Author - Al Ries & Laura Ries
Introduction
• Most products and services are bought, not sold.
• Branding is a more efficient way to sell things
• It creates a perception of being the best in the market
Law Of Expansion
• Keep a narrow line to build a brand in the mind of the consumers and increase sales in future
• To build a powerful brand in the mind of the consumer you need to contract your brand and not expand it
• Expanding the brand will diminish your power and weaken the image.
Law Of Contraction
• Brand becomes stronger when you narrow your focus
• Ultimate objective of any branding program should be to dominate the category
• Dominating a category makes a brand very powerful
Law Of Publicity
• The media wants to talk about what’s new, what’s first, what’s hot and not what’s better
• Brand strategies should be developed first from a publicity point of view
Law of Advertising
• Publicity is a powerful tool but after sometime a brand outlives its publicity potential
• Advertising budget is like an insurance that will protect the brand against the looses caused by the competitive attacks
• Brands have to advertise to defend it position and maintain leadership among the competitors
Law of Word
• Branding efforts should focus on owning a strong name in the prospect’s mind
• Once a brand owns a word its almost impossible for a competitor to take the word away from the brand
Law of Credentials
• Credentials are the collateral that guarantees the performance of the brand
• If your brand has the right credentials, your prospect is likely to believe almost anything you say about your brand
• Leadership is the direct way to establish the credentials of the brand
Law of Quality
• If you want to build a powerful brand , you must build a powerful perception of the quality in the mind of the consumers
• Become a specialist than a generalist
• A specialist is generally perceived to know more ,therefore have higher quality than a generalist
Law of Category
• Launch a brand that creates a perception of being the first , the leader , pioneer / original
• Promote the new category, make the brand name stand for the category
• Expand the category by promoting the benefits of the category, not the brand
Law of Name
• In a short term brand needs a unique idea or concept to survive. Needs to own a word in the minds of the consumers.
• What really counts is the product itself and the benefits that it provides the prospect
Law of Extension
Law of Fellowship
• In order to build the category , brands should welcome healthy competition
• It brings more customers into the category
Law of Generic
• Find regular word take, out of context and connote the primary attribute of your brand.
Law Of Company
• Brand name should take precedence over company names
• If company name is used as a brand name customers see these names as brands
• Brand should be focus of attention, use the company name in a decidedly secondary way
Law of Sub-brands
• The essence of the brand attribute you can own in the mind, sub brand takes the brand in the opposite direction
• What a manufacturer see as a mega brand, the consumer sees as a brand
Law of Siblings
• A family of brands should be developed that will assure company’s control of a market for many decades
• The key to this approach is to make each sibling have unique individual brand identity
• Sibling strategy can be used to dominate the category over the long term
Law of Shape
• A horizontal shape will provide the maximum impact for your logo
Law of Colour
• Red is a retail colour used to attract attention.
• Blue is the corporate colour used to communicate stability
• Select a colour that is opposite of your major competitors
Law of Borders
• A brand should have no borders
• The consumer value the brand based on their origin
Law of Consistency
• Brands should not change their essential characteristics
• Markets may change but brands shouldn’t
• Limitations combined with consistency is what builds a brand
Law of Change
• Brand can be changed , but only infrequently and carefully
• If you want to change your brand first look into the minds of the consumer
Law of Mortality
• No brand will live forever. Euthanasia is often the best solution
• Understand the nature of the brand and let the old brand have a natural death
Conclusion
Brands should not blindly follow the trends ,
instead understand how to build , strengthen and maintain the brand