From Marketing Warfare to The Origin of Brands
Even in the Web 2.0 world, the basic laws of marketing still apply. Many years ago I picked up a book called Marketing Warfare, just because the title appealed to me. Consequently I discovered the best books on the marketing topic, written by All Ries and Jack Trout. They include Positioning, Bottom-Up Marketing, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - all great. Al now writes with his daughter Laura, and they run Ries & Ries Consulting together. Although their examples are usually American, and very "big brand" oriented, their messages are universal and can be applied to your business in your sector and geography, or your client's.
The following words are lifted direct from their site, and offer a taster of their last book. You can even download a free summarised 20 page version there - great material, and timeless ideas.
Divide & conquer. Every category tends to expand in many different directions, creating opportunities for narrowly focused brands. The typical American coffee shop that served everything has been upstaged by chains that focus on hamburgers (McDonald's), chicken (KFC), pizza (Pizza Hut), donuts (Dunkin' Donuts), submarine sandwiches (Subway), roast beef (Arby's), ice cream (Baskin-Robbins) and many others.
Exploit divergence. Every category tends to branch off, creating many brand-building opportunities. The soft-drink category branched off to become a cinnamon-flavored drink (DrPepper), an all-natural drink (Snapple) a sports drink (Gatorade), an energy drink (Red Bull) and many others.
Survival of the firstest. The first brand into the mind has an enormous advantage. Amazon, California Closets, Nike, PowerBar, Swatch, Starbucks, WD40 and many others. A small lead early in the game can become an insurmountable lead later on.
Survival of the secondest. If you're not first, you can still be successful by being the opposite of the leader. Listerine, the bad-tasting mouthwash, was the leader so Scope became a No. 2 brand by being the good tasting mouthwash. BMW became the opposite of Mercedes-Benz; Pepsi-Cola, the opposite of Coke; Lowe's, the opposite of Home Depot.
The power of pruning. As a category diverges into two or more different categories, a company needs to decide what operations to prune. Trying to cover every single diverging branch with a single brand name is the biggest mistake a company can make.
Find out more about the book here - The Origin of Brands
The following words are lifted direct from their site, and offer a taster of their last book. You can even download a free summarised 20 page version there - great material, and timeless ideas.
Divide & conquer. Every category tends to expand in many different directions, creating opportunities for narrowly focused brands. The typical American coffee shop that served everything has been upstaged by chains that focus on hamburgers (McDonald's), chicken (KFC), pizza (Pizza Hut), donuts (Dunkin' Donuts), submarine sandwiches (Subway), roast beef (Arby's), ice cream (Baskin-Robbins) and many others.
Exploit divergence. Every category tends to branch off, creating many brand-building opportunities. The soft-drink category branched off to become a cinnamon-flavored drink (DrPepper), an all-natural drink (Snapple) a sports drink (Gatorade), an energy drink (Red Bull) and many others.
Survival of the firstest. The first brand into the mind has an enormous advantage. Amazon, California Closets, Nike, PowerBar, Swatch, Starbucks, WD40 and many others. A small lead early in the game can become an insurmountable lead later on.
Survival of the secondest. If you're not first, you can still be successful by being the opposite of the leader. Listerine, the bad-tasting mouthwash, was the leader so Scope became a No. 2 brand by being the good tasting mouthwash. BMW became the opposite of Mercedes-Benz; Pepsi-Cola, the opposite of Coke; Lowe's, the opposite of Home Depot.
The power of pruning. As a category diverges into two or more different categories, a company needs to decide what operations to prune. Trying to cover every single diverging branch with a single brand name is the biggest mistake a company can make.
Find out more about the book here - The Origin of Brands
posted by Unknown at 22:49
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