The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
by Al Ries
from Collins Business
As it becomes increasingly associated with impressive corporate gains realized in recent years by companies ranging from FedEx and Rolex to Starbucks and Volvo, "branding" has developed into one of the marketing world's hottest concepts. And for good reason, contend well-known strategist Al Ries and his daughter Laura Ries in The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand.
"Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect," they write. "If you can build a powerful brand you will have a powerful marketing program. If you can't, then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective." A no-holds-barred look at a diverse collection of successful--and not-so-successful--branding efforts undertaken by these and other high-profile firms, their book distills the most critical principles involved into a series of clear rules with straightforward titles such as The Law of Expansion, The Law of Contraction, The Law of Consistency, and The Law of Mortality. While some of their suggestions may at first seem counterintuitive, together they compose a logical blueprint for success in today's ever-more-competitive environment. --Howard Rothman
When 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
This marketing classic has been expanded to include new commentary, new illustrations, and a bonus book: The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding
Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries. Combining The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding, this book proclaims that the only way to stand out in today's marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand—and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding also tackles one of the most challenging marketing problems today: branding on the Web. The Rieses divulge the controversial and counterintuitive strategies and secrets that both small and large companies have used to establish internet brands. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the essential primer on building a category-dominating, world-class brand.
Guerrilla Marketing Weapons: 100 Affordable Marketing Methods
by Jay Conrad Levinson
from Plume
The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR
by Al Ries
from Collins Business
In The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, longtime marketing strategist Al Ries and his daughter/business partner Laura Ries offer solid arguments championing the latter over the former for modern-day brand building. Such a stance is hardly new for these two, who have jointly, individually, and with others written eight previous books on related topics since Al penned The Positioning Era Cometh for Advertising Age some three decades ago. What's fresh this time is the dissection of contemporary corporate hits--like Starbucks, Botox, eBay, and even Harry Potter--that have eschewed traditional advertising and nevertheless soared to the top through the savvy use of public relations. The authors spend the first part of the book discussing how advertising lost credibility among consumers as it became more of a creative art than a sales tool, and the second part showing how PR subsequently supplanted it in effectiveness. Using the above examples and others, they explain how such practices can work in various situations (building a new brand, rebuilding an old one, dealing with line extensions, etc.), as well as ways advertising can still be usefully employed (primarily to maintain a brand and "keep it on course"). The result is both provocative and practical. --Howard Rothman
Bestselling authors and world-renowned marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries usher in the new era of public relations.
Today's major brands are born with publicity, not advertising. A closer look at the history of the most successful modern brands shows this to be true. In fact, an astonishing number of brands, including Palm, Starbucks, the Body Shop, Wal-Mart, Red Bull and Zara have been built with virtually no advertising.
Using in-depth case histories of successful PR campaigns coupled with those of unsuccessful advertising campaigns, The Fall of Advertising provides valuable ideas for marketers -- all the while demonstrating why
- advertising lacks credibility, the crucial ingredient in brand building, and how only PR can supply that credibility;
- the big bang approach advocated by advertising people should be abandoned in favor of a slow build-up by PR;
- advertising should only be used to maintain brands once they have been established through publicity.
Bold and accessible, The Fall of Advertising is bound to turn the world of marketing upside down.
Bestselling authors and world-renowned marketing strategists Al and Laura Ries usher in the new era of public relations. Today's major brands are born with publicity, not advertising. A closer look at the history of the most successful modern brands shows this to be true. In fact, an astonishing number of brands, including Palm, Starbucks, the Body Shop, Wal-Mart, Red Bull and Zara have been built with virtually no advertising. Using in-depth case histories of successful PR campaigns coupled with those of unsuccessful advertising campaigns, The Fall of Advertising provides valuable ideas for marketers - all the while demonstrating why *advertising lacks credibility, the crucial ingredient in brand building, and how only PR can supply that credibility; *the big bang approach advocated by advertising people should be abandoned in favor of a slow build-up by PR; *advertising should only be used to maintain brands once they have been established through publicity. Bold and accessible, The Fall of Advertising is bound to turn the world of marketing upside down. Al Ries is one of the world's best-known marketing strategists. He is also the bestselling coauthor of Positioning and along with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries, of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Their Atlanta consulting firm, Ries & Ries, works with many Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit www.ries.com."
