The 22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing: Violate Them At Your Own Risk
by Al Ries & Jack Trout, published 1993
The redundant and contradictory laws of marketing
The 22 Laws is a helpful quick-read book for those looking to dip their toe into the waters of marketing. It takes a high level approach to the strategy of marketing and is definitely a “how-to-do” not “what-to-do” title. As such, my goal in this write-up is to focus on the laws I found to be most reasonable and deserving of consideration, the combine several laws that seemed to be versions of one another or the same concept examined from different angles, and dropped a number of laws I thought were too crude to be of any use.
An abridged journal of immutable marketing laws
My abridged version of The 22 Laws is as follows:
- It’s better to be first than it is to be better
- If you can’t be first in an existing category, introduce a new one in which you can be first
- Target mindshare, not marketshare
- Perception is reality; focus on perception, not products
- Own an exclusive word or attribute; your product and a category keyword or attribute should be inseparable in people’s minds
- The only positions that count in the market are first and second, and second’s marketing strategy is dictated by first’s
- Marketing categories will continually bifurcate over time
- There is a temptation to extend brand equity to new product lines, which simply dilutes the brand and invites additional competition
- You must be willing to give up product line, target market or constant change in order to dominate a market
- Failure is to be expected and accepted
- Trends, not fads, are the key to long-term marketing success
Putting the 11 laws into practice
Hopefully each of the 11 abridged marketing laws above are self-explanatory. But even as simple as they are, each holds a wealth of additional implications.
Law 1 is related to the concept of competition and is tied to laws 3 and 4. If you are the first product into a market you will not only likely benefit from a first-mover advantage but, if done correctly, you will have positioned yourself to define the market. People form habits and tend to make up their mind once and then not change it. When you’re first into the market you have a fortress position within people’s minds that entrant firms must assault if they hope to dislodge you. People tend to remember those who did things first, not best. It is easier to entrench than dislodge.
This is why law 2 is important– you want to avoid being an entrant in the competitive landscape as much as you can. Much better to create a category where you are the only supplier at best, or force your competitors to be No. 2, 3, 4, etc. at worst. Once you’ve created a category you are first in, promote the category, not your brand.
Marketing is a deeply psychological enterprise, which is why laws 3-5 focus on the role perception and mental imagery play in good marketing practice. But the specific application of these psychological rules is once again strategic in nature– they are each about how you compete and limiting your competition. By owning a word or attribute, as law 5 suggests, you deny your competition the benefit of identifying their product with that word and you often get a halo effect as related words and benefits get associated with your product in the consumer’s mind as well. The most effective words are simple and benefit oriented.
Furthermore, your word should be exclusive and precise, and you should only have one. If you pick something like “quality” you haven’t said anything about your product, because everyone intends to create a product with quality. You haven’t differentiated. And if you try to pick “value and safety”, you’ll lose because you’re now competing with two opponents– the one which prides itself on value and the one which prides itself on safety. It’s harder to fight two people than one. And it should go without saying that, if available, you should always choose the most important word or attribute to focus on.
Law 6 is important to understanding the concept of relativity in marketing. Your marketing strategy should always take account of “which rung of the ladder” you’re on as certain claims and strategies won’t make sense or will sound inauthentic if given from the wrong place on the market share ladder. Further, it will never be appropriate to market as if you’re No. 1, when you’re No. 2. The advantage of No. 1 is telling everyone you’re the best. The advantage to No. 2 is telling people they have an alternative to No. 1.
Laws 7-9 deal with the concept of marketing focus, or concentrating your marketing strategy to a narrow band where you can actually be competitive. Category bifurcation is a natural process (eg., computers –> laptops vs. desktops; automobiles –> family sedans vs. economy compacts, etc.) in market evolution. Many firms make the mistake of trying to maintain leadership in all resulting markets as initial markets bifurcate, instead of sticking to the market they have an advantage in where their brand is trusted most.
Worse, they dilute their own brand by bifurcating their market themselves (eg., 7UP –> cherry 7UP vs. original 7UP). The market that 7UP made for itself as an “uncola” and the marketing strategy it followed to enable that success does not carry over to derivative products and it ends up just competing against itself. Sometimes, you simply expose yourself to more competition in the process as competitors mimic you and you further slice up a slice of the market.
This is why a successful marketing strategy entails “sacrifice”, either of product line, target market or the impetus to constantly change. Expanding product lines mean expanding competition. According to earlier marketing laws, a brand can’t mean everything or it means nothing. Expanding product lines under a brand means movement toward “meaning everything/nothing”.
Similarly, few products will appeal to everyone. Attempts to appeal to everyone usually result in appealing to no one. Focus on the target markets where your product has the strongest appeal and then dominate those markets. And when you have a marketing strategy that works and results in market dominance, leave it alone, don’t go out in search of a new market you might not dominate (while giving up your dominant position in the process!)
The eleventh law highlights the long-term nature of successful marketing strategies. Good marketing is about coming up with an angle or word that differentiates your product and then establishing a long-term marketing direction to maximize the idea or angle over time. This implies avoiding hype and the temptation to market your product as a fad and instead seek to create a trend, which is more enduring and has more competitive inertia making it harder for your opponents to fight.
The law of failure (10) is the one likely most forgotten and least appreciated. Failure will happen. Not every strategy will work out. In the event of a failure, it’s best to cut your losses early and change directions. At the same time, it’s critical to understand that the first several laws of marketing entail risk-taking (for example, being first at anything involves sticking your neck out) so occasional failure is part of the territory.
A House Rises 