THE 22

IMMUTABLE LAWS
OF MARKETING
Violate Them At
Your Own Risk
AL RIES & JACK TROUT

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 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 1

MAIN IDEA
It’s basic human nature to assume that anything is possible. In a field like marketing, for example, most people would readily agree
with the idea you can achieve any marketing objective that can be named if you’re energetic enough, creative enough and if you
have enough time and money.
Yet in the real world if you attempt to construct a new building ignoring the laws of nature (like sound engineering), you’re going to
fail no matter how good your intentions. The same applies to building a marketing program. If you violate the 22 Laws of Marketing
(either intentionally or inadvertently), your marketing program is doomed to fail, irrespective of everything that may be done or every
resource that may be thrown at it.
In essence, the 22 Laws specify what will work in marketing and what doesn’t. As such, the laws govern marketplace success of
failure. Marketers and business managers can either learn these laws and work within their framework, or the laws will automatically
be working against them.

Law # 1 -- Leadership
It’s always better to be first to market rather than waiting to get to market with a better product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Law # 2 -- The Category
If it’s impossible to be first in a category, invent a new category in which you can be first to the market in. . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Law # 3 -- The Consumer’s Mind
It’s better to be first in the mind of the consumer than to be first in the marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Law # 4 -- Perception
Marketing is never a battle of products. It is always a battle of perceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Law # 5 -- Focus
The key to success in marketing is to find an effective way to come to own a word in the mind of the prospect. . . . . . . Page 3
Law # 6 --Exclusivity
No two companies can own the same word in the mind of the prospect or customer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Law # 7 -- The Law of the Ladder
The marketing strategy you should use will be dependent on which rung of the ladder you occupy. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Law # 8 -- Duality
Over the longer term, every marketing battle eventually becomes a two horse race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Law # 9 -- The Opposite
If you’re aiming for second place in the industry, your best strategy is determined by the leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Law # 10 -- Division
Over a period of time, most categories will divide into numerous segments, each acting like a category. . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Law # 11 -- Perspective
The results of marketing programs only become apparent over an extended period of time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
Law # 12 -- Line Extensions
There’s often an irresistible temptation to extend the equity of a successful brand into unrelated fields. . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
Law # 13 -- Sacrifice
You have to actually give up all the choices and focus on one thing in order to achieve anything significant. . . . . . . . . Page 5
Law # 14 -- Attributes
For every attribute used in its marketing, there is an opposite attribute someone else can use effectively. . . . . . . . . . Page 6
Law # 15 -- Candor
Anytime you admit a negative in your marketing, the prospect will treat that admission positively. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6
Law # 16 -- Singularity
In every marketing situation, there is always one move that will open the floodgates of substantial success. . . . . . . . . Page 6
Law # 17 -- Unpredictability
Unless you’re writing your competitor’s plans, the future will always be unpredictable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Law # 18 -- Success
Business success often leads to arrogance, which in turn leads to failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Law # 19 -- Failure
Failure in marketing should be both expected and accepted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Law # 20 -- Hype
The real situation with any marketing program is quite often the exact opposite of how it is reported. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
Law # 21 -- Acceleration

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Successful marketing programs are built on trends, not on temporary fads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
Law # 22 -- Resources
Without adequate funding, a good idea will never get off the ground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 2

Law # 1 -- Leadership there and then trying to develop something better than their
It’s always better to be first to market rather than competitors are presently offering.
waiting to get to market with a better product. A far more productive approach would be to spend more time
trying to develop an entirely new category altogether.
There is always a significant first mover advantage in business,
‘‘The latest and hottest subject in the business management
but this is particularly true in marketing. Getting into the mind
field is benchmarking. Touted as the "ultimate competitive
first is always easier to achieve than convincing a prospect you
have a better product than the one that did get there first. strategy", benchmarking is the process of comparing and
evaluating your company’s products against the best in the
The reasons for this are: industry. It’s an essential element in a process of ten called
1. There is a natural human tendency for people to stick with "total quality management". Unfortunately, benchmarking
what they’ve got. doesn’t work. Regardless of reality, people perceive the first
2. The first brand to market generally has an opportunity to product into the mind as superior. Marketing is a battle of
become a generic term for that product category -- and perceptions.’’
making it even harder for competitors to gain a foothold. -- Al Ries and Jack Trout
Despite that, most companies tend to pursue a ‘‘better product’’ ‘‘The basic issue in marketing is creating a category you can
style business strategy -- watching for evidence a market is be first in -- not in convincing people you have a better product.’’
-- Al Ries and Jack Trout

