Transcript The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

The 22 Immutable
Laws of Marketing
By Al Ries and Jack Trout
Definitions
 Immutable – (adjective) Unchanging or
unable to change.
 Law – (noun) A rule which cannot or
should not be broken.
. The Law of Leadership
 It’s better to be first than it is to be better.
 The basic issue in marketing is creating
a category you can be first in.
 E.g., most people know who flew across
the Atlantic first, but not second.
 Sometimes called: The First Mover
Advantage
The Law of Category
 If you can’t be first in a category, set up a
new category you can be first in.
 E.g., most people don’t know who flew
across the Atlantic third, but they know
who the first woman to do that was.
 Lexus was the first Japanese luxury car
. The Law of the Mind
 It’s better to be first in the mind than to be
first in the marketplace.
 E.g., Altair 8800 was the first PC, but
Apple got first in the mind.
 IBM was the first software vendor, but
now we associate software with…
The Law of Perception
 Marketing is not a battle of products; it is
a battle of perceptions.
 Is Honda better than Toyota? Is Toyota
better than Honda?
 Which would you rather have? Why?
The Law of Focus
 The most powerful concept in marketing
is owning a word in the prospect’s mind.
 Or when the brand become synonymous
with the category
 E.g., Xerox this, FedEx that, and get me
some Kleenex.
 New ones: iPod & Blackberry
The Law of Exclusivity
 Two companies cannot own the same
word in the prospect’s mind.
 What companies do you think of when I
say “operating system” or “mustard” or
“frozen pizza”?
The Law of the Ladder
 What strategy to use depends on which
rung you occupy on the ladder.
 E.g., Avis is 2nd – we try harder.
 Hardee’s is third or forth, and they try
even harder—and trying to find an
unoccupied rung
 Being closer to the top usually leads to
risk aversion
The Law of Duality
 In the long run, every market becomes a
two horse race.
 E.g., Coke v Pepsi, Kodak v Fuji,
McDonalds and Burger King.
 Dell v HP/Compaq
The Law of the Opposite
 If you’re shooting for second place, your
strategy is determined by the leader.
 E.g., Coke is an old soft drink, so Pepsi
went successfully for the choice of a new
generation.
The Law of Division
 Over time, a category will divide and
become two or more categories.
 e.g., computers, automobiles, coffee
The Law of Perspective
 Marketing effects take place over an
extended period of time.
 Don’t expect results to be instantaneous
 A successful campaign can resonate for
years
The Law of Line Extension
 There is an irresistible pressure to extend
the equity of the brand.
 Coming soon: Arm and Hammer Cat
Food
The Law of Sacrifice
 You have to give up something in order to
get something.
 E.g., FedEx sacrificed other air freight
options for small packages overnight,
and owned the word “overnight”.
 For years Honda focused all its efforts on
the Civic (cvcc) and dominated the subcompact market
The Law of Attributes
 For every attribute, there is an opposite,
effective attribute.
 E.g., Crest toothpaste fights cavities, but
Close Up freshens breath.
 PC is synonymous with business
computing, Apple = creativity
The Law of Candour
 When you admit a negative, the prospect
will give you a positive.
 E.g., the 1970 VW will stay ugly longer –
implies reliability not good looks.
 Prospects know what the truth is, and
they reward honesty
 UPS’s brown trucks are ugly, but we love
the truck
The Law of Singularity
 In each situation, only one move will
produce substantial results. In a military
sense, this is called the line of least
expectation.
 Choose the move where you expect the
least chance of “surprises”.
 E.g., the Allied invasion of Normandy.
The Law of
Unpredictability
 Unless you write your competitors’ plans,
you can’t predict the future.
 It is best to be flexible and ready to react
to changes in the market.
The Law of Success
 Success often leads to arrogance, and
arrogance to failure.
 GM was successful into the 70s but
continued to lose share thru the 90s, and
all that time they assumed they knew
what consumers wanted
 In 1985 IBM assumed they owned the
PC market
The Law of Failure
 Failure is to be expected and accepted.
 Ford almost lost the company on the
Edsel in the 50’s
 Radio Shack and Apple marketed some
disappointing computers in the 80’s
The Law of Hype
 The situation is often the opposite of the
way it appears in the press. When Ford
was successful, the company said very
little. Now it throws a lot of press
conferences.
 What do you think when a car dealer
says, “We have the best prices in town.”
The Law of Acceleration
 Successful programs are not built on
fads; they’re built on trends. Ninja Turtles
could have been the next Barbie dolls if
the market hadn’t been flooded, and if
the makers had tried to turn the fad into a
trend.
The Law of Resources
 Without adequate funding an idea won’t
get off the ground.
 Regardless of how good a product is, the
only product that sells is the one the
consumer is aware of.