Printed
with permission from TCI
Management Consultants. A group of senior-level management
consultants, offering strategic planning and marketing services
to a wide range of public and private sector clients.
The
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
by Al Ries and Jack Trout
HarperCollins, New York, 1994
This
book is the latest in a long line from the team of Al Ries
and Jack Trout, whose other titles include Marketing Warfare,
Positioning - The Battle for your Mind, and Bottom-Up Marketing
. In this most recent book they argue that the market position
of a product or service in the perception of the customer
is everything, and offer up twenty-two "immutable"
laws of marketing that to them demonstrate this fundamental
point.
Their
basic thesis is that "...to cope with the terrifying
reality of being alone in the universe, people project themselves
on the outside world. They "live" in the arena
of books, movies, television, newspapers, magazines. They
"belong" to clubs, organizations, institutions.
These outside representations of the world seem more real
than the reality inside their own minds....
People
cling firmly to the belief that reality is the world outside
of the mind and that the individual is one small speck on
a global spaceship. Actually it's the opposite. The only
reality you can be sure about is in your own perceptions.
If the universe exists, it exists inside your own mind and
the minds of others. That's the reality that marketing programs
must deal with.....
Most
marketing mistakes stem from the assumptions that you're
fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws
in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of
view."
Their
twenty-two 'laws' are:
1. the
law of leadership - it is better to be first than it is
to be better: "The basic issue in marketing in creating
a category (i.e. a given type of product or service) you
can be first in. It's the law of leadership. It's better
to be first than it is to be better. ItÕs much easier
to get into the mind first than it is to try to convince
someone you have a better product than the one that did
get there first."
2. the
law of the category - if you can't be first in a category,
set up a new category you can be first in.
3. the
law of the mind - it's better to be first in the mind than
to be first in the marketplace: "Is something wrong
with the law of leadership (previously presented)? No, but
the law of the mind modifies it. It is better to be first
in the prospect's mind than first into the marketplace....Being
first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first
into the marketplace is important only to the extent that
it allows you to get into the mind first."
4. the
law of perception - marketing is not a battle of products,
it's a battle of perceptions.
5. the
law of focus - the most powerful concept in marketing is
owning a word in the prospect's mind (i.e. the way that
Coke 'owns' the word 'cola', or Xerox owns 'copier').
6. the
law of exclusivity - two companies cannot own the same word
in the prospect's mind.
7. the
law of the ladder - the strategy to use depends on which
rung you occupy on the ladder - each category has its own
ladder or hierarchy, and where your product or service is
in this hierarchy will determine your strategic options.
8. the
law of duality - in the long run, every market becomes a
two-horse race.
9. the
law of the opposite - if you're shooting for second place,
your strategy is determined by the market leader.
10.
the law of division - over time, a category will divide
and become two or more categories.
11.
the law of perspective - marketing effects take place over
an extended period of time.
12.
the law of line extension - there's an irresistible pressure
to extend the equity of the brand: "One day a company
is tightly focused on a single produce that is highly profitable.
The next day the same company is spread thin over many products
and is losing money."
13.
the law of sacrifice - you have to give up something in
order to get something: "The law of sacrifice is the
opposite of the law of line extension. If you want to be
successful today, you should give something up. There are
three things to sacrifice: product line, target market,
and constant change."
14.
the law of attributes - for every attribute, there is an
opposite effective attribute: "Marketing is a battle
of ideas. So if you are to succeed, you must have an idea
or attribute of your own to focus your efforts around. Without
one, you had better have a low price. A very low price."
15.
the law of candor - when you admit a negative, the prospect
will give you a positive: "...it may come as a surprise
to you that one of the most effective ways to get into a
prospect's mind is to first admit a negative and then twist
it into a positive."
16.
the law of singularity - in each situation, only one move
will produce substantial results.
17.
the law of unpredictability - unless you write your competitor's
plans, you can't predict the future.
18.
the law of success - success often leads to arrogance, and
arrogance to failure.
19.
the law of failure - failure is to be expected and accepted.
20.
the law of hype - the situation is often the opposite of
the way it appears in the press: "When things are going
well, a company doesn't need the hype. When you need the
hype, it usually means you're in trouble."
21.
the law of acceleration - successful programs are not built
on fads, they're built on trends.
22.
the law of resources - without adequate funding, an idea
won't get off the ground: "Marketing is a game fought
in the mind of the prospect. You need money to get into
a mind. And you need money to stay in the mind once you
get there."
The
book makes intriguing reading, despite the fact that it
contains nothing startlingly new. Part of what makes it
interesting is its counter-intuitive, contrarian stance
on certain issues (for example the notion that product attributes
don't matter in and of themselves, and that it is essentially
the position of the product in the mind of the consumer
that is the important thing). However, with twenty-two 'laws',
there is something to cover just about every situation imaginable,
so the book seems more prescient than it actually is. (In
fact, given the fact that there are counter-examples to
just about every rule presented by the authors, perhaps
the only immutable law of marketing is that there are no
immutable laws of marketing!)
As a
warning, Ries and Trout caution that the advice given in
their book will probably not go over well with the senior
management in your company, who, having tremendous loyalty
invested in a particular brand, naturally see it as a key
asset to be capitalized upon, and are thus tempted into
the 'line extension' folly. Opposition can also be expected
from young 'hotshot marketing types' who are eager to change
things and make their mark on the organization.
We see
two uses for this book. The first application is as a 'diagnostic
check' of a company's market plan for a given product or
service; it is probably a useful exercise to cross-check
your own plans against the 'laws' presented here, if only
to ensure that all possible perspectives and issues have
been considered. The second use is a reminder of the importance
of the perception of your service or product in the mind
of your customer (and the consequent need to undertake qualitative
research such as focus groups and depth interviews to better
understand and define this perception).
The
above summary has been provided to you compliments of TCI
Management Consultants
