22 Immutable Laws of Branding [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Al Ries (Author, Reader), Laura Ries (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 1998

Branding.

Dubbed by many the “marketing buzzword” of the late ‘90s, everyone knows that building your product or service into a bona fide brand is the only way to cut through the clutter in today's insanely crowded marketplace.

The only question is, how do you do it?

Learn the laws of branding in the branding bible: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Brilliant, bold, and mercifully brief, this is the definitive work on branding, distilling the complex principles and theories espoused in other long-winded, high-priced professional marketing tomes into 22 quick and easy-to-listen-to vignettes. Pairing the brand-blazing strategies from the world's best -- like Coca-Cola, Xerox, and Starbucks -- with the world-renowned marketing savvy of bestselling author, Al Ries, and his daughter Laura Ries, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding builds on the huge international success of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and provides the expert insight you seek on business's hottest topic in less time than an airplane ride.

Find out:

• Why you will fail to create a brand through advertising, sales promotion, public relations or fancy packaging
• How to define your category. . . even if you're not first to market
• How overbranding equals underwhelming
• Why good old-fashioned publicity may be the missing link in the brand-building process
• Why giving your brand the right name is perhaps more important than the brand itself

And perhaps most important of all:

• How to own a word in the mind of the consumer.

Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding provides the ammo you need to dominate your category and turn your product or service into a world-class brand.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When you call a book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you're pretty much ruling out Oprah's Book Club as potential buyers. (Not that Oprah herself isn't a terrific brand.) This is an audiobook for a narrow demographic: entrepreneurs, top managers, and public-relations directors. Coauthor Al Ries comes off like the eccentric genius that most of these managers keep in a basement office, only listening to when necessary. When he says, "The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope," and hectors managers with the idea that "customers want brands that are narrow in scope," you know he's right (he backs himself up with dozens of examples), and you know it's the last thing powerful, expansion-minded businesspeople want to hear. Coauthor Laura Ries, his daughter and marketing-firm partner, also reads sections. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Lou Schuler

Review

"Al Ries demonstrates that marketers need two skills: building a brand and keeping it alive. Through stellar company profiles and keen insights, this book will show them how, whether they're entrepreneurs or seasoned veterans." -- Philip Kotler, Professor of International Marketing, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

"Al Ries's laws of marketing turned my software company into a worldwide brand and the dominant player in a whole new software category. Anyone looking to market their company successfully has to read The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding." -- Patrick M. Sullivan, CEO, SalesLogix

"I could only wish that I'd had access to this book at the start of my career, the insights it provides are indispensable to anyone seeking to build their business into a recognized brand." -- Philip J. Romano, CEO, Romano Enterprises

"This book is like a synthesizer. Using an impressive list of the world's best-known brands, it fine tunes the art of branding to its optimum levels, enabling you to make the right marketing decisions with utmost confidence." -- Scott Kay, CEO, Scott Kay Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: HarperAudio; Abridged edition (September 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694520470
• ISBN-13: 978-0694520473
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #846,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Management

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Then 1 Immutable Law of Al Ries, July 5, 2000

By 

Steve Finnie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service Into a World-Class Brand (Hardcover)

Focus. Don't do a line extension to save your life.

OK, this book is great and should be read by anyone involved in marketing (I mean come on, who doesn't have the 3 hours it takes to read this book). Unfortunately one serious drawback is that he uses plenty of examples to support his claims. Huh? Why is that a negative? Here's why: because it gets the reader to think of plenty of counter-examples that contradict his points. As another reviewer suggested the claim of "immutable" laws of marketing is a bit bold, but what the book does provide is food for thought in a highly readable context.

You gotta give the guy credit though. He takes a stand. And there's a lot to be said for taking a viewpoint and standing by it in today's middle of the road world.

If you don't feel up to reading "Focus," "Positioning," or some of the other texts by Al Ries, this one provides a lot of the insights in bite size pieces.

