The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

What’s a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.

Words are the key to brand building.

Remember, customers have choices, even when there is no competition. They can choose to drink beer, water, ginger ale, or orange juice instead of a cola. Competition increases the noise level and tends to increase sales in the category.

Brand building is boring work. What works best is absolute consistency over an extended period of time.

Never forget leadership. No matter how small the market, don’t get duped into simply selling the benefits of the category early in the branding process.

If the market is moving out from under you, stay where you are and launch a second brand. If it’s not, stay where you are and continue building your brand.

Leaders should not look on their advertising budgets as investments that will pay dividends. Instead leaders should look on their advertising budgets as insurance that will protect them against losses caused by competitive attacks.

When you broaden your brand, you weaken it.

Today most products and services are bought, not sold. And branding greatly facilitates this process. Branding “pre-sells” the product or service to the user. Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.