Category: Book
Used starting at $4.89
New starting at $5.93
Buy itWhen you call a book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, you're pretty much ruling out Oprah's Book Club as potential buyers. (Not that Oprah herself isn't a terrific brand.) This is an audiobook for a narrow demographic: entrepreneurs, top managers, and public-relations directors. Coauthor Al Ries comes off like the eccentric genius that most of these managers keep in a basement office, only listening to when necessary. When he says, "The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope," and hectors managers with the idea that "customers want brands that are narrow in scope," you know he's right (he backs himself up with dozens of examples), and you know it's the last thing powerful, expansion-minded businesspeople want to hear. Coauthor Laura Ries, his daughter and marketing-firm partner, also reads sections. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Lou Schuler
| Publisher | Harper Paperbacks |
| ISBN | 0060007737 |
| Features |
|
| Format | Paperback |
| Author | Al Ries,Laura Ries |
| EAN | 9780060007737 |
| Label | Harper Paperbacks |
| Edition | 1st |
| Dewey Decimal Number | 658.827 |
| Studio | Harper Paperbacks |
| Number Of Pages | 272 |
| Title | The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding |
| Release Date | 2002-09-17 |
| Publication Date | 2002-09 |
| Manufacturer | Harper Paperbacks |
Review by M. C. Robinson, 2010-07-16
This book is more about Ries point of view than any "immutable" laws I'm aware of. While well expressed these views seem to make an imbalanced and narrow assessment of how things work in the world. The book minimized the value of advertising, and the role of design in branding so much that it's not very useful for someone who is actually in branding. It may have more appropriately been called, an approach to doing business by someone who likes Coca Cola. Someone who wants to develop a sales strategy for a global product line might read it... I just didn't find it practical, especially since it's rather dated now, and a lot of the claims have been proved wrong by events since 2003.
Review by Gavin Jensen, 2010-07-14
Almost all of what he wrote is very useful and good. He doesn't know what he is talking about when he talks about laws 16 and 17: The law of the shape referring to symbols and logos and the law of color.
It seems that many of the other laws could be condensed in one or two laws about focusing on narrowing the scope and category of your brand.
Review by Gustavas Jankauskas, 2010-04-27
The feeling that constantly passed through my head while reading this was:"why didn't I do it earlier?".
From now it is on my top5 list and on my desk all the time.
And that is 'nough said.
Review by jelarv, 2010-01-30
I was disappointed that the book is simply the author's view of the world, with no facts or back-up research. As has been illustrated by other popular authors (Malcolm Gladwell's books as well as Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics), just because something seems intuitive, doesn't mean it works. Ries & Ries use examples to support their theories, but unfortunately what was popular at the time of the book's publishing (2002), didn't continue for some of the companies. For example, they state "expanding your brand will diminish your power" and use GM as an example (which is a good one). But what about Apple's expansion from computers into the iPod and iPhone? They use Starbucks and Toys R Us as examples of brands that are well served by "keeping a narrow focus" and yet Starbucks has stumbled badly and Toys R Us had to sell itself to a group of investors in 2005 due to competition from Wal-Mart (which doesn't "keep a narrow focus"). This book could be good to stimulate ideas but don't look for any of the author's theories to be backed up with evidence proving they actually help to make the business better.
Review by O&G Marketing Manager, 2009-12-21
As a marketing professional with an advertising degree and fifteen years of experience, the more marketing I do, the more these "Immutable Laws of Branding" seem come into play. When I first read this book six or seven years ago, I thought, "Well, I understand and agree with most of the precepts, but not all of them." But, as I've managed marketing campaigns and projects over the years, whenever one wouldn't get the results I wanted (or expected), after going back and reviewing it, the issue oftentimes could be clearly tied back to the violation of at least a couple of the "laws."
The biggest problem with the book isn't anything in the book itself. The biggest problem revolves around what most people think marketing and branding is or does (or should do). So, for the most part, even most professional marketers operate on their already understood beliefs about marketing. They take "common sense" approaches to solving branding problems (which are always unique) and then wonder why they didn't get the results they wanted. Common sense is just that, "COMMON." This book explains the importance of a brand being unique and singular in its focus. So, if you take common sense approaches to unique problems, you'll get an "average" result. To me, continually obtaining "average" results is a sure fire road to ultimate failure.
So, I recommend this book for marketing and non-marketing professionals with a couple of caveats...
Realize that this book is very, very focused on developing and managing a brand. It doesn't give you an economic model that tells you how to price your product or service, or how you should set up a distribution channel (but, if you fully grasp the concepts, it will give you ideas on how to make decisions like these).
Most importantly, keep an open mind as you read and realize that many of the concepts in the book will absolutely be COUNTER-INTUITIVE. You will most likely flat out disagree some of them, but I would challenge you to read the book in its entirety and then, over time see if and how the "laws" apply. You may be pleasantly surprised over the years (just as I have been) and end up with this one being one of your favorite marketing books as well.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
Used starting at $0.36
New starting at $8.99
BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed
Used starting at $4.00
New starting at $5.95
Kellogg on Branding: The Marketing Faculty of The Kellogg School of Management
Used starting at $19.39
New starting at $20.31
Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, Updated and Revised Edition
Used starting at $12.00
New starting at $12.27
