22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

What does Marketing Teach you?
 In terms of a New Product Launch or

Promoting an existing product what sort of an
approach does Marketing Teach you? How
do you successfully market a product?
1
Definitions
 Immutable – (adjective) Unchanging or

unable to change.
 Law – (noun) A rule which cannot or should
not be broken.
2
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,
Written by Al Ries and Jack Trout
 The Law of Leadership;
Its better to be First in the Market than it is to
be Better.
 How Many of you Know the name of the First

Person on the Moon?
 Sometimes called: The First Mover

Advantage
3
 Who was the Second Person on the Moon?
 Leader becomes Generic.
 E.g.: Have you ever asked for a

Cellophane Tape?
 If you are asking for Surf you are actually

asking for: __________________?
4
Law of the Category
 If you cant be first in the Market be the First

in the category.
 Are you interested in a Cellular Service or

what new is being offered by the Service?
 Paktel was the FIRST provider of Cellular

Connections, Mobilink was the FIRST to
provide GSM and Text Msg Servicing.
5
Law of the Mind
 Its better to be first in the mind than to be first

in the marketplace.
 Which was the FIRST News Channel of

Pakistan?
 E.g., Altair 8800 was the first PC, but Apple

got first in the mind.
6
Law of Perception
 Marketing is not a battle of products it’s a battle of

perceptions.
 Reality is subject to our interpretation of Reality.

Cross Cultural Mistakes. Mistakes in interpretation.
 I just bought a Honda means?
 Is Honda better than Toyota? Is Toyota better than
Honda?
 Which would you rather have? Why?
7
 New Coke Failed after 200,000 taste tests
proved it was the better Cola drink. Today the
launch of the New Coke is a Chapter in every
Marketing Book discussing the importance of
perception.
8
The Law of Exclusivity
 Two Companies Cannot Own The Same

Word in the Prospects Mind.
 Dawlance = _ _ _ _ _ _ _
 Pepsi = New Generation
9
The Law of the Ladder
 The Strategy to use depends on which rung you

occupy on the ladder.
 E.g. Avis is 2nd – we try harder.

 Hardee’s is third or forth, and they try even harder—
and trying to find an unoccupied rung.
 To increase the size of the ladder, 7Up became the
“Uncola” from the Lemon and Lime Drink.
 Being closer to the top usually leads to risk aversion
10
The Law of Duality
 In the Long Run Every Market Becomes a

Two Horse Race.
 E.g., Coke v Pepsi, Kodak v Fuji, McDonalds

and Burger King.
 Dell v HP/Compaq
11
The Law of the Opposite
 If you’re shooting for second place your

strategy is determined by the leader.
 Coke is an old soft drink, so Pepsi went
successfully for the choice of a new
generation.
 Pepsi = New Generation
 Thumbs Up = Not for Kids, Grow up to
Thumbs up!
12
The Law of Line Extension.
 There is an irresistible pressure to extend the

equity of the brand.
 In Simple Terms : Don’t Put your name on

Everything.
 E.g, Lays, Splash
13
Law of Attributes
 For Every Attribute there is an opposite,

effective attribute.
 E.g., Milk Pak and Haleeb.

 Crest toothpaste fights cavities, but Close Up
freshens breath.
14
Law of Candor
 When you admit a negative the prospect will give

you a positive.
 A negative is more acceptable than a positive and

that opens the mind.
 Prospects know what the truth is, and they reward
honesty
 The 1970 V W will stay Ugly Longer implies
reliability not good looks
 UPS’s brown trucks are ugly, but we love the truck
15
Law of Focus
 The most powerful concept in marketing is

owning a word in the prospect’s mind.
 Or when the brand become synonymous with
the category
 E.g., Xerox this, FedEx that, and get me
some Kleenex.
 New ones: iPod & Blackberry
16
Law of Division
 Over time, a category will divide and become

two or more categories.
 e.g., computers, automobiles, coffee
17
Law of Perspective
 Marketing effects take place over an

extended period of time.
 Don’t expect results to be instantaneous
 A successful campaign can resonate for
years
18
Law of Sacrifice
 You have to give up something in order to get

something.
 E.g., FedEx sacrificed other air freight options
for small packages overnight, and owned the
word “overnight”.
19
Law of Singularity
 In each situation, only one move will produce

substantial results. In a military sense, this is
called the line of least expectation.
 Choose the move where you expect the least
chance of “surprises”.
 E.g., Nokia’s move
20
Law of Unpredictability
 Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you

can’t predict the future.
 It is best to be flexible and ready to react to
changes in the market.
21
Law of Success
 Success often leads to arrogance, and

arrogance to failure.
 GM was successful into the 70s but
continued to lose share thru the 90s, and all
that time they assumed they knew what
consumers wanted
 In 1985 IBM assumed they owned the PC
market
22
Law of Failure
 Failure is to be expected and accepted.

 Ford almost lost the company on the Edsel in
the 50’s
 Radio Shack and Apple marketed some
disappointing computers in the 80’s
23
Law of Hype
 The situation is often the opposite of the way

it appears in the press. When Ford was
successful, the company said very little. Now
it throws a lot of press conferences.
 What do you think when a car dealer says,
“We have the best prices in town.”
24
Law of Acceleration
 Successful programs are not built on fads;

they’re built on trends. Ninja Turtles could
have been the next Barbie dolls if the market
hadn’t been flooded, and if the makers had
tried to turn the fad into a trend.
25
Law of Resources
 Without adequate funding an idea won’t get

off the ground.
 Regardless of how good a product is, the
only product that sells is the one the
consumer is aware of.
26

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What does Marketing Teach you?

 In terms of a New Product Launch or

 Immutable – (adjective) Unchanging or

 How Many of you Know the name of the First

 Sometimes called: The First Mover

 Leader becomes Generic.

 E.g.: Have you ever asked for a

 If you are asking for Surf you are actually

 If you cant be first in the Market be the First

 Are you interested in a Cellular Service or

 Paktel was the FIRST provider of Cellular

 Its better to be first in the mind than to be first

 Which was the FIRST News Channel of

 E.g., Altair 8800 was the first PC, but Apple

 Marketing is not a battle of products it’s a battle of

 Reality is subject to our interpretation of Reality.

 Two Companies Cannot Own The Same

 Pepsi = New Generation

 The Strategy to use depends on which rung you

 E.g. Avis is 2nd – we try harder.

 In the Long Run Every Market Becomes a

 E.g., Coke v Pepsi, Kodak v Fuji, McDonalds

 If you’re shooting for second place your

 There is an irresistible pressure to extend the

 In Simple Terms : Don’t Put your name on

 E.g, Lays, Splash

 For Every Attribute there is an opposite,

 E.g., Milk Pak and Haleeb.

 When you admit a negative the prospect will give

 A negative is more acceptable than a positive and

 The most powerful concept in marketing is

 Over time, a category will divide and become

 Marketing effects take place over an

 You have to give up something in order to get

 In each situation, only one move will produce

 Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you

 Success often leads to arrogance, and

 Failure is to be expected and accepted.

 The situation is often the opposite of the way

 Successful programs are not built on fads;

 Without adequate funding an idea won’t get

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