Summary: The 21 Immutable Laws of Marketing

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[ NOTE: These book summaries are designed as captures for what I’ve read, and aren’t necessarily great standalone resources for those who have not read the book. Their purpose is to ensure that I capture what I learn from any given text, so as to avoid realizing years later that I have no idea what it was about or how I benefited from it. ]

  • Be first to market

  • Create a product in a new category

  • Being first means being first in the minds of customers

  • Marketing is about perception, not reality

  • You must try to own powerful words in the minds of customers

  • If someone already owns a word, make a new one

  • You have to use different strategies depending whether you’re the top player or the third player

  • In the end there will be two

  • If second place is your goal, play the opposite of first place

  • Categories will divide, so another way to win is to become the leader in a new subdivision

  • Marketing is a long game; don’t sacrifice the strategy for the tactics

  • Don’t use the name everywhere; create separate brands for different things

  • It’s all about tradeoffs (product line, target market, constant change)

  • Use opposite attributes

  • Admit negatives to earn trust

  • There is one good move for every situation

  • Be flexible because you don’t know what’s going to happen

  • Getting an ego will get you killed because you’ll lose your objectivity

  • Expect to fail and be prepared to move on quickly

  • Ignore what people are saying; reality is often different

  • Follow the trends, not the fads

  • You need to invest in good ideas if you want them to grow

Lessons

  • It’s interesting to see what this book got right and wrong

  • Funny, I read this as Trump was becoming interesting again for election 2016

  • I like the ego paint and I think IBM and Blackberry are great cases in point

[ Find my other book summaries here. ]

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