Sunday, February 12, 2012

The 22 Immutable Laws Of Branding By Al Ries, Laura Ries

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

The 22 Immutable Laws Of Branding By Al Ries, Laura Ries

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(113 customer reviews)

Product Description

This marketing classic has been expanded to include new commentary, new illustrations, and a bonus book: The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding

Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries. Combining The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding, this book proclaims that the only way to stand out in today's marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand—and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding also tackles one of the most challenging marketing problems today: branding on the Web. The Rieses divulge the controversial and counterintuitive strategies and secrets that both small and large companies have used to establish internet brands. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the essential primer on building a category-dominating, world-class brand.

Product Details
  • Amazon Sales Rank: #17576 in Books
  • Published on: 2002-09
  • Released on: 2002-09-17
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: .69" h x 7.40" w x 9.30" l, .83 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 272 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When you call a book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you're pretty much ruling out Oprah's Book Club as potential buyers. (Not that Oprah herself isn't a terrific brand.) This is an audiobook for a narrow demographic: entrepreneurs, top managers, and public-relations directors. Coauthor Al Ries comes off like the eccentric genius that most of these managers keep in a basement office, only listening to when necessary. When he says, "The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope," and hectors managers with the idea that "customers want brands that are narrow in scope," you know he's right (he backs himself up with dozens of examples), and you know it's the last thing powerful, expansion-minded businesspeople want to hear. Coauthor Laura Ries, his daughter and marketing-firm partner, also reads sections. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Lou Schuler

Review

"Al Ries demonstrates that marketers need two skills: building a brand and keeping it alive. Through stellar company profiles and keen insights, this book will show them how, whether they're entrepreneurs or seasoned veterans." -- Philip Kotler, Professor of International Marketing, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

"Al Ries's laws of marketing turned my software company into a worldwide brand and the dominant player in a whole new software category. Anyone looking to market their company successfully has to read The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding." -- Patrick M. Sullivan, CEO, SalesLogix

"I could only wish that I'd had access to this book at the start of my career, the insights it provides are indispensable to anyone seeking to build their business into a recognized brand." -- Philip J. Romano, CEO, Romano Enterprises

"This book is like a synthesizer. Using an impressive list of the world's best-known brands, it fine tunes the art of branding to its optimum levels, enabling you to make the right marketing decisions with utmost confidence." -- Scott Kay, CEO, Scott Kay Inc.

About the Author

Al Ries and his daughter and business partner Laura Ries are two of the world's best-known marketing consultants, and their firm, Ries & Ries, works with many Fortune 500 companies. They are the authors of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, which was a Wall Street Journal and a BusinessWeek bestseller, and, most recently, The Origin of Brands. Al was recently named one of the Top 10 Business Gurus by the Marketing Executives Networking Group. Laura is a frequent television commentator and has appeared on the Fox News and Fox Business Channels, CNN, CNBC, PBS, ABC, CBS, and others. Their Web site (Ries.com) has some simple tests that will help you determine whether you are a left brainer or a right brainer.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

103 of 111 people found the following review helpful.
5Then 1 Immutable Law of Al Ries
By Steve Finnie
Focus. Don't do a line extension to save your life.

OK, this book is great and should be read by anyone involved in marketing (I mean come on, who doesn't have the 3 hours it takes to read this book). Unfortunately one serious drawback is that he uses plenty of examples to support his claims. Huh? Why is that a negative? Here's why: because it gets the reader to think of plenty of counter-examples that contradict his points. As another reviewer suggested the claim of "immutable" laws of marketing is a bit bold, but what the book does provide is food for thought in a highly readable context.

You gotta give the guy credit though. He takes a stand. And there's a lot to be said for taking a viewpoint and standing by it in today's middle of the road world.

If you don't feel up to reading "Focus," "Positioning," or some of the other texts by Al Ries, this one provides a lot of the insights in bite size pieces.

