Equally as bad as extrapolating a trend is the common practice of assuming the future will be a replay of the present. When you assume that nothing will change, you are predicting the future just as surely as when you assume that something will change. Remember Peter’s Law: The unexpected always happens.

When you take the long view of marketing, you find the battle usually winds up as a titanic struggle between two major players—usually the old reliable brand and the upstart.

the Barbie doll is a trend. When Barbie was invented years ago, the doll was never heavily merchandised into other areas. As a result, the Barbie doll has become a long-term trend in the toy business.

you keep those coupons rolling out not to increase sales but to keep sales from falling off if you stop. Couponing is a drug. You continue to do it because the withdrawal symptoms are just too painful.

Marketing is too important to be turned over to an underling. If you delegate anything, you should delegate the chairmanship of the next fund-raising drive.

Many other computer companies (and their entrepreneurial owners) became rich and famous by following a simple principle: If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

Take Emery Air Freight. Emery was in the air freight services business. Anything you wanted to ship you could ship via Emery. Small packages, large packages, overnight service, delayed service. From a marketing point of view, what did Federal Express do? It concentrated on one service: small packages overnight. Today Federal Express is a much bigge

“We’ll focus on the quality end of the market. We won’t get into the low end where the emphasis is on price.” The problem is that customers don’t believe you unless you restrict your business to high-priced products only, like Mercedes-Benz or BMW.

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.