Product Description

This marketing classic has been expanded to include new commentary, new illustrations, and a bonus book: The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding

Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries. Combining The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding, this book proclaims that the only way to stand out in today's marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand—and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding also tackles one of the most challenging marketing problems today: branding on the Web. The Rieses divulge the controversial and counterintuitive strategies and secrets that both small and large companies have used to establish internet brands. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the essential primer on building a category-dominating, world-class brand.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19885 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09
• Released on: 2002-09-17
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com
As it becomes increasingly associated with impressive corporate gains realized in recent years by companies ranging from FedEx and Rolex to Starbucks and Volvo, "branding" has developed into one of the marketing world's hottest concepts. And for good reason, contend well-known strategist Al Ries and his daughter Laura Ries in The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand.

"Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect," they write. "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." A no-holds-barred look at a diverse collection of successful--and not-so-successful--branding efforts undertaken by these and other high-profile firms, their book distills the most critical principles involved into a series of clear rules with straightforward titles such as The Law of Expansion, The Law of Contraction, The Law of Consistency, and The Law of Mortality. While some of their suggestions may at first seem counterintuitive, together they compose a logical blueprint for success in today's ever-more-competitive environment. --Howard Rothman

Amazon.com Audiobook 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

Scott Kay, CEO, Scott Kay Inc.

"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."

Customer Reviews

Shoul dbe 22 sometimes laws of branding...
Good for branding basics, but once it dives into the "new world of the Internet" it stops being useful basically because every prediction they have about Internet companies and the mistakes they are making turn out to be wrong. The fact that you're looking at this review proves 1 prediction wrong, they predicted Amazon would die because it's straying from it's branding by expanding beyond books (its brand). They spend a lot of time talking how none of the old rules apply to the Internet, then they spend the rest of the book doing just that, applying the old rules to the Internet, and you can see just how wrong they were. That being said a lot of information can be learned about real world branding, and by seeing where they were wrong you can also deduce information about online branding.

Duh
This book was supposedly a classic on the subject of branding some years ago. It's age certainly shows, having gotten around to reading it only recently.

For me it was basically a far less captivating version of Douglas Rushcoff's "Media Virus" - for me, the true ground breaker on the subject of branding.

I suppose the problem with any popular book about branding is this: as soon as it's concepts are popularized and utilized by any and every below-the-line boutique marketing joint in town, the concepts are rendered obsolete.

Further compounding this are extremely aging remarks - from the latest edition - along the lines of 'well, I suppose one day the internet will really find it's feet and become an important part of the proccess'.

Do ya think...!

A Fast, Fun, Worthwhile Read
This book contains the (infamous) 22 laws of branding according to Al Ries & Laura Ries. If you're looking for the Reader's Digest version of the message, here it is:

* Be first (invent your own category).
* Keep it simple and focused.
* Don't extend the brand; expand its category.

But really, why take my word for the book's message when it's such a fun read?

The language is simple, and there are plenty of images. You can skim right through it, or take the time to review the examples he gives of how big brands did the right (or wrong) things and come up with your own counter-examples.

This book isn't just for big brands; the 22 laws generally apply to smaller businesses too.

They point out that you shouldn't necessarily do the same things big companies do to become successful, even the ones known for success with branding. If you want to get rich by doing what rich people do, what you'll get is broke. You have to do what rich people did before they got rich.

Yes, big company branding is what they're still teaching in most business classes. Just say no if you're growing a smaller organization.

The addition of The 11 Immutable Laws of Branding on the Internet turned out to be a disappointment.

The problem is that the Internet is a fast-moving target, and the book was written a few years back (its copyright is 2002). When they say:

The Internet will be the first new medium that will not be dominated by advertising...

it's based on the way the Internet was then (remember bright flashing banner ads?)

If the Internet isn't going to be dominated by advertising, you'd never know it by Google's advertising revenues. Advertising on the 'net is here to stay, and can be a key component of your marketing plan.

Still, a great book, and a fun, fast, worthwhile read. I recommend it to anyone responsible for revenue growth.