youcantestthevalidityofaleadershipclaimbyawordassociationtest. Ifyou’renotaleader,thenyourwordhastohaveanarrowfocus.Evenmoreimportant,however,yourwordhastobe“available”inyourcategory.Nooneelsecanhavealockonit. Themosteffectivewordsaresimpleandbenefitorientated.Nomatterhowcomplicatedtheproduct,nomatterhowcomplicatedtheneedsofthemarket,it’salwaysbettertofocusononewordorbenefitratherthantwoorthreeorfour. Wordscomeindifferentvarieties.Theycanbebenefit-related(captivityprevention),service-related(homedelivery),audience-related(youngerpeople),orsales-related(preferredbrand). Therecomesatimewhenacompanymustchangewords. Youcan’ttakesomebodyelse’sword. Whatwon’tworkinmarketingisleavingyourownwordinsearchofawordownedbyothers. Youcan’tnarrowthefocuswithqualityoranyotherideathatdoesn’thaveproponentsfortheoppositepointofview. Whenyoudevelopyourwordtofocuson,bepreparedtofendoffthelawyers. Onceyouhaveyourword,youhavetogooutofyourwaytoprotectitinthemarketplace. Twocompaniescannotownthesamewordintheprospect’smind. Chapter6:TheLawofExclusivity Summary:Twocompaniescannotownthesamewordintheprospect’smind. Whenacompetitorownsawordorpositionintheprospect’smind,itisfutiletoattempttoownthesameword. Chapter7:TheLawofTheLadder Summary:Thestrategyyouusedependsonwhichrungyouoccupyontheladder. Allproductsarenotcreatedequal.There’sahierarchyinthemindthatprospectsuseinmakingdecisions. Foreachcategory,thereisaproductladderinthemind.Oneachrungisabrandname. Yourmarketingstrategyshoulddependonhowsoonyougotintothemindandconsequentlywhichrungoftheladderyouoccupy.Thehigherthebetter,ofcourse. Themindisselective.Prospectsusetheirladdersindecidingwhichinformationtoacceptandwhichinformationtoreject.Ingeneral,amindacceptsonlynewdatathatisconsistentwithitsproductladderinthatcategory.Everythingelseisignored. Productsthatarepurchasedinfrequentlyandinvolveanunpleasantexperienceusuallyhaveveryfewrungsontheirladders. Theultimateproductthatinvolvestheleastamountofpleasureanditpurchasedonceinalifetimehasnorungsonitsladder. There’sarelationshipbetweenmarketshareandyourpositionontheladderintheprospect’smind.Youtendtohavetwicethemarketshareofthebrandbelowyouandhalfthemarketshareofthebrandaboveyou. Sevenisthemaximumnumberofrungsonaladderintheprospect’smind. Sometimesyourownladder,orcategory,istoosmall.Itmightbebettertobeasmallfishinabigpondthantobeabigfishinasmallpond.Inotherwords,it’ssometimestobeNo.3onabigladderthanNo.1onasmallladder. Beforestartinganymarketingprogram,askyourself,“Whereareweontheladderintheprospect’smind?” Inthelongrun,everymarketbecomesatwo-horserace. Chapter8:TheLawofDuality Summary:Inthelongrun,everymarketbecomesatwo-horserace. Earlyon,anewcategoryisaladderofmanyrungs.Gradually,theladderbecomesatwo-rungaffair. Whenyoutakethelongviewofmarketing,youfindthebattleusuallywindsupasatitanicstrugglebetweentwomajorplayers—usuallytheoldreliablebrandandthenewupstart. Inamaturingindustry,thirdplaceisadifficultpositiontobein. Knowingthatmarketingisatwo-horserace,inthelongrun,canhelpyouplanstrategyintheshortterm. Ifyou’reshootingforsecondplace,yourstrategyisdeterminedbytheleader. Chapter9:TheLawofOpposite Summary:Ifyou’reshootingforsecondplace,yourstrategyisdeterminedbytheleader. Acompanyshouldleveragetheleader’sstrengthintoaweakness. Youmustdiscovertheessenceoftheleaderandthenpresenttheprospectwiththeopposite.(Inotherwords,don’ttrytobebetter,trytobedifferent).It’softentheupstartversusoldreliable. Bypositioningyourselfagainsttheleader,youtakebusinessawayfromalltheotheralternativestoNo.1. Youmustpresentyourselfasthealternative. Asaproductgetsold,itoftenaccruessomenegativedamage. Marketingisoftenabalanceforlegitimacy.Thefirstbrandthatcapturestheconceptisoftenabletoportrayitscompetitorsasillegitimatepretenders.  