Despite the knocks against it listed above there are a few points worth acknowledging: 1. Al Ries is a legend in marketing. 2. It's a good, fun read with many useful examples worth keeping in mind when developing marketing strategies. 3. By reading it for yourself you can develop examples to refute a lot fo the laws and move along the path towards critically evaluating branding strategies.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Close...but NO cigar!, April 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service Into a World-Class Brand (Hardcover)

Overall, this is a good read. But, don't fall into the robotic trap of believing EVERYTHING you read! Take what is good from this book (and there is some) and digest it with all your marketing AND common sense wisdom. The author claims that "symbols" are really NOT that important!... This sort of reckless disinformation only furthers the authors 'hidden agenda?' I have been a top international brand manager for numerous household names the past 35 years and I can tell you without a doubt that "SYMBOLS SELL." Now, don't get me wrong, I am not implying that the symbol is everything, but, A BAD, UNPROFESSIONAL AND CHEAPLY ACQUIRED LOGO DESIGN CAN SEVERELY AND SOMETIMES IRREVERSIBLY KILL YOUR BEST MARKETING EFFORTS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. I have fallen victim to this problem more than once. Don't let it happen to you too!! We are a visual species; our unique and wonderful genetic disposition as humans endows us with the great gift of an advanced visual cortex within our brains. We see, we react, we think. But, by the time we get around to thinking, our subconscious mind has already assimilated a mountain of data about what we just took in. We innately gravitate towards that which is appealing to us visually; whether it be someone of the opposite sex or our favorite product (or LOGO) which captures our fancy in a magical way. Examples of logos like these are too numerous to mention here. Just look around your own little universe and "see" what it is that you yourself have become attached to over the years and think..."why?" The bottom line is this: Don't cut corners when it comes time to position your product or service in the global marketplace. A world class logo done right should be one of the FIRST things considered BEFORE launching your new product, business or service. You wouldn't set off to run a marathon with shoes from Wal-Mart. - Would you?? Shame on you, Al and Laura Ries for your gross error of judgement regarding the REAL WORLD facts.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read on a key issue in business today, August 22, 2002

By 

Dan E. Ross "Dan Ross" (Frisco, Tx USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service Into a World-Class Brand (Hardcover)

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding was primarily written by Laura Ries - Al Ries was a co-author on the book - in case anyone didn't know. Such information is available at their website. I rank this book a solid 5 star book because the insights / examples provided far outweigh any concerns / problems I found with the book. This book caused me to look at advertising / marketing from a different perspective in my daily life which is what I use to evaluate if something is a 5 star book

I loved The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding for the following reasons:

1. It flat out states the importance of marketing & branding, which is important to separate in the readers' mind before beginning. As they state "Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect. If you can build a powerful brand you will have a powerful marketing program. If you can't, then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective."

2. The Ries' call it like they see it. Excellent examples of marketing / advertising stupidity / effectiveness are provided.

3. They talk about the plethora of products that are produced each year.

4. They discuss how businesses must get inside a consumer's mind (AKA positioning) to win the war. Volvo = safety, BMW = Ultimate Driving Machine, Mercedes = prestige, Toyota = Reliability, Ford = ?, Chevy = ?. The Ries' clearly spell out an excellent reason as to why the U.S. automanufacturers are getting killed.

5. The book illustrates, as did the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, how companies dilute their brands through line extensions (I personally believe this due to my personal experience / buying patterns and observations of others.)

6. They point out the increasing importance of PR (public relations) compared to advertising. This is the subject of a new book by the father / daughter. Basically PR launches a product and advertising gives it life support is their main assertion.

I disliked The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding for the following reasons:

1. Overlap from prior books is definitely occurring. I have noticed this with Jack Trout's recent books too. I would estimate that 15% - 20%, at a minimum, of Trout's recent books and this book have been stated in one form or another in their prior works.

2. Some of the examples provide clearly refute other examples provided. On page 100 they state "the Mustang and former CEO of Chrysler Corporation (two powerful brand names.) In prior examples the authors clearly state that the brand is the maker of the company. Volvo = safety, BMW = driving machine, etc (you will find such features in all their vehicles -maybe not in Volvos convertible.) What does Chrysler stand for again? Minivans? I haven't exactly noticed it in their advertising......for a long time...

Conclusion: Buy the book. It is well worth the time and money. Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on Amazon or at my personal website. If you are interested in another good marketing book I highly recommend Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout or Seth Godin's book on permission marketing / launching an ideavirus. If you are interested in other subjects I would encourage you to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner if you are interested in economic history - the book is international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development / evolution of U.S. property history I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker."