Branding 101

Laws of Branding

This article talks about the immutable laws of branding created over 2 decades ago!

The?22 Immutable Laws of Branding?by Al Ries and Laura Ries was published in 1998. That’s two decades ago! Lot of things have changed. Technology is not the same neither are problems. Then how can a book more than 20 years ago, could predict and confidently state that these laws would be relevant even today!

The?22 Immutable Laws of Branding?is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries. Combining?The?22 Immutable Laws of Branding?and?The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding,?this book proclaims that the only way to stand out in today’s marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand — and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so.

Since, we know how much our attention-span is we have decided to bring you all the 22 Laws Of Branding!

The Law of Expansion: “The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.”

Brands that try to expand turn invisible for the consumers. They don’t stand for anything in particular and just confuse the viewers. The book states that more narrow in scope the brand, the more it survives!

The Law of Contraction: “A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.”

Focusing on anything will help you get better. When a brand narrows its focus it removed all the other distraction to attract the customers it wants. Hence, the law of contraction still holds!

The Law of Publicity: “The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising.”

This law is related to the first-mover advantage of the corporate world. The birth of any brand is achieved when its the first one in the market. Advertising attracts nominal customers around the brand’s inception and does not generate the buzz a publicity does.

The Law of Advertising: “Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy.”

If you want to win the minds of consumers, you gotta be on their mind first! If they don’t know you, they are not going to buy from you.

The Law of the Word: “A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.”

Das Auto. What does that remind you of? Exactly. Having your own words will make the consumer think of you every time they hear it!

The Law of Credentials: “The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.”

Authentic sells. Nobody wants a Nike duplicate rather than something original. If the brand is authentic, consumers can relate to them better.

The Law of Quality: “Quality is important, but brands are not built by quality alone.”

Brands are not built by quality alone. There are hundreds of factors in branding that help in making the brand authentic. Focusing on only quality is detrimental to the company.

The Law of the Category: “A leading brand should promote the category, not the brand.”

If you know that consumer knows your name, you don’t need to promote it again and again. This way, you force your competitors to acknowledge the category instead of just brand names.

The Law of the Name: “In the long run a brand is nothing more than a name.”

The law of the name is true and essential to all things related to a brand. After a point, brand stops functioning as a brand and instead lives through its name.

The Law of the Generic: “One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name. Thing more than a name.”

If your brand name is generic it will be forgotten soon enough to the original meaning of the word. Hence, brands with quirky names tend to last longer and faster.

The Law of Extensions: “The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put its name on everything.”

Line extension extends the capabilities of the brand. If it fails to deliver the whole brand name gets destroyed in seconds. Line extensions work easily to make or break a brand. Be careful!

The Law of Fellowship: “In order to build the category, a brand should welcome other brands.”

50% is the highest market share any brand can hope to achieve. Anything more than that can be achieved through multiple brand names. Consumer can feel uncomfortable having a singular choice in a category. Thus the fellowship law works.

The Law of the Company: “Brands are brands. Companies are companies. There is a difference.”

Companies know the importance of brand names having a better presence than their companies that own them. That’s why they don’t use these names freely instead of the brand names.

The Law of Subbrands: “What branding builds, subbranding can destroy.”

Subbranding extends the product line. It increases the categories of the product. If applied poorly it will only result in dilution of the brand name in the minds of the consumers.

The Law of Siblings: “There is a time and a place to launch a second brand.”

Second brands should be selected carefully. Wrong time, wrong place can result in your second brand having a minimal response. The second brand will also result in people judging your original brand. If you want to launch a scond brand, do so at the earliest.

The Law of Shape: “A brand’s logotype should be designed to fit the eyes. Both eyes.”

This is pretty self-explanatory!

The Law of Color: “A brand should use a color that is opposite of major competitor’s.”

Having the same colors will only confuse the consumers. And your brand will feel like a cheap copy. Never ever use the same colors.

The Law of Borders: “There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.”

A brand should not have any barriers like borders. Brands should transcend cities, states, nations!

The Law of Consistency: “A brand is not built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years.”

Everyone of the brands that have been successful, wasn’t really a hit in the beginning. Even the brands that have been successful at start flopped later. The beginning does not matter only time can tell.

The Law of Change: “Brands can be changed, but only infrequently and only very carefully.”

Don’t change your brands ever day its not your clothes!

The Law of Mortality: “No brand will live forever. Euthanasia is often the best solution.”

Kind of sad but true. Better kill the brand before it wanes into mediocrity and bankruptcy.

The Law of Singularity: “The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.”

Keep it simple, stupid! Focus on one thing and let your brand take its own natural course!

Conclusion

These are the basic laws of branding used in marketing by every big brand! Its been two decades since the book debuted but is still relevant today!

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