The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World's Two

What’s the maximum number of rungs on a ladder? There seems to be a rule of seven in the prospect’s mind. Ask someone to name all the brands he or she remembers in a given category. Rarely will anyone name more than seven. And that’s for a high-interest category.

It’s better to be first than it is to be better.

A good No. 2 can’t afford to be timid. When you give up focusing on No. 1, you make yourself vulnerable not only to the leader but to the rest of the pack.

There’s a difference between “predicting” the future and “taking a chance” on the future. Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn took a chance that people would pay twice as much for a high-end popcorn.

In the long run, marketing is a two-car race.

Miller Lite was the first domestic light. It took an importer five years to say, “If there’s a market for a domestic light beer, maybe there’s a market for an imported light beer.” The result was Amstel Light, which became the largest-selling imported light beer.

Marketing is a game fought in the mind of the prospect. You need money to get into a mind. And you need money to stay in the mind once you get there.

marketing is a battle of perception, not product. In the mind, A-1 is not the brand name, but the steak sauce itself. “Would you pass me the A-1?” asks the diner. Nobody replies: “A-1 what?” In spite of an $18 million advertising budget, the A-1 poultry launch was a dismal failure.

The law of sacrifice is the opposite of the law of line extension. If you want to be successful today, you should give something up. There are three things to sacrifice: product line, target market, and constant change.