Top 10 Laws of Marketing- Part 1

Let's Start this article with a simple question.

Clearly everyone knows the 1st person on Moon, ie, Neil Amstrong. However, very few remember the 2nd person on moon. Similarly, few people remember 2nd of anything.

Let's look at some examples to bring alive the First Law for Marketing.

If you look at the below brands, what do you think is unique about these brands?

Well, These are brands which are leaders in their category & over a period of time have become generic & synonymous to the category.

Which brings us to the First Law of Marketing-

1.     Law of Leadership

It states that it is better to be 1st than it is to be better, because it is much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product.

The leading brand in a category is almost always the first brand into the prospects mind.

Now, not every 1st is going to become successful, however, timing is an issue- your 1st could be too late, however, generally 1st brand name tends to maintain leadership because often the name becomes Generic to the category.

Now, what would you do if you are not the first in the Category? This brings us to the next Law. ie, Law of the Category.

2.     Law of the Category

This Law states that, If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

If you didn’t get into the prospects mind first. Find a new category you can be first in.

For any new Launch, it is suggested that don’t ask ‘how this new product is better than competition’, ask 'what category is this new product 1st in?

Forget the brand. Think categories.

Everyone is interested in what’s new. Few people are interested in what's better.

Some examples to elaborate Law of Category:

In the above example, smart thing that Dell & even Apple did was that they created a completely new subcategory of laptops & computers. Dell said, we will provide customized laptops at your door step.

Similarly, Kingfisher is the market leader in beers, Bira smartly created a new category of premium freshly brewed beers. They did not say that my beer is better than kingfisher, they just created a new sub-category

Which brings us to the one of the most important Laws of Marketing that I think is critical for any brand to succeed in the Marketplace.

3.     Law of Focus

From the above example, the One word that comes to mind are as below:

Thumbs Up: Thunder

Sprite: Clear

Mirinda: Pagalpanti

Volvo: Safety

FedEx: Overnight Delivery

Domino's Pizza: 30 Minutes Delivery

• So clearly these are some great brands which have stayed relevant & consistently built their association with just One Word/Phrase.
• Hence, Most powerful concept in marketing -> “owning a word in the prospects mind”
• Because you burn your way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word or concept. However, the word has to be available & No one else can have a lock on it and it has to be Most effective word & benefit oriented.
• You can't stand for something if you chase after everything.

In my experience working at PepsiCo, there have been brands which have struggled such as Pepsi, 7up, primarily because these brands continuously changed their positioning in the consumers mind. However, there is one brand Mountain dew which has consistently positioned itself as the fear drink (with its tagline, Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai) and it is the highest selling beverage in the Pepsico portfolio.

Similarly, Nike has also been consistent with just do it & apple with think different!! 

This brings us to the next Law which is the Law of Perception.

4.     Law of Perception

Now, what is the difference between Honda in USA & Honda in China?

Both have the same product portfolio for the market, however, it is only the perception that differentiates the 2 markets.

Because of the perception created in the consumers mind, People in USA consider honda cars to be efficient & economical whereas, in China Honda cars are just not in consideration. They think of Honda is just a bike!!

Hence, Marketing is not a battle of product, it’s a battle of perceptions

• Understand how perceptions are formed in the mind & build your marketing programs on those perceptions.
• Battle between brands are not only based on quality, styling, horsepower & price. It's what people think about a honda, toyota or nissan that determines which brand will win.

5.     Law of the Ladder

As per this law, When you speak to a consumer, that I want to buy a soap, a coldrink, toothpaste, or anything, there is a ladder of preference that a consumer has in his mind.

• All products are not perceived as equal. There's a hierarchy in the mind that prospects use in making decisions
• The strategy to use, depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder
• There's a relationship between market share & your position on the ladder in the prospects mind.
• Below are some examples with the Category and the brands that come to mind whenever you call out the Category name.

These are my top 5 laws, not in the order of Priority. Hope this has been helpful & insightful. Will share the balance 5 Laws in my next article soon.

Do share your feedback in the Comments section.