Resenhas - The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

Moitta 31/08/2015

1. The Law of Leadership: It's better to be first than it is to be better.

“Regardless of reality, people perceive the first product into the mind as superior. Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products.”

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.
When you’re the first in a new category, promote the category. In essence, you have no competition.”

3. The Law of the Mind: It’s better to be first in the mind than it is to be first in the marketplace.

“Being first in the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get in the mind first.”

“If marketing is a battle of perception, not product, then the mind takes precedence over the marketplace.”

4. The Law of Perception: Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception.

“It’s an illusion. 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 minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.
All truth is relative. Relative to your mind or the mind of another human being. When you say “I’m right and the next person is wrong,” all you’re really saying is that you’re a better perceiver than someone else.”

“Truth and perception become fused in the mind, leaving no difference between the two.”

“Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumption that you’re fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of view.”

“A perception that exists in the mind is often interpreted as a universal truth.”

“What makes the battle even more difficult is that customers frequently make buying decisions based on second-hand perceptions. Instead of using their own perceptions, they base their buying decisions on someone else’s perception of reality. This is the “everybody knows” principle.”

5. The Law of Focus: The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind.

“The essence of marketing is narrowing the focus. You become stronger when you reduce the scope of your operations.”

“Does any company proclaim itself as the “unquality” corporation? No, everybody stands for quality. As a result, nobody does.
You can’t narrow the focus with quality or any other idea that doesn’t have the proponents for the opposite point of view.”

6. The Law of Exclusivity: Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind.

7. The Law of the Ladder: The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder.

“Prospects use their ladders in deciding which information to accept and which information to reject. In general, a mind accepts only new data that is consistent with its product ladder in that category.”

“Then make sure your program deals realistically with your position on the ladder.”

8. The Law of Duality: In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.

“The customer believes that marketing is a battle of products. It’s this kind of thinking that keeps the two brands o top: They must be the best, they’re the leaders.”

9. The Law of the Opposite: If you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the ladder.

10. The Law of Division: Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.

“Categories are dividing, not combining.”

“You can’t get into the prospect’s mind first unless you’re prepared to spend some time waiting for things to develop.”

11. The Law of Perspective: Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.

“Chemically, alcohol is a strong depressant. But in the short term, by depressing a person’s inhibitions, alcohol acts like a stimulant.
Many marketing moves exhibit the same phenomenon. The long-term effects are often the exact opposite of the short-term effects.”

12. The Law of the Line Extension: There’s an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of a brand.

“When you try to be all things to all people, you inevitably wind up in trouble. ‘I’d rather be strong somewhere, than weak nowhere.”

“But marketing is a battle of perception, not product. In the mind, A-1 is not the brand name, but the steak sauce itself.”

“The antidote for line extension is corporate courage, a commodity in short supply.”

13. The Law of Sacrifice: You have to give up something in order to get something.

“The world of business is populated by big, highly diversified generalists and small, narrowly focused specialists.”

“The target is not the market. That is, the apparent target of your marketing is not the same as the people who will actually buy your product.”

14. The Law of Attributes: For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute.

“Marketing is a battle of ideas. So if you are to succeed, you must have an idea or attribute of your own to focus your efforts around. Without one, you had better have a low price. A very low price.
Some say all attributes are not creates equal. Some attributes are more important to customers than others. You must try and own the most important attribute.”

“You can’t predict the size of a new attribute’s share, so never laugh.”

15. The Law of Candor: When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive.

“First and foremost, candor is very disarming. Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best. Especially in advertisement.”

“The law of candor must be used carefully and with great skill. First, you “negative” must be widely perceived as a negative. It has to trigger an instant agreement with your prospect’s mind. If the negative doesn’t register quickly, your prospect will be confused and will wonder, ‘What’s this all about?’
Next, you have to shift quickly to the positive. The purpose of candor isn’t to apologize. The purpose of candor is to set up a benefit that will convince your prospect.
This law proves the old maxim: Honesty is the best policy.”

16. The Law of Singularity: In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results.

“Trying harder is not the secret of marketing success.”

“History teaches that the only thing that works in marketing is the single, bold stroke. Furthermore, in any give situation there is only one move that will produce substantial results.”

17. The Law of Unpredictability: Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you can’t predict the future.

“The danger in working with trends is extrapolation. Many companies jump to conclusions about how far a trend will go.”

“No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. Nor should marketing plans try to.”

18. The Law of Success: Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure.

“Ego is the enemy of successful marketing. Objectivity is what’s needed.”

“The name didn’t make the brand famous (although a bad name might keep the brand from becoming famous). The brand got famous because you made the right marketing moves.”

“Brilliant marketers have the ability to think like a prospect thinks. They put themselves in the shoes of their customers.”

“The bigger the company, the more likely it is that the chief executive has lost touch with the front lines. This might be the single most important factor limiting the growth of a corporation. (…) Marketing is war,”

19. The Law of Failure: Failure is to be expected and accepted.

“Too many companies try to fiz things rather than drop things.”

“Marketing decisions are often made first with the decision maker’s career in mind and second with the impact on the competition or the enemy in mind. There is a built-in conflict between the personal and the corporate agenda.”

20. The Law of Hype: The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press.

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, and a trend is the tide. A fad gets lot of hype, and a trend gets very little.”

“The most successful entertainers are the ones who control their appearances. They don’t overextend themselves.”

“One way to maintain a long-term demand for your product is to never totally satisfy the demand.”

22. The Law of Resources: Without adequate funding an idea won’t get off the ground.

“You’ll get further with a mediocre idea an a million dollars than with a great idea alone.”