AgoodNo.2can’taffordtobetimid.WhenyougiveupfocusingonNo.1,youmakeyourselfvulnerabletonotonlytheleaderbuttotherestofthepack. Chapter10:TheLawofDiversion Summary:Overtime,acategorywilldivideandbecometwoormorecategories. Acategorystartsoffasasingleentity.Butovertime,thecategorybreaksupintoothersegments. Companiesmakemistakeswhentheytrytotakeawell-knownbrandnameinonecategoryandusethesamebrandnameinanothercategory. Whatkeepsleadersfromlaunchingadifferentbrandtocoveranewcategoryisthefearofwhatwillhappentotheirexistingbrands. Timingisimportant.Youcanbetooearlytoexploitanewcategory. It’sbettertobeearlythanlate.Youcan’tgetintotheprospect’smindfirstunlessyou’repreparedtospendtimewaitingforthingstodevelop. Chapter11:TheLawofPerspective Summary:Marketingeffectstakeplaceoveranextendedperiodoftime. Chapter12:TheLawofLineExtension Summary:There’sanirresistiblepressuretoextendtheequityofthebrand. Thelawoflineextensionisthemostviolatedlaw. Whenyoutrytobeallthingstoallpeople,youinevitablywindupintrouble.  Lineextensioninvolvestakingthebrandnameofasuccessfulproductandputtingitonanewproductyouplantointroduce. Inthelongrunandinthepresenceofseriouscompetition,lineextensionalmostneverworks. Invariably,theleaderinanycategoryisthebrandthatisnotlineextended. Onereasonwhytopmanagementbelieveslineextensionworksisbecauseitcanbeawinnerintheshortterm. Chapter13:TheLawofSacrifice Summary:Youhavetogiveupsomethinginordertogetsomething. Ifyouwanttobesuccessful,youhavetonarrowthefocusinordertobuildapositionintheprospect’smind. Foranewbrandtosucceed,itoughttobefirstinanewcategory.Orthenewbrandoughttobepositionedasanalternativetotheleader. Thelawofsacrificeistheoppositeofthelawoflineextension.Ifyouwanttobesuccessfultoday,youshouldgivesomethingup. Therearethreethingstosacrifice: ProductlineTargetmarketConstantchange Ifyouwanttobesuccessful,youhavetoreduceyourproductline,notextendit. Theworldofbusinessispopulatedbybig,highlydiversifiedgeneralistsandsmall,narrowlyfocusedspecialists. Thebestwaytomaintainaconsistentpositionisnottochangeitinthefirstplace. Chapter14:TheLawofAttributes Summary:Foreveryattribute,thereisanopposite,effectiveattribute. Forinstance,sinceCrestownedcavities,othertoothpastesavoidedcavitiesandjumpedonotherattributesliketaste,whitening,breathprotection,etc. Marketingisabattleofideas.Soifyouaretosucceed,youmusthaveanideaorattributeofyourowntofocusyoureffortsaround.Withoutone,youbetterhavealowprice.Averylowprice. Whenyouadmitanegative,theprospectwillgiveyouapositive. Chapter15:TheLawofCandor Summary:Whenyouadmitanegative,theprospectwillgiveyouapositive. Candorisverydisarming. Everynegativestatementyoumakeaboutyourselfisinstantlyacceptedastruth.Positivestatements,ontheotherhand,arelookedatasdubiousatbest.Especiallyinadvertising. Youhavetoproveapositivestatementtotheprospect’ssatisfaction.Noproofisneededforanegativestatement. Ifyournameisbad,youhavetwochoices:changethenameormakefunofit.Theonethingyoucan’tdoisignoreabadname. Admittingaproblemissomethingveryfewcompaniesdo. Whenacompanystartsamessagebyadmittingaproblem,peopletendto,almostinstinctively,opentheirminds. Thelawofcandormustbeusedcarefullyandwithgreatskill.First,your“negative”mustbewidelyperceivedasanegative.Ithastotriggeraninstantagreementwithyourprospect’smind.Ifthenegativedoesnätregisterquickly,yourprospectwillbeconfusedandwillwonder,“What’sthisallabout?”Next,youhavetoshiftquicklytothepositive.Thepurposeofcandorisn’ttoapologize.Thepurposeofcandoristosetupabenefitthatwillconvinceyourprospect. Chapter16:TheLawofSingularity Summary:Ineachsituation,onlyonemovewillproducesubstantialresults. Historyteachesthattheonlythingthatworksinmarketingisthesingle,boldstroke.  