Law # 2 -- The Category happy coincidence will mean they have to buy from you since
If it’s impossible to be first in a category, invent a new you happen to be the only company currently supplying
category in which you can be first to the market in. products in that category.
‘‘When you launch a new product, the first question to ask
It’s not as difficult to find a new category -- in which you can be yourself is not, "How is this new product better than the
first to market -- as it might appear at first glance. There are a competition?" but "First what?" In other words, what category
number of different ways to be first, because prospects have is this new product first in?’’
an open mind when it comes to new categories. -- Al Ries and Jack Trout
In fact, the attraction of ‘‘new’’ far outweighs the comparative
attraction of ‘‘better’’. It’s more important to think categories ‘‘Are the laws of marketing difficult? No, they are quite simple.
than to worry about brands. Consumers are often defensive Working things out in practice is another matter, however.’’
about their preferred brands, but open to thinking about a new -- Al Ries and Jack Trout
product in an entirely different category. ‘‘Billions of dollars have been wasted on marketing programs
Therefore, the best marketing strategy of all is to be first into that couldn’t possibly work, no matter how clever or brilliant. Or
the market in a new category -- and then promote that category how big the budgets. Many managers assume that a
intensely. In essence, you’ll have no competition whatsoever, well-designed, well-executed, well-financed marketing
and your marketing can focus on promoting the reasons why program will work. It’s not necessarily so.’’
consumers should buy a product in that category -- which by -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 3 -- The Consumer’s Mind The conventional marketing path to the consumer’s mind has
It’s better to be first in the mind of the consumer been to spend tons of money. However, when you’re working
than to be first in the marketplace. with an open mind, even a small amount of money can be
highly effective.
Being first in the mind of the consumer is everything in The perception that spending more money is the answer to all
marketing. Being first into the marketplace is important simply marketing questions is, in fact, incorrect. Sometimes, huge
because it makes it easier to get to the consumer’s mind before marketing budgets can achieve fabulous success, while at
anyone else. other times, huge marketing budgets generate virtually no
Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products. Therefore, orders whatsoever. Therefore, finding an open mind should be
what prospects are thinking is actually more important than the key focus.
what is actually occurring in the marketplace. Once a person’s ‘‘The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try
mind is made up, it can’t be changed. to change a mind.’’
Therefore, blasting your way into the consumer’s mind is the -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
most efficient and most productive way to approach marketing.
If you try and worm your way in, it’s unlikely you’ll make a big ‘‘More money is wasted in marketing than in any other human
activity (outside of government activities, of course).’’

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enough splash to be noticed. People don’t like to change their
mindset once they perceive a product or service one way or -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
another.
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 3

Law # 4 -- Perception Marketing is Marketers who don’t understand this law frequently try and get
never a battle of products. It is always a the ‘‘truth’’ on their side -- that is, they look at the product as the
battle of perceptions. hero of the marketing initiative and use factual comparisons to
highlight why their product is superior to anything else
Contrary to popular opinion, the best product does not always available.
win in the marketplace over the long haul. ‘‘Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumption that
The belief that the best product will ultimately win is an illusion you’re fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the 22 laws
-- if for no other reason than because deciding what is the of marketing are derived from the exact opposite point of view.’’
‘‘best’’ product is a subjective judgment call rather than an -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
objective, scientific process.
‘‘Truth is nothing more or less than one expert’s perception.
The most successful products focus instead on creating the And who is the expert? It’s someone who is perceived to be an
right perception in the mind of the prospect. Most people will expert in the mind of somebody else.’’
form their entire perceptions on the basis of a minute amount -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
of experience -- and frequently not even their own experience
but someone they know. On that sliver of information, they will ‘‘Only by studying how perceptions are formed in the mind and
quite readily declare a universal truth. focusing your marketing programs on those perceptions can
you overcome your basically incorrect marketing instincts.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 5 -- Focus The narrower and more precise the focus, the more you will
The key to success in marketing is to find an effective achieve.
way to come to own a word in the mind of the prospect. The most effective words are benefit oriented.
In marketing, it’s always more efficient -- even for complicated
The Law of Focus suggests marketing is like a magnifying products -- to focus on one word or benefit, and make that the
glass -- you use it to focus your messages until you ‘‘burn’’ your emphasis of everything the company does.
way into the mind of the prospect, and link your product with
one single word or concept. Achieve that, and whenever that ‘‘The essence of marketing is narrowing the focus. You become
word or concept comes up, the prospect thinks of your product stronger when you reduce the scope of your operations. You
or service. can’t stand for something if you chase after everything.’’
In finding that word: -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

