22 immutable laws of branding

Branding is the creation of the perception in the mind of the prospect that there is no other product in the market quite like your product.

This is an excerpt from the book of the same name written by the famous marketing strategist, Al Ries. These laws are

The Law of Contraction: A brand becomes stronger when you narrow your focus. For example Howard Schultz of Starbucks focused on one category and dominated the coffee market.

The Law of Expansion: The power of the brand is inversely proportional to its scope. Focus should be on the long term on building the brand rather than milking the brand for the short term growth. For example, when Amex tried to introduce many new cards every year, the market share fell significantly.

The Law of Publicity: The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity not advertising. The best way to publicity is by being first. E.g. CNN being the first cable news network, Compaq being the first portable personal computer.

The Law of Advertising: Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy. This is important to maintain the leadership position once achieved.

The Law of the Word: A brand should try to own a word in the customer’s mind. E.g. ‘prestige’ for Mercedes and ‘safety’ for Volvo.

The Law of Quality: Quality alone is not important for success of the brand. Quality, or the perception of quality, resides in the mind of the customers. So there is the need to build this perception.

The Law of Credentials: The claim to authenticity is the most important credential. It is maintained by the leadership position.

The Law of the Category: A leading brand should promote the category, not the brand.

The Law of the Name: In the long run, a brand is nothing but the name. In the short run, the product features and attributes are important but in the long run, only the name remains.

The Law of Extensions: The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put its name on everything.

The Law of Fellowship: In order to build a category, a brand should welcome other brands. The competition between Coke and Pepsi created more demand for cola. Hence one should tolerate healthy competition. It brings more customers.

The Law of the Generic: One of the fastest routes to failure is giving the brand a generic name.

The Law of the Company: Brands are brands. Companies are companies. There is a difference.

The Law of Subbrands: What brands build, subbrands destroy.

The Law of Sibling: There is a time and place to launch a second brand. One should resist launching a second brand until and unless the first brand has got itself totally established.

The Law of Color: A brand should use a color opposite to that of competitor’s.

The Law of Borders: There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.

The Law of Change: Brands can be changed but only infrequently and very carefully.

The Law of Consistency: A brand is not built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years.

The Law of Mortality: No brand lives forever. The best solution is often the euthanasia.

The Law of Singularity: The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.

The Law of Shape: The logo should be designed to fit both the eyes. The words should be easily legible.