Statistics, Data Analysis, and Decision Modeling and Student CD (3rd Edition)
by James R. Evans
from Prentice Hall
This book covers basic concepts of business statistics, data analysis, and management science in a spreadsheet environment. Practical applications are emphasized throughout the book for business decision-making; a comprehensive database is developed, with marketing, financial, and production data already formatted on Excel worksheets. This shows how real data is used and decisions are made.
Using Excel as the basic software, and including such add-ins as PHStat2, Crystal Ball, and TreePlan, this book covers a wide variety of topics related to business statistics: statistical thinking in business; displaying and summarizing data; random variables; sampling; regression analysis; forecasting; statistical quality control; risk analysis and Monte-Carlo simulation; systems simulation modeling and analysis; selection models and decision analysis; optimization modeling; and solving and analyzing optimization models.
For those employed in the fields of quality control, management science, operations management, statistical science, and those who need to interpret data to make informed business decisions.
Value Merchants: Demonstrating and Documenting Superior Value in Business Markets
by James C. Anderson
from Harvard Business School Press
Do your salespeople feel under extreme pressure to retain accounts or gain new business at any cost? If so, you may be leaving big money on the table. Consider the integrated-circuit supplier representative who lost $500,000 of potential profit on a single transaction, just to win a deal that he would have closed anyway at the higher price.
Do not make price concessions. Become a value merchant instead. In this authoritative book, James Anderson, Nirmalya Kumar, and James Narus explain how companies in business markets can use customer value management techniques to estimate the value of your market offerings, create value propositions that resonate with your customers, and maximize the return you will get on the superior value that you deliver.
Drawing on extensive research and detailed case studies of companies like Sonoco, Tata Steel, and Quaker Chemical, Value Merchants will change the mindset and behavior of your executives, sales management, representatives, and marketers as well as your customers.
Business-to-Business Direct Marketing: Proven Direct Response Methods to Generate More Leads and Sales, Second Edition
by Robert W. Bly
from McGraw-Hill
Business to Business Direct Marketing is the only book that discloses how to profit from the most important weapon in the business-to-business marketer's arsenal: direct marketing.
Loaded with realworld examples of how the pros consistently increase response and generate more and better leads, Business to Business Direct Marketing gives you the guidance to create and develop narketing communications that win every time. Veteran business marketer Bob Bly unlocks the secrets behind the seven key strategies and tactics of busines-to-direct marketing. He takes the reader step-by-step through the different types of communications and media at the marketer's disposal.
Bly shows you how to:
- Cut through the hype and get real benefits from marketing in the newer electronic media, including the World Wide Web.
- Increase the pulling power of every print ad.
- Get more inquiries and orders from every ad.
- Make your direct mail response rates soar.
- Boost response from sales brochures.
- Maximize orders from business catalogs.
- Create hard and soft offers that sell more.
- Profit from postcard decks.
- Use press releases and feature articles as direct response tools.
- Generate leads from speeches and seminars.
- Create inquiry fulfillment packages that close more sales.
Marketing High Technology
by William H. Davidow
from Free Press
Marketing is civilized warfare. And as high-tech products become increasingly standardized -- practically identical, from the customer's point of view -- it is marketing that spells life or death for new devices or entire firms. In a book that is as fascinating as it is pragmatic, William H. Davidow, a legend in Silicon Valley, where he was described as "the driving force behind the micro processor explosion," tells how to fight the marketing battle in the intensely competitive world of high-tech companies -- and win.
Blunt, pithy, and knowledgeable, Davidow draws on his successful marketing experience at Intel Corporation to create a complete program for marketing victory. He drives home the basics, such as how to go head-on against the competition; how to "plan products, not devices"; how to give products a "soul"; and how to engineer promotions, market internationally, motivate salespeople, and rally distributors. Above all, he demonstrates the critical importance of servicing and supporting customers. Total customer satisfaction, Davidow makes clear, must be every high-tech marketer's ultimate goal.
The only comprehensive marketing strategy book by an insider, Marketing High Technology looks behind the scenes at industry-shaking clashes involving Apple and IBM, Visicorp and Lotus, Texas Instruments and National Semiconductor. He recounts his own involvement in Crush, Intel's innovative marketing offensive against Motorola, to demonstrate, step-by-step, how it became an industry prototype for a winning high-tech campaign.