The simpler the better. ‘‘When you develop your word to focus on, be prepared to fend
You can’t focus on any word that doesn’t have proponents off the lawyers. They want to trademark everything you publish.
for the opposite point of view. (For example, you can’t own The trick is to get others to use the word. To be a leader you
the word ‘‘quality’’, because everybody stands for that and have to have followers.’’
nobody stands for ‘‘the lack of quality’’. -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 6 --Exclusivity Some marketers propose that if you spend enough money
No two companies can own the same word (preferably with them), you can come to own the idea someone
in the mind of the prospect or customer. else currently owns. Invariably, this ends up being a waste of
resources. People don’t like to change their minds -- and will
If a competitor already owns a word, don’t try and attempt to only do so infrequently if at all.
own the same word. Instead, find a different, unique word you Therefore, you’re always going to be far better off working
can focus on owning. towards owning a name that no one else in the marketplace
In fact, if you try and steal the word owned by a competitor, owns.
your marketing efforts will end up reinforcing their position.

Law # 7 -- The Law of the Ladder In some product categories (such as automobiles or products
The marketing strategy you should use will be used every day), that ladder can have seven rungs. In other
dependent on which rung of the ladder you occupy. product categories, the ladder may have just two or three
rungs.
Visualize a ladder of product perceptions for your industry in An effective marketing strategy deals realistically with your
the mind of your prospect. Which company is perceived as current position on the ladder, and uses that to best effect. To
being number 1 in your field? Which is No. 2? Which is No. 3? do otherwise is to miss out on all the opportunities that are

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Once you know that hierarchy, you can then vary your strategy available.
to take advantage of your current position -- as opposed to
suggesting that you deserve to be No. 1 all the time.
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 4

Law # 8 -- Duality of products rather than a battle of perceptions. They then

Over the longer term, every marketing battle believe there must be some viable reason why the leading
eventually becomes a two horse race. brands sell more. In this way, the entire market set-up becomes
a self perpetuating cycle.
For new product categories, there are often a number of rungs ‘‘Only businesses that are No. 1 or No. 2 in their markets could
on the mental ladder. With the passage of time, however, it win in the increasingly competitive global arena. Those that
inevitably comes down to a struggle between two major could not were fixed, closed or sold.’’
players, with everyone else having only supporting roles. -- Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric
With this in mind, companies that do not dominate their
industries should be working hard towards establishing ‘‘We repeat: The customer believes that marketing is a battle
themselves as a strong No. 2. That will position them of products. It’s this kind of thinking that keeps the two brands
advantageously for the years ahead. on top: "They must be the best, they’re the leaders".’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
Similarly, companies that have no hope of becoming No. 1 or
No. 2 in their industry should instead focus on niches they can ‘‘The mind is selective. Prospects use their ladders in deciding
fill profitably. what information to accept and which information to reject. In
As time goes on, and industries mature, customers get general, a mind accepts only new data that is consistent with
educated about which brand is the most successful. Ultimately, its product ladder in that category. Everything else is rejected.’’
consumers fall into the trap of thinking of marketing as a battle -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 9 -- The Opposite ‘‘Marketing is often a battle for legitimacy. The first brand that
If you’re aiming for second place in the industry, captures the concept is often able to portray its competitors as
your best strategy is determined by the leader. illegitimate pretenders.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
An effective No. 2 in any product category analyzes where the ‘‘A good No. 2 can’t afford to be timid. When you give up
leader is strongest -- and positions itself to offer whatever is focusing on No. 1, you make yourself vulnerable not only to the
the opposite. By so doing, the No. 2 is taking business away leader but to the rest of the pack. ’’
from everyone else in the field, thereby cutting out all other -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
competition.
By attacking the No. 1 and offering the opposite, a No. 2 ‘‘When a company makes a mistake today, footprints quickly
presents itself to the market as the choice for people who, for show up on its back as competition runs off with its business.
one reason or another, prefer not to do business with the No. To get the business back, the company has to wait for others
1 company. This is a far better approach than attempting to to make mistakes and then figure out how to exploit the
emulate No. 1. situation. So how do you avoid making mistakes in the first
place? The easy answer is to make sure your programs are in
In essence, then, it’s always going to be more productive to be tune with the laws of marketing.’’
different than to be better. In most product categories, the -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
marketing battle usually comes down to the ‘‘old faithful’’ brand
versus the ‘‘market upstart’’.

