7 Immutable Laws of Marketing
"Marketing isn't a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions" — Al Ries
I’ve just finished reading The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, by Al Ries, and I found it so insightful that I want to share it with you. The book was written 30 years ago, but it offers timeless lessons for companies to thrive in any market. You can also apply these laws to your personal life, since they’re based on human psychology.
It’s a short book — no more than 200 pages. If you have 3 spare hours, it’s worth the time. Anyway, I’ve selected 7 laws that are the most relevant in my eyes. Here we go.
1. The law of the category
If you can’t be the first in a category, create a new one
The author argues that the leader of a market is usually the first one to find it. If you can’t be the first one, just find a new category. People sometimes call this a blue ocean, as opposed to a red ocean. It’s hard and risky, but it pays off.
We could illustrate it with Bitcoin. It’s extremely hard to create a new, dominant currency in the traditional financial system. Nor is it feasible to fix all the problems that permeate the world’s economies.
As a result, Satoshi Nakamoto created a whole new category of assets. The first one was Bitcoin.
2. The law of perception
Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception
This law is brilliant. You can sell snake oil if you market it well.
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.
— Al Ries
I don’t think it’s that extreme though. The product must meet some minimum quality standards. Once that threshold is met, you can charge a huge premium if you’re good at marketing.
This law is particularly relevant for luxury brands. They’re all about perceived value, as opposed to intrinsic value. Luxury brands sell good quality products, though they’ve been lowering their standards for decades. I don’t believe your $100 bag has a lower quality than your $2,500 designer bag.
Past a certain price point, it’s all brand premium.
Let’s talk about Prada. This Italian powerhouse has been around for close to a century and has earned the loyalty of their customers. Yet, they manufacture their products in China. And we all know what people think about Chinese products.
A great part of marketing is playing the smoke and mirrors game. We have a word in Spanish for marketers who abuse this tactic — vendehumos. It literally means smokeseller.
Understand that marketing is about perceptions, but don’t sell smoke, please.
3. The law of focus
The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind
Marketing is like owning real estate in the prospects mind. Two companies can’t own the same condo though. So as a brand, you should focus just on one concept.
Apple owns the word design. When Apple comes to mind, people think about a sleek design and smooth user experience. As a result, Apple customers are willing to pay a premium for their products. Note that this works because they own just one word. They don’t own performance, or, cheap. Just design.
You can’t be a leader in two things in the customer’s mind.
4. The law of the ladder
The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy in the ladder
Imagine I marketed this newsletter as “the best finance newsletter worldwide”. You’d probably start asking some questions to yourself. “Why doesn’t this guy have more subs?” or “why isn’t he covered in mass media then?” The rung I occupy in the ladder of financial newsletters doesn’t allow me to use that tag line. People wouldn’t take me seriously and they’d be suspicious.
This law is all about context awareness. I started 7 months ago and I still have a lot to prove to my audience. I can’t market myself as a big player, but rather, as a ‘hidden gem’ waiting to be uncovered.
5. The law of sacrifice
You have to give up something to get something
This law embodies a core concept in economics: trade-offs. Decisions are trade-offs, and marketing is mainly based on strategic decisions.
There are three things to sacrifice: product line, target market, and constant change.
Founded in 1946, Emery Air Freight was the leading air freight company in the U.S. for 40 years. They offered every kind of service: small packages, large packages, express service, delayed service… Anything you could imagine. FedEx, founded in 1971, focused on express delivery of small packages worldwide — at least before acquiring Tiger International’s Flying Tiger cargo line in 1989.
Emery’s product line was diverse, while FedEx was concentrated on one sole service. Today Emery is long gone, while FedEx is still doing well.
6. The law of Perspective
Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time
Let’s talk about sales.
Sales increase the bottom line in the short-term, but may be detrimental in the long-term. By offering discounts on your products, you’re telling your customer that your regular price is too high. You’re also communicating that your brand is not worth it. Why would you give away a discount if you sell high quality products? Are you hiding something? Apple knows this law very well and they never offer sales in their products.
Price plays a massive role in the perceived value of products. The top condom brands in Europe sell their 12 unit packages for €10-€15. When I bought one package of a lesser known brand at Lidl, I paid €2.99. I confess I was suspicious about their quality before trying them. But they’re as good as the top brands.
7. The law of singularity
In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results
It’s comforting to think that every small move adds up to our results. But the truth is, only very few actions make a difference. This is another version of the Pareto principle — or 80/20 rule. For example, 80% of the world’s wealth is owned by 20% of the population.
This also applies to marketing decisions.
Photo of the week
I’m the kind of person who needs to stop when they see a cat on the street.
Alejandro Lopez — The Psychology of Wealth
I didn't know there were street cats in Lisbon. When I lives in Istanbul, I was surrounded by the funniest and cutest street cats all day long, and I totally fell in love with them from the on.
This is a great summary of some key takeaways from "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"! I loved how you unpacked each law with clear explanations and real-life examples. The Prada point about brand perception versus intrinsic value was particularly interesting.