Davidow clearly spells out 16 principles which increase the effectiveness of marketing programs. From examples as diverse as a Rolling Stones concert and a microprocessor chip, he defines a true "product." He analyzes and explains in new ways the strategic importance of distribution as it relates to market sector, pricing, and the pitfalls it entails. He challenges some traditional marketing theory and provides unique and important insights developed from over 20 years in the high-tech field. From an all-encompassing philosophy that great marketing is a crusade requiring total commitment, to a careful study of the cost of attacking a competitor, this book is an essential tool for survival in today's high-risk, fast- changing, and very lucrative high-tech arena.
Designing Brand Experience: Creating Powerful Integrated Brand Solutions
by Robin Landa
from Delmar Cengage Learning
In today's competitive marketplace, establishing a creative and comprehensive branding program is crucial to achieving business success. This dynamic new book from best-selling author Robin Landa is an all-inclusive guide to generating ideas and creating brand applications that resonate with an audience. A highly visual examination of each phase of the branding process includes comprehensive coverage of the key brand applications of graphic design and advertising. Readers gain valuable insight into the art of designing individual brand applications-brand identity, promotional design, identification graphics, web sites, advertising, and unconventional/guerilla formats, among others-while benefiting from the thoughtful commentary and full-color branding work of award-winning designers and creative directors worldwide.
Viable Vision: Transforming Total Sales into Net Profits
by Gerald I. Kendall
from J. Ross Publishing
Developed by industry guru and mega best-selling author Eli Goldratt, Viable Vision is a proven strategic plan and approach that lays out the steps to transform an organization's current total sales into net profits within 4 years. This book explains the Viable Vision concept and provides readers the proven frame of reference and roadmap for achieving exponential growth in profits, without relying on minor miracles such as a new product breakthrough.
Supported by significant testing and proven results in real companies, it is now conceivable that even large companies can grow profits at double digit rates. Concisely packed with the proven principles of 25 years of scientific research and real-life application, readers will learn about the holistic implementation of constraints management in strategic planning, operations, supply chain/logistics, sales and marketing, project management, technology, metrics and finance. Whether or not you are one of the millions of people who have read "The Goal" or other fine books on the Theory of Constraints, you will gain enormous benefits from reading this book. Viable Vision is a must read for anyone interested in rapidly increasing their company's net profits.
Radical Marketing: From Harvard to Harley, Lessons from Ten That Broke the Rules and Made It Big
by Sam Hill
from Collins Business
So-called radical marketers stand out from the corporate crowd because they view the marketplace much differently from their more traditional peers. Not coincidentally, marketing consultant Sam Hill and business journalist Glenn Rifkin argue that the most advanced of these unorthodox companies--represented by diverse business ventures like Virgin Atlantic Airways, Iams pet food, Snap-on tools, and Samuel Adams beer--also tend to be wildly successful. In Radical Marketing, Hill and Rifkin examine these businesses and a half-dozen others with an eye toward the practices leading to their prosperity that could be adapted elsewhere. Some choices may raise eyebrows, such as the National Basketball Association (which lost half its 1998 to 1999 season to a contentious labor dispute) and the Grateful Dead rock band (long criticized for glorifying recreational drug use), but all nonetheless support the authors' hypotheses and reveal through detailed profiles and careful analyses precisely what their experiences offer other firms. Thankfully the authors end by explaining how such practices can be used also by mature companies in less freewheeling fields. --Howard Rothman
How did the Grateful Dead use its fanatical following to build a $100 millionbrand that still thrives today? How did upstart Boston Beer Company--makers of Sam Adams--prevail over rival Anheuser-Busch without an advertising budget? And how did lams create the premium pet food market and leap from $16 million to $600 million in sales in just fifteen years, while charging twice the price of competitor Ralston-Purina? The answer: radical marketing.
In this fresh, provocative book, Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin identify the mar-keting strategies that have enabled ten innovative companies to emerge asindustry leaders. What do these organizations have in common? Each is intune emotionally with its customer base, allowing them to glean superior marketing insight without spending millions of dollars. Each is more focused on the big picture--growth and expansion--rather than short-term profits. And,despite their current success, each started out with little more than a passion for their product. Engrossing, informative, and invaluable, Radical Marketing demonstrates how any company, large or small, can achieve unprecedented success through inventive and revolutionary tactics.
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