Law # 10 -- Division ‘‘A category starts off as a single entity. Computers, for
Over a period of time, most categories will divide into example. But over time, the category breaks up into other
numerous segments, each acting like a category. segments. Mainframes, minicomputers, workstations,
personal computers, pen computers.’’ Each segment is a
Each new segment will generally have a rationale for separate, distinct entity. Each segment has its own reason for
existence, a market leader (who will generally be quite different existence.
from the category leader) and completely different market -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
dynamics. ‘‘Timing is also important. You can be too early to exploit a new
Most frequently, the market leader in each segment will be category. It;s better to be early than late. You can’t get into the
different from the category No. 1 -- unless the category leader prospect’s mind first unless you’re prepared to spend some
successfully develops a new brand for each segment that time waiting for things to develop.’’
emerges. -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
‘‘Instead of understanding this concept of division, many
corporate leaders hold the naive belief that categories are
combining. "Synergy" and its kissing cousin the "corporate

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alliance" are the buzzwords in the boardrooms of America.
Categories are dividing, not combining.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 5

Law # 11 -- Perspective Therefore, in developing and executing effective marketing

The results of marketing programs only become programs, the long-term results should be the exclusive focus
apparent over an extended period of time. -- even if the short term results paint a temporary false picture.
‘‘Any sort of couponing, discounts or sales tends to educate
In the case of many marketing initiatives, the short-term results consumers to buy only when they can get a deal. What if a
generated will be the exact opposite of the long-term results. company never started couponing in the first place? In the retail
For example: field the big winners are those companies that practice
Running a sale will generate short-term sales. Over the "everyday low prices" -- companies like Wal-Mart and K Mart
longer term, however, running sales ends up educating and the rapidly growing warehouse outlets. Yet almost
consumers they should never buy at the ‘‘regular’’ prices. everywhere you look you see yo-yo pricing.’’
(The same applies for coupons, discounts rebate programs -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
and other sale incentives). ‘‘In every day life there are many examples of short-term gains
Extending a product line into another category can create and long-term losses, crime being a typical example. If you rob
short-term sales volume increases. Over the longer term, a bank for $100,000 and end up spending 10 years in jail, you
however, the value of the brand is lowered, since it loses its either made $100,000 for a day’s work or $10,000 a year for
focus. 10 years of labor. It depends on your point of view.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 12 -- Line Extensions Less is more. To succeed, the best companies narrow their
There’s often an irresistible temptation to extend the focus until they build a position in the mind of the prospective
equity of a successful brand into unrelated fields. customer.
The best paradigm is to think of business strategy as a tent.
Invariably, any company that becomes highly successful starts Many companies are busy trying to pitch a large tent holding a
to believe it can succeed in any other business field of its swag of products. The smart approach, however, is actually to
choosing. Whenever that happens, the company ends up maintain a very small tent which is pitched in an area very
becoming weaker rather than stronger -- because it attempts carefully chosen.
to be all things to all people rather than staying tightly focused
on what made it succeed in the first place. ‘‘The more products, the more markets, the more alliances a
company makes, the less money it makes. "Full speed ahead
Therefore, line extension -- the taking of a successful brand in all directions" seems to be the call from the corporate bridge.
name and putting it on a new product in an unrelated category When will companies learn that line extension ultimately leads
-- never works out in practice. Ideally, it sounds alluring, but the to oblivion.’’
reality comes back to the fact marketing is a battle of perception -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
rather than a battle of products.
With this mind, management should realize: ‘‘The antidote for line extension is corporate courage, a
commodity in short supply.’’
More is less. That is, the more products a company has, the -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
less money it will end up making.

