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

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 most successful entertainers are the ones who control their appearances. They don’t overextend themselves. They’re not all over the place. They don’t wear out their welcome.

If McDonald’s owns kids, then Burger King has the opportunity to position itself for the older crowd, which includes any kid who doesn’t want to be perceived as a kid. That generally works out to be everyone over the age of 10 (not a bad market).

It’s better to be early than late. You can’t get into the prospect’s mind first unless you’re prepared to spend some time waiting for things to develop.

The leading brand in any category is almost always the first brand into the prospect’s mind.

When you try to be all things to all people, you inevitably wind up in trouble. “I’d rather be strong somewhere,” said one manager, “than weak everywhere.”

When Beck’s beer arrived in the United States, it had a problem. It couldn’t be the first imported beer (that was Heineken), nor could it be the first German imported beer (that was Lowenbrau). It solved its problem by repositioning Lowenbrau. “You’ve tasted the German beer that’s the most popular in America. Now taste the German beer that’s the mo

Forget the front page. If you’re looking for clues to the future, look in the back of the paper for those innocuous little stories.

What makes the battle even more difficult is that customers frequently make buying decisions based on second-hand perceptions. Instead of using their own perceptions, they base their buying decisions on someone else’s perception of reality. This is the “everybody knows” principle.