Despite the knocks against it listed above there are a few points worth acknowledging: 1. Al Ries is a legend in marketing. 2. It's a good, fun read with many useful examples worth keeping in mind when developing marketing strategies. 3. By reading it for yourself you can develop examples to refute a lot fo the laws and move along the path towards critically evaluating branding strategies.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful.
3Close...but NO cigar!
By A Customer
Overall, this is a good read. But, don't fall into the robotic trap of believing EVERYTHING you read! Take what is good from this book (and there is some) and digest it with all your marketing AND common sense wisdom. The author claims that "symbols" are really NOT that important!... This sort of reckless disinformation only furthers the authors 'hidden agenda?' I have been a top international brand manager for numerous household names the past 35 years and I can tell you without a doubt that "SYMBOLS SELL." Now, don't get me wrong, I am not implying that the symbol is everything, but, A BAD, UNPROFESSIONAL AND CHEAPLY ACQUIRED LOGO DESIGN CAN SEVERELY AND SOMETIMES IRREVERSIBLY KILL YOUR BEST MARKETING EFFORTS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. I have fallen victim to this problem more than once. Don't let it happen to you too!! We are a visual species; our unique and wonderful genetic disposition as humans endows us with the great gift of an advanced visual cortex within our brains. We see, we react, we think. But, by the time we get around to thinking, our subconscious mind has already assimilated a mountain of data about what we just took in. We innately gravitate towards that which is appealing to us visually; whether it be someone of the opposite sex or our favorite product (or LOGO) which captures our fancy in a magical way. Examples of logos like these are too numerous to mention here. Just look around your own little universe and "see" what it is that you yourself have become attached to over the years and think..."why?" The bottom line is this: Don't cut corners when it comes time to position your product or service in the global marketplace. A world class logo done right should be one of the FIRST things considered BEFORE launching your new product, business or service. You wouldn't set off to run a marathon with shoes from Wal-Mart. - Would you?? Shame on you, Al and Laura Ries for your gross error of judgement regarding the REAL WORLD facts.

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful.
5An excellent read on a key issue in business today
By Dan E. Ross
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding was primarily written by Laura Ries - Al Ries was a co-author on the book - in case anyone didn't know. Such information is available at their website. I rank this book a solid 5 star book because the insights / examples provided far outweigh any concerns / problems I found with the book. This book caused me to look at advertising / marketing from a different perspective in my daily life which is what I use to evaluate if something is a 5 star book

I loved The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding for the following reasons:

1. It flat out states the importance of marketing & branding, which is important to separate in the readers' mind before beginning. As they state "Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect. If you can build a powerful brand you will have a powerful marketing program. If you can't, then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective."

2. The Ries' call it like they see it. Excellent examples of marketing / advertising stupidity / effectiveness are provided.

3. They talk about the plethora of products that are produced each year.

4. They discuss how businesses must get inside a consumer's mind (AKA positioning) to win the war. Volvo = safety, BMW = Ultimate Driving Machine, Mercedes = prestige, Toyota = Reliability, Ford = ?, Chevy = ?. The Ries' clearly spell out an excellent reason as to why the U.S. automanufacturers are getting killed.

5. The book illustrates, as did the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, how companies dilute their brands through line extensions (I personally believe this due to my personal experience / buying patterns and observations of others.)

6. They point out the increasing importance of PR (public relations) compared to advertising. This is the subject of a new book by the father / daughter. Basically PR launches a product and advertising gives it life support is their main assertion.

I disliked The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding for the following reasons:

1. Overlap from prior books is definitely occurring. I have noticed this with Jack Trout's recent books too. I would estimate that 15% - 20%, at a minimum, of Trout's recent books and this book have been stated in one form or another in their prior works.

2. Some of the examples provide clearly refute other examples provided. On page 100 they state "the Mustang and former CEO of Chrysler Corporation (two powerful brand names.) In prior examples the authors clearly state that the brand is the maker of the company. Volvo = safety, BMW = driving machine, etc (you will find such features in all their vehicles -maybe not in Volvos convertible.) What does Chrysler stand for again? Minivans? I haven't exactly noticed it in their advertising......for a long time...

Conclusion: Buy the book. It is well worth the time and money. Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on Amazon or at my personal website. If you are interested in another good marketing book I highly recommend Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout or Seth Godin's book on permission marketing / launching an ideavirus. If you are interested in other subjects I would encourage you to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner if you are interested in economic history - the book is international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development / evolution of U.S. property history I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker."

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