Law # 13 -- Sacrifice marketplace end up serving no one -- because nobody

You have to actually give up all the choices and focus understands what they stand for.
on one thing in order to achieve anything significant. Until and unless a company is prepared to make these
sacrifices, it will never move ahead.
Companies that attempt to do everything end up doing nothing
‘‘Good things come to those who sacrifice. If you want to be
of any note. Usually, there are three things a company must
successful today, you should give something up.’’
sacrifice to make progress:
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
1. Offering a full product line.
Companies that try and generalize are always weak, while ‘‘There seems to be an almost religious belief that the wider net
those that specialize succeed. catches more customers, in spite of many examples to the
2. Targeting too broad a market. contrary. The target is not the market. That is, the apparent
By attempting to serve too broad a market demographic, target of your marketing is not the same as the people who will
nobody is happy. Companies achieve more when they stop actually buy your product. Even though Pepsi-Cola’s target
trying to please everyone and instead focus in on one was the teenager, the market was everybody. The 50-year-old
specific segment with a laser like focus. guy who wants to think he’s 29 will drink the Pepsi.’’

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-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
3. The need to make constant strategy changes.
Companies that are forever changing their marketing
strategy to try and match the twists and turns of the
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 6

Law # 14 -- Attributes up with a huge share of the market which has been ignored by
For every attribute used in its marketing, there is an all the existing companies.
opposite attribute someone else can use effectively. You’ll be able to tell if your new attribute hits a sweet spot in
the market very quickly by the amount of fear generated in the
To succeed in marketing, you need a word or attribute around market leader’s management.
which to focus your efforts -- a word that you can come to own
in the mind of prospective customers. ‘‘Too often a company attempts to emulate the leader. It’s much
better to search for an opposite attribute that will allow you to
To find a suitable word, try looking at which word the market play off the leader. The key word here is opposite -- similar
leader already owns -- and do the complete opposite. won’t do. Coca-Cola was the original and thus the choice of
The reason for this approach is obvious. It’s very unlikely you’ll older people. Pepsi successfully positioned itself as the choice
succeed in dislodging the market leader. Therefore, you should of a younger generation. Since Crest owned cavities, other
concentrate on serving whichever market segment the leader toothpastes avoided cavities and jumped on other attributes
currently ignores. There will always be plenty of room to do that like taste, whitening, breath protection and, more recently,
successfully. baking soda.’’’’
The more you succeed in dramatizing the value of the attribute -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
you’ve selected, the greater the share of the market you will
secure. Besides, it’s impossible to predict what market share
a new attribute will ultimately end up securing. You may end

Law # 15 -- Candor marketing should move quickly on to the positive, before the
Anytime you admit a negative in your marketing, the benefit of admitting the negative is lost.
prospect will treat that admission positively.
‘‘Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly
accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are
Why is a healthy dose of honesty so refreshing in marketing? looked at as dubious at best. Especially in an advertisement.
1. Because it’s so unexpected. You have to prove a positive statement to the prospect’s
2. Because people instinctively open their minds to problems satisfaction. No proof is needed for a negative statement.’’
and close their minds to glib positive statements. -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
3. Because everyone is naturally cautious about what a ‘‘Marketing is often a search for the obvious. Since you can’t
salesman tells them, and admitting to a negative is very change a mind once it’s made up, your marketing efforts have
rare in the commercial world. to be devoted to using ideas and concepts already installed in
With this in mind, smart companies admit a negative in their the brain.
marketing -- and then turn it into a positive. As with anything, -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
however, this must be achieved carefully to be fully effective.
‘‘This law only proves the old maxim: Honesty is the best
The prospect must feel some instant agreement with the
policy.’’
negative, or else confusion will rein. At the same time, the
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Marketing Law # 16 -- Singularity The most effective marketing managers are those that know
In every marketing situation, there is always one move first-hand what’s happening in the marketplace. They’re down
that will open the floodgates of substantial success. at the front, observing what’s working and what’s missing the
mark.
Marketing success is not built on trying to execute what doesn’t It’s only in the mud and confusion of the front lines that true
work a little harder. Instead, in any given situation, there is marketing insights emerge.
actually one bold stroke that will achieve spectacular results.
The challenge is to find that move and exploit it. ‘‘Many marketing people see success as the sum total of a lot
of small efforts beautifully executed. They think they can pick
Most competitors will have one spot where they are vulnerable. and choose from a number of different strategies and still be
Therefore, the entire focus of the marketing should be on successful as long as they put enough effort into the program.
exploiting that chink in the armor -- not in mounting an assault If they work for the leader in the category, they tend to fritter
where they are strongest. away their resources on a number of different programs. They
The same thing works in marketing that works in military seem to think the best was to grow is the puppy approach --
campaigns -- an attack from an unexpected direction. Finding get into everything. If they’re not with the leader, they often end
the direction from which the attack should come is the up trying to do the same thing as the leader, but a little better.
challenge -- and sitting around the head office generally won’t

