Timing is an issue-your first could be too late. Not every first is going to become successful. The leading brand in any category is almost always the first brand into the prospect’s mind. In today’s competitive environment, a me-too product with a line extension name has little hope of becoming a big profitable brand. It’s much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first. Summary: It’s better to be first than it is better. Also check and RiesPieces.The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Summary Where can we find out more about your books and services? Therefore a company should start with PR and only shift to advertising after it has established a position in the mind. What do you mean by publicity first, advertising second?Īdvertising doesn’t have the credibility or believability to build a brand. What should we do if there are other clear and established leaders already in our marketplace? The iPod was the first high-capacity MP3 player, for example. How can we gain number one spot in our prospects mind?īy being first in a new category. But all the other brands tend to be perceived as “also rans,” and virtually equal. “The ultimate driving machine.” BMW actually outsells Mercedes on the global market. They became smaller, more nimble machines. Mercedes-Benz was the leading luxury car, but Mercedes were big, comfortable sedans. So Scope became the good tasting mouthwash and a strong No. The leading mouthwash is Listerine, a bad-tasting mouthwash. So Enterprise focused on the suburbs and became a strong No. Hertz is the leading rent-a-car brand, but Hertz focuses on airport locations.
Red Bull came in small 8.4-oz cans, so Monster was introduced in a 16-oz. 2 energy drink brand by being the opposite of Red Bull. If you can’t be first, then be the opposite of the leader. It’s also the leading brand of a bankrupt company.Ĭan you give specific examples of how certain companies have created certain positioning in our minds?īeing first is key. What’s a Chevrolet? It’s a large, small, cheap, expensive car or truck. That’s what got General Motors in trouble. Should we try to make our product appeal to everyone?Īny product that appeals to everyone is doomed to failure. If the prospect perceives your brand to be the leader then the prospect also thinks it must be the best. The most important attribute is leadership. What sort things do we want our prospects to associate with our brand? So the marketing process becomes one of looking for an open hole in the mind and then trying to become the first to fill that hole. What normally happens is that a brand gets in the mind first and then occupies a position almost indefinitely. What exactly do you mean by positioning and why it is to so important?īefore positioning, most marketing people considered marketing to be “communications.” But we argued that very little communications actually takes place.
The title of the article that started the positioning revolution was “The Positioning Era Cometh” by Al Ries and Jack Trout and it appeared in a three part series in April and May of 1972. Positioning is a term we hear in marketing all the time, is it really true you coined the term? In this interview Al Ries gives us advice on how we can stake our claim within our marketplace through the use of positioning and branding… His books include… Positioning: The battle for your mind, The 22 immutable laws of marketing, The 22 immutable laws of branding, 11 immutable laws of internet branding, Focus and Marketing warfare
He has co-authored books with his business partner Jack Trout and also his daughter Laura Ries who is now ones of the worlds leading marketing consultants in her own right. Since then he has worked with some of the worlds most famous brands including Apple, IBM, AT&T, Burger King, Xerox, Intel and Samsung to name just a few.Īl Ries has written some of the world’s most important books on the subject of marketing. Al first founded his own marketing agency back in 1963. Positioning and Branding – An Interview with Al RiesĪl Ries is one of the all time greats in the world of Marketing, Advertising, PR and Branding.