Unlessyouwriteyourcompetitor’splans,youcan’tpredictthefuture. Chapter17:TheLawofPredictability Summary:Unlessyouwriteyourcompetitors’plans,youcan’tpredictthefuture. Failuretoforecastcompetitivereactionsisamajorreasonformarketingfailures. Goodshort-termplanningiscomingupwiththatangleorwordthatdifferentiatesyourproductorcompany.Thenyousetupacoherentlong-termmarketingdirectionthatbuildsaprogramtomaximizethatideaorangle.It’snotalong-termplan,it’salong-termdirection. Whileyoucan’tpredictthefuture,youcangetahandleontrends,whichisawaytotakeadvantageofchange. Whenyouassumethatnothingwillchange,youarepredictingthefuturejustassurelyaswhenyouassumethatsomethingwillchange.RememberPeter’sLaw.Theunexpectedalwayshappens. Onewaytocopewithanunpredictableworldistobuildanenormousamountofflexibilityintoyourorganization.Aschangescomesweepingthroughyourcategory,youhavetobewillingtochangeandchangequicklyifyouaretosurviveinthelongterm. Successoftenleadstoarrogance,andarrogancetofailure. Chapter18:TheLawofSuccess Summary:Successoften leadstoarrogance,andarrogancetofailure. Egoistheenemyofsuccessfulmarketing. Whenpeoplebecomesuccessful,theytendtobecomelessobjective.Theyoftensubstitutetheirownjudgmentforwhatthemarketwants. Successisoftenthefatalelementbehindtherashoflineextensions.Whenabrandissuccessful,thecompanyassumesthenameistheprimaryreasonforthebrand’ssuccess.Sotheypromptlylookforotherproductstoplasterthenameon. Themoreyouidentifywithyourbrandorcorporatename,themorelikelyyouaretofallintothelineextensiontrap. Brilliantmarketershavetheabilitytothinkasaprospectthinks.Theyputthemselvesintheshoesoftheircustomers.Theydon’timposetheirownviewoftheworldonthesituation.  Thebiggerthecompany,themorelikelyitisthatthechiefexecutivehaslosttouchwiththefrontlines. Failureistobeexceptedandaccepted. Chapter19:TheLawofFailure Summary:Failureistobeexpectedandaccepted.  Toomanycompaniestrytofixthingsratherthandropthings. Admittingamistakeandnotdoinganythingaboutitasbadforyourcareer.Abetterstrategyistorecognizefailureearlyandcutyourlosses. Nobodyhaseverbeenfiredforaboldmovetheydidn’tmake. Chapter20:TheLawofHype Summary:Asituationisoftentheoppositeofthewayitappearsinthepress. Whenthingsaregoingwell,acompanydoesn’tneedthehype.Whenyouneedthehypeitusuallymeansyou’reintrouble. Chapter21:TheLawofAcceleration Summary:Successfulprogramsarenotbuiltonfads,they’rebuiltontrends. Afadisawaveintheocean,andatrendisatide.Afadgetsalotofhype,andatrendgetsverylittle. Forgetfads.Andwhentheyappear,trytodampenthem.Onewaytomaintainalong-termdemandforyourproductsistonevertotallysatisfythedemand. Chapter22:TheLawofResources Summary:Withoutadequatefunding,anideawon’tgetofftheground. Eventhebestideaintheworldwon’tgoveryfarwithoutthemoneytogetitofftheground. Anideawithoutmoneyisworthless. OtherBooksbyAlRiesandJackTrout The22ImmutableLawsofBranding Positioning:TheBattleforYourMind RecommendedReading IfyoulikeThe22ImmutableLawsofMarketing,youmayalsoenjoythefollowingbooks: TheBrandGap:HowtoBridgetheDistanceBetweenBusinessStrategyandDesignbyMartyNeumeier Contagious:WhyThingsCatchOnbyJonahBerger OgilvyonAdvertisingbyDavidOgilvy BuyTheBook:The22ImmutableLawsofMarketing Print|Hardcover|Audiobook RelatedLists BusinessBookSummaries PsychologyBookSummaries Self-HelpBookSummaries Or,browsemorebooksummaries.