The 22 Laws of Marketing - Condensed Version

Have you ever wondered how brands like Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft succeed and how they keep their positions in their industries? Wouldn't it be great to know what steps these big brands of today have taken to achieve success?

I started doing some research to find the answer and found countless books giving steps and strategies the "big" brands use to achieve marketing success. But one book stood out for me, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing", by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Al and Jack are both expert marketing and brand strategists with decades of experience working with some of the best brands in the world. These brand experts created this book to help other marketing professionals, business leaders, and students develop strong brands that stand the test of time by following the 22 laws of marketing.

So, let's jump into my summarized version of these 22 Laws of Marketing. If you are a marketing professional or aspiring to become one, this should be the book you keep in your marketing arsenal. Some of these "Laws" of marketing can be used at your discretion, let's keep in mind this book was published in the Mad-Men era of advertising in 1993!

Law 1: The Law of Leadership

Being first in a category always leads to being first in a prospect’s mind and can even lead to your product’s brand name becoming the generic name in the category. For example, when you ask for a tissue, you might ask for a Kleenex. And if you can't be the first skip to "Law 2".

Law 2: The Law of the Category

If you can't be first in a category, create a new category within the main category. Tesla would not have been able to compete if they were manufacturing combustion engines or even a hybrid, so they created the electric vehicle category and whenever you think of an electric vehicle you most probably think of Tesla.

Law 3: The Law of the Mind

It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace. Easy-to-remember brand names will often be the choice customers choose when looking for a product. In 1974 the MITS Altair 8800 was launched, in the early days of personal computers. Apple only launched its Apple II in 1976 and got into the mind of the consumer. We can see today with Apple's success how powerful the mind of the consumer is.

Law 4: The Law of Perception

When marketing your brand, keep in mind what the perception of your brand is in the consumer's mind. In Japan, Honda's customers had the perception that Honda was the manufacturer of motorcycles and not cars, this led to the perception that customers didn't want to purchase cars from a motorcycle manufacturer, Yamaha has also been in a similar position with their broad manufacturing markets, from musical instruments to boat engines.

Law 5: The Law of Focus

Choose a word that you want your customers to associate with your brand. Volkswagen owned the words "people's car" and Volvo owned "Safety". Instead of expanding your brand, you should keep the brand focused on one word and launch unique brands with a different word. This is exactly what Apple did with the "High-capacity MP3 player".

Law 6: The Law of Exclusivity

Two or more brands can't own a word in the mind of a customer. Do your homework on your competitors to avoid using their "owned" words. If you use the words your competitors own, you will be driving customers directly to their doors.

Law 7: The Law of the Ladder

Know which position you are on the market ladder of the category your brand is in. The advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach used Avis's second position in the rental car industry to their advantage and the “We Try Harder” ads were an instant hit.

Law 8: The Law of Duality

Young markets have a lot of competition but as time goes on and market share is settled there are usually two leading brands that compete for positions one and two on the market ladder. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are fitting examples of this.

Law 9: The Law of the Opposite

The key is to be different from your competition and not to be better than your competition. When you are in the second position in your market, the market leader usually determines your strategy, and it is better to differentiate your brand from the market leader.

Law 10: The Law of Division

Over time there are new subcategories created within the main category, we have seen this in the personal computers category, which expanded to desktops, laptops, and tablets, soon smartphones will be competing in the personal computer space with dockable systems. Samsung has been working on this with "Samsung DeX" utilizing your phone as a computer you can dock at your home desk as well as your office desk.

Law 11: The Law of Perspective

This law might be confused with Law 4, but it is completely different. Companies often forget this rule with marketing efforts: short-term loss for long-term gain. By running monthly or weekly sales on your products you might be giving your customers the perspective that if they wait, they will be able to purchase your products at a sale price. a Sale might increase your revenue in the short term but decrease revenue in the long term.

Law 12: The Law of Line Extension

Extending the equity of your brand could weaken the stability of your brand over a long-term period. Instead of taking your successful brand and using it on a new product, create a new brand for the product under your main brand which shares the same values. The best example of this can be Apple's product range with iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.

Law 13: The Law of Sacrifice

The law of sacrifice is the opposite of law 12, you must give up something to gain something. When looking at what to sacrifice have a look at your brand and what you will be sacrificing: your product line, your target market, or constantly changing your messaging. By sacrificing your product line, you will be able to change your message to display the versatility of a product or your brand.

Law 14: The Law of Attributes

"For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute." Your brand must have its attribute, use the opposite attribute of what your competition is marketing. It is far better to own your attribute to succeed, but you must focus on the importance of the attribute. If your competition uses your attribute, highlight the value of the attribute.

Law 15: The Law of Candor

"Be Genuine". Being truthful in business is a rare quality. Make your brand bold enough to stand by a negative aspect of your brand and your customers will trust your brand more. "All publicity is good if it is intelligent."

Law 16: The Law of Singularity

There can only be one winner, focus on the marketing campaign that produces the most revenue. Follow the Pareto principle which is that 80% of the results will come from 20% of causes. Instead of spreading resources across marketing campaigns, focus on improving on campaigns that produce 80% of the results. This way you can study the marketplace and implement bold campaigns that will increase your market share.

Law 17: The Law of Unpredictability

Flexibility in your campaigns can go a long way. Being able to change direction and implement improvements is the best way to fight unpredictability. You don't know what your competition is going to do next so being able to adjust your campaigns will give you the upper hand. "A long-term plan is rigid, while a long-term direction is flexible."

Law 18: The Law of Success

Ego is the enemy of a successful marketing campaign. Don’t let your views and biases infect your marketing campaigns, it will make your brand seem arrogant and you lose the objective you have been trying to achieve. Put yourself into your customer's shoes and see how your brand fits into their world.

Law 19: The Law of Failure

"Failure is to be expected and accepted." Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, used the "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach to marketing campaigns. Often your marketing campaigns fail and failing does not mean the end of the road, it often leads to lessons learned and progress made. The key is to take calculated risks, expect and recognize failures, and experiment with diverse marketing campaigns.

Law 20: The Law of Hype

If a brand is trying to maximize hype it usually indicates that the brand is in trouble. Coca-Cola launched "New Coke" in 1980 and it was an epic failure, Coca-Cola then spent over a billion dollars in publicity which made it the most advertised soft drink in history only for Coca-Cola to revert to their "Original" formula.

Law 21: The Law of Acceleration

"A fad is like a wave in the ocean. A trend is like a tide in the ocean." Fads get a lot of attention, but it is always short-lived, a splendid example is the fidget spinner. Trends on the other hand generate more sustainable, long-term revenue. Fads can still generate short-term revenue if your marketing campaigns are flexible to accommodate these fads. Trends have the most powerful effect on your brand over time.

Law 22: The Law of Resources

Without Mike Markkula’s $91,000 investment, Apple might have never been able to reach the success it has today. An idea with a lot of resources to back it up has a greater chance of success than another idea with no resources. It takes resources to get into the mind of your customer. Your brand might not have the same budget as your competitors but can be a worthy competitor with the right resources.

“Change isn’t easy, but it’s the only way to cope with an unpredictable future.”

-(Page 103)

Marketing and advertising are a science and not all strategies will work for your brand. Keep on experimenting and diversifying your campaigns, you might be shocked which brings you the best returns. These 22 laws are great for setting foundations your brand can build on or improving existing campaigns.

If you are interested in business, marketing, or startups this book is a must-read for you! Let me know your thoughts on these 22 Laws of Marketing and if you have had any success implementing these laws into your brand.