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History teaches that the only thing that works in marketing is
suggest what will work and what will not. the single, bold stroke.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 7

Law # 17 -- Unpredictability 5. ‘Develop a responsive attitude within the organization.

Unless you’re writing your competitor’s plans, the Instead of shunning change, embrace it for the
future will always be unpredictable. opportunities that will be created.
‘‘No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. Nor
Marketing plans must make assumptions about the future -- should marketing plans try to.’’
which means they will usually be wrong., particularly due to the -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
fact competitive reaction cannot be anticipated.
Since the future cannot be predicted with certainty: ‘‘The unexpected always happens.’’
-- Peter’s Law
1. At least study the general trends. You should avoid jumping
to conclusions that are unwarranted or extrapolating too ‘‘There’s a difference between "predicting" the future and
far, but at least have some general awareness. "taking a chance" on the future. Orville Redenbecher’s
2. Avoid assuming the future will be a replay of the past or the Gourmet Popping Corn took a chance that people would pay
present. twice as much for a high-end popcorn. Not a bad risk in today’s
affluent society.’’
3. Try and anticipate what you will do if something totally
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
unexpected eventuates.
4. Build flexibility into your plans and your organization, so you
can respond to changes as they occur.

Law # 18 -- Success -- and react -- the way the prospect will when faced with an
Business success often leads to arrogance, offer made by the company.
which in turn leads to failure. Marketing is the lifeblood of any company, and it’s too
important and essential a business activity to be left in the
Successful people tend to lose their objectivity, and follow their hands of anyone else. Managers need to go down to the front
personal preferences rather than whatever the market dictates. and find out precisely what’s happening in the marketplace.
The same thing tends to happen to marketers. They stop doing In this area, second-hand information is not just second best
whatever it was made them successful in the first place (like -- it can be fatal to the future financial success of the corporate
obeying the basic laws of marketing) and start trying to market entity. Gather your own market intelligence through first-hand
all sorts of products. experience, not filtered through other staff.
Therefore, if you’re not careful, you end up with early success
‘‘You start thinking you can do anything. I was that way back
and long-term failure. And this is more likely to happen the
in the early days. I got into frozen pizzas for a while, and that
more closely you identify yourself personally with your brand
or corporate name. was a disaster. If I hadn’t messed around with those frozen
pizzas for the better part of a year, trying to sell them in bars
Great marketers separate their egos from their work. Instead and restaurants, Domino’s probably would have a lot more
of imposing their own view on the world, they try and put stores by now.’’
themselves in the shoes of their customers. They try and think -- Tom Monaghan, founder, Domino’s Pizzas

Law # 19 -- Failure Failure in Possibly the best way to handle these types of potential
marketing should be both conflicts is to bring everything out in the open. At least that way,
expected and accepted. concepts stand a chance of being judged on their own merits
rather than in terms of who will benefit.
Making a mistake and failing to admit it is hardly a career ‘‘If you learn something and you’re trying something, then you
building approach. Therefore, a better idea in marketing is to probably get credit for it. But woe to the person who makes the
admit mistakes early and cut your losses rather than letting same mistake twice.’’
things drag on indefinitely. -- Sam Walton
Nobody in marketing will ever hit the target every time. The
trick, however, lies in separating considerations about the ‘‘If a company is going to operate in an ideal way, it will take
effect on the decision maker’s career from what’s best for the teamwork, espirit de corps and a self sacrificing leader. One
company. immediately thinks of Patton and his Third Army and its dash
across France. No army in history took as much territory and
If the personal agenda can be given a lower priority than the as many prisoners in as short a period of time. Patton’s
corporate agenda, reasonable marketing risks will be reward? Eisenhower fired him.’’
acceptable. If the priorities are reversed, nobody will ever try -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

