22 Laws of Marketing
(Part 1 of 2)
In 1993, Al Ries and Jack Trout published a book called “22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. Violate them at your own risk.”
If you’re not familiar with the names Al Ries and Jack Trout, they’re highly respected marketing specialists and authors. They’ve have written many popular marketing books including “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind”, “Bottom Up Marketing” and “Marketing Warfare”.
“22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” is the third book they wrote together. Some in the industry have called it the marketing bible.
For copywriters, being aware of their 22 marketing laws will give you key insights into the relationship the product you’re promoting has to its marketplace. Which can’t help but open you up to new ways of thinking when it comes to maximizing your product’s appeal.
Reis and Trout make no bones about it: Violate these laws and you run the risk of failure.
However they also warn you that if you apply these laws you run the risk of being bad mouthed, ignored and even ostracized.
Why? Because many of them fly in the face of corporate ego and conventional wisdom.
Having said that, what follows is my summary of their first 11 Immutable Laws. Read them at your own risk …
The Law of Leadership – It’s better to be first that is it is to be better.
The first person to fly across the Atlantic was Charles Lindbergh. Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Roger Bannister was the first person to run the four minute mile.
What are the names of the people who accomplished these feats second?
Bert Hinkler was the second man to fly across the Atlantic. Buzz Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong onto the moon’s surface. John Landy was the second man to run a mile in less than four minutes (only six weeks after Bannister did).
While you may have heard of Aldrin, you’re most likely not familiar with the names Hinkler and Landy.
Similarly, the leading category in any brand is almost always the first brand into the prospect’s mind. Hertz with rent-a-cars. IBM with computers. Coca-Cola in cola.
After WWII, Heineken was the first imported beer to make a name for itself in America. Decades later, it’s still number one. Advil was the first Ibuprofen and is still number one. Time still leads Newsweek. Coke leads Pepsi
If you’re second in your prospects mind you’ll languish with the Buzz Aldrins, John Landys and Bert Hinklers of the world.
In spite of the benefits of being first though, most companies tend to wait companies until a market develops and then they jump in.
The Law of the Category – If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.
While Bert Hinkler’s name is not a household word, I’m sure you know the name of the third person who successfully flew across the Atlantic Ocean. Her name was Amelia Earhart. The first female to fly across the Atlantic.
If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.
Charles Schwab didn’t open a better brokerage firm; he opened up the first discount broker. Lear’s isn’t the best selling woman’s magazine; they’re the best selling magazine for mature women. Dell wasn’t the biggest computer company; they’re the biggest computer company to sell their computers over the phone.
The Law of the Mind – It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.
First personal computer was the MITS Altair 8800. Duryea was the first automobile. Du Mont is the first commercial TV set.
What’s going on? Is the just mentioned Law of Leadership wrong.
Not at all. Here’s the thing …
IBM wasn’t first in the marketplace with a mainframe computer, Remington was.
However, IBM began a massive marketing campaign to get into people’s mind first and when they did they won the computer battle early.
Being first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first in the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get into the mind first.
The Law of Perception – Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions.
Some marketers see the product as the hero of the marketing program and that you win and lose based on the merits of your products.
Ries and Trout disagree – what’s important is the perceptions that exist in the minds of your prospects and customers. They cite as an example the three largest selling Japanese imports, Honda, Toyota and Nissan.
Most people think the battle between the three brands is based on quality, styling horse power price. Not true. It’s what people think about Honda Toyota and Nissan which determines which brand will win.
The Law of Focus – The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind.
A company can become incredibly successful if it can find a way to own a word in the mind of the prospect.
Federal Express was able to put the word ‘overnight’ in the minds of their prospects. Xerox owns ‘copier’; Hershey owns ‘chocolate bar’; Coke owns ‘cola’; Heinz owns ‘ketchup’; Crest owns ‘cavities’; Volvo owns safety; Nordstrom’s owns service.
The word should be simple and benefit oriented. One word is better than three or four.
Words can change ownership. In the early days of the personal computer, Lotus owned the word ‘spreadsheet’. Now it belongs to Microsoft thanks to ‘Excel’.
The Law of Exclusivity – Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind.
When a competitor owns a word or position it’s futile to own the same word. For instance Volvo owns the word ‘safety’. Many automakers have tried to wrestle that word away from them, but none have been successful.
Energizer tried to wrestle ‘long lasting’ away from Duracell. But Duracell got in people’s minds first.
The Law of the Ladder – The strategy to use depends on which rungs you occupy on the ladder.
The primary objective is to be first, but if you’re not – all is not lost.
Avis lost money for 13 years in a row when they used the slogan “Finest in rent-a-cars”. It wasn’t until they changed it to “Avis is only No.2 in rent-a-cars. So why go with us? We try harder” that their fortune turned around. (Avis was later sold to ITT who ordered up the advertising theme “Avis is going to be number one” which bombed.)
Another campaign that worked was when 7 Up, the leader in the lemon-lime soda category wanted to make inroads into the larger cola market. When they positioned themselves as “The Uncola” they climbed to the third largest selling soft drink in America.
The Law of Duality – In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.
In batteries, it’s Eveready and Duracell. In photographic film, it’s Kodak and Fuji. In rent-a-cars, it’s Hertz and Avis. In mouthwash, it’s Listerine and Scope. In fast food, it’s McDonalds and Burger King. In running shoes, it’s Nike and Reebok. In toothpaste, it’s Crest and Colgate.
The Law of the Opposite – If you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.
If you’re number two it makes sense to try and leverage the leader’s strength into a weakness. An example of this is the campaign Pepsi Cola used to become the choice of the new generation (versus Coke-Cola being the old established product).
Scope successful hung the “medical breath” label on market leader Listerine by becoming the good tasting mouthwash that kills germs.
Other examples are Lowenbrau’s “You’ve tasted the German beer that’s the most popular in American. Now taste the German beer that’s the most popular in German” and advertising slogan used to launch Tylenol in 1955 “For the millions who should not take aspirin” (when it was discovered that aspirin caused stomach bleeding).
The Law of Division – Over time a category will divide and become two or more categories.
A category starts off as a single entity. But over time it breaks up into other segments.
Computers for example, you have: mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, notebooks.
Beer is the same way. Today’s there’s imported and domestic beer. Light, draft and dry beers. Even non-alcoholic beers.
Each segment has its own leader (which is rarely the leader in the original category).
The Law of Perspective – Marketing effects takes place over an extended period of time.
Does a sale increase a company’s business or decrease it? Obviously in short term it increases it, but more and more there’s evidence to show sales decrease business in the long term by educating customers not to buy at regular prices.
Sales also say to people that your regular prices are too high. To maintain volume some companies find they have to run continuous sales. In the retail field, the big winners are Kmart and Wal-mart who are known for their everyday low prices.
That’s it for the first 11. Next week I’ll post laws 12 through 22.
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I'm saving this article on my desktop so I can reach it quickly and frequently. It makes an excellent reference to keep yourself on the straight and narrow. Thanks John, I'm really looking forward to the next increment. Mahalo and Aloha Kahuna
Kahuna – July 12, 2009 at 7:33 am