I’ve shared the laws of technology for marketers. But what about laws of marketing for technologists?
The single most insightful marketing book I’ve ever read was published nearly 20 years ago, before the Web was anything more than an academic experiment:The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
Marketers of the Internet Generation can be forgiven if they haven’t read it. After all, it doesn’t invent entirely new tactical dynamics of online marketing, such asPermission Marketing, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, and Content Rules have. But the strategic truths that it reveals are timeless.
A few of the laws are:
The Law of Leadership
It’s better to be first than it is to be “better” — the leading brand in almost any category is the one that embedded itself first in the neural pathways of its prospects. In the best cases, the name may even become generic: Kleenex. Coke. FedEx. Or, a more contemporary example, Google. (A subsequent Law of the Mindnotes, “Being first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first in the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get in the mind first.”)
The Law of the Category
If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in. “Forget the brand. Think categories. Prospects are on the defensive when it comes to brands. Everyone talks about why their brand is better. But prospects have an open mind when it comes to categories. Everyone is interested in what’s new.”
Continues @ http://www.chiefmartec.com