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anything innovative in marketing for fear of impacting
negatively on future career aspirations.
 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Page 8

Law # 20 -- Hype the videophone and the paperless office -- have failed, as yet,
The real situation with any marketing program to materialize.
is quite often the exact opposite of how it is reported. There’s a world of difference between capturing the public’s
imagination and revolutionizing a market.
When things are going well for a company, it is usually too busy
‘‘Not that there isn’t a grain of truth in every overhyped story.
to worry about holding many press conferences or generating
But for the most part, hype is hype. Real revolutions don’t arrive
too much in the way of hype. Those types of activities usually
at high noon with marching bands and coverage on the 6:00
only happen when a company’s sales are proceeding very P.M. news. Real revolutions arrive unannounced in the middle
slowly.
Therefore, always take a contrarian approach. Forget the front of the night and kind of sneak up on you.’’
-- Al Ries & Jack Trout
page articles that are generated by the PR machine. instead,
keep an eye out for the little hints -- small articles buried deep ‘‘No one can predict the future, not even a sophisticated
in the middle about innocuous little things that are occurring in reporter for the Wall Street Journal. The only revolutions you
the marketplace. can predict are the ones that have already started. Did anyone
Some of the biggest products in history -- including the predict the overthrow of communism and the Soviet Union?

personal computer and the facsimile machine -- had very Not really. It was only after the process had started that the
sluggish early sales, and attracted very little coverage. By press jumped on the "crumbling communist empire" story.’’’’

contrast, some of the most hyped concepts in business -- like -- Al Ries & Jack Trout

Law # 21 -- Acceleration Successful you’ll be faced with too many staff, expensive manufacturing
marketing programs are built on trends, facilities and a distribution channel that far exceeds the volume
not on temporary fads. of business you can generate. The result? Your company goes
into deep, and possibly fatal, financial shock.
Fads are short-term occurrences, whereas trends play out over ‘‘One way to maintain a long-term demand for your product is
a very long time frame. The problems occur when companies to never totally satisfy the demand. The most successful
gear up and act as if fads were trends. entertainers are the ones who control their appearances. They
Therefore, whenever business is growing rapidly, the smart don’t overextend themselves. They’re not all over the place.
approach is to treat it like a fad. The best thing you can do is They don’t wear out their welcome.’’
to try and dampen demand a little. test its underlying strength. -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
If it’s a long-term trend, it will still keep going strong, whereas
a fad will be unable to sustain momentum that way. ‘‘A fad is a wave in the ocean, and a trend is the tide. A fad gets
a lot of hype, and a trend gets very little. Like a wave, a fad is
Try and totally ignore fads. If you pay any attention to them, very visible, but it goes up and down in a big hurry. Like the
make it of academic interest only. More than anything else, tide, a trend is almost invisible, but it’s very powerful over the
avoid committing financial resources to try and meet the longer term.’’
demand generated by the fad. In the blink of an eye, you’ll be -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
overextending yourself so that when the fad loses its steam,

Law # 22 -- Resources Publicity is cheaper than marketing. This can be true at

Without adequate funding, a good idea times, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch -- it will still
will never get off the ground. take some money to get things rolling along.
In the final analysis, the rich keep getting richer because they
Even the best idea in the world won’t get very far if the have the resources to drive their ideas all the way into the
resources aren’t available to get into the mind of the prospect minds of prospective customers.
effectively. You need money to get into the mind of the
consumer -- and more money to stay there. ‘‘The more successful marketers front load their investments.
In other words, they take no profit for two or three years as they
Some common misconceptions about money are: plow all earnings back into marketing. Money makes the
That big companies are starved for innovative ideas. In marketing world go round. If you want to be successful today,
reality, internal competition is so intense that very few you’ll have to find the money you need to spin those marketing
outside ideas ever get accepted. You’re generally better off wheels.’’
trying to get a smaller company to run with your idea. -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
Venture capitalists have tons of money available. This is ‘‘You’ll get further with a mediocre idea and a million dollars
partly true, but they actually fund only an insignificant portion than with a great idea alone.’’
of the proposals made to them. You’ll need a little luck if you -- Al Ries & Jack Trout
go this route -- as well as a willingness to give away an

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obscene chunk of your idea.

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