22 Immutable

Laws of Marketing

22 LAWS
My favorite Guerilla
Marketing gurus, Al Ries
and Jack Trout, offer The
22 Immutable Laws of
Marketing. Although it
was written almost 20
years ago, the innovative
rules still provide a solid
understanding of how to
succeed in the
marketplace
# 1 The Law of Leadership
It is better to be first than it
is to be better.

It’s much easier to get into the

mind first than try to convince
someone that you have a better
product.
# 2 The Law of Category
If you can’t be first in a category, set up a
new category you can be first in.

Everyone is interested in what’s new.

Few people are interested in what’s
better.
# 3 The Law of the Mind
It’s better to be first in the mind
than to be first in the market

Being first in mind is everything. Being

first in the market is only important in
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

There is no objective reality. There are

no facts. There are no best products.
All that exists in the world of marketing
are perceptions in the mind of the
customer.
# 5 The Law of Focus
The most powerful concept in marketing is
owning a word in the prospect’s mind

You “burn” your way into the

mind by narrowing the focus to
a single word or concept.
# 6 The Law of Exclusivity
Two companies cannot own the same
word in the prospects mind

When the competitor owns a

word or position in the
prospects mind, it is futile to
attempt to own the same word.
# 7 The Law of the Ladder
The strategy to use depends on which
rung you occupy on the ladder.

It might be better to be a small fish

in a big pond than a big fish in a
small pond.
# 8 The Law of Duality
In the long run, every market
becomes a two horse race

In every new category is a ladder

with many rungs. Gradually, the
ladder becomes a two-rung affair.
# 9 The Law of the Opposite
If you’re shooting for second place, your
strategy is determined by the leader.

The key for #2 is to leverage an

opponents strengths into a
weakness.
# 10 The Law of Division
Over time, a category will divide and become
two or more categories.

As a result of law #2, the

marketing arena will always
be an ever expanding sea of
categories.
# 11 The Law of Perspective
Marketing effects take place over
an extended period of time

Long term effects are often the

exact opposite of the short term
effect. Think of the “always a
sale” retail mentality training a
customer to never buy at full
price.
# 12 The Law of Line Extension
There’s an irresistible pressure to
extend the equity of the brand

A company tightly focused on a

profitable product may quickly
find themselves thinly spread
over many products and losing
a lot of money.
# 13 The Law of Sacrifice
You have to give up something in
order to get something.

There are three areas of sacrifice the

product line, the target market and
constant change. Pick your poison
carefully.
# 14 The Law of Attributes
For every attribute, there is an opposite,
effective, attribute.

Rule #6 dictates you must find an

attribute to own and that attribute
may just be the opposite of the
leader. Hint hint.
# 15 The Law of Candor
When you admit a negative, the prospect
will give you a positive.

One of the most effective ways to get

into a prospects mind is to admit a
negative and then twist into a
positive.
Think Listerine.
# 16 The Law of Singularity
In each situation, only one move will
produce substantial results.

History teaches that the only thing that

works in marketing is a committed, single
bold stroke that is least expected by the
competition.
# 17 The Law of Unpredictability
Unless you write your competitor’s plans,
you can’t predict the future.

You can not predict the future

but you can get a handle on
trends and take advantage of
change.
# 18 The Law of Success
Success often leads to arrogance and
arrogance to failure.

Those that think they are market

leaders tend to substitute what
they think for what the market
wants.
# 19 The Law of Failure
Failure is to be expected and
accepted.

Recognize failure early and cut your

losses. Sometimes it is better to drop
things and move on rather than ‘reorg’
and try again.
# 20 The Law of Hype
The situation is often the opposite of the
way it appears in the press.

When things are going well, you do not

need hype. When you need hype, it usually
means you are in trouble.
# 21 The Law of Acceleration
Successful programs are not built on
fads, they’re built on trends.

A fad is a wave in the ocean,

a trend is the tide. A fad gets
a lot of hype while a trend
gets very little.
# 22 The Law of Resources
Without adequate funding, an
idea won’t get off the ground.

The unfortunate reality is

that a mediocre idea
backed by a million dollars
will get further than a great
idea alone.
Sorry.