Book Brief 04 | The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

Welcome all. Today's briefing will cover Al Ries and Jack Trout's book: The 22 Immutable Laws of MARKETING: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!

As always, the purpose of a Book Brief is to provide as much potentially useful information as busy people like yourself may need, to decide if reading the book under consideration will be a good use of your time. We'll begin with specifications, and move on to more subjective information.

ISBN-10: 0887306667

Year: 1993 (hardcover) / 1994 (paperback)

Version: Paperback (purchased used on Thriftbooks.com for $4.19 in 7/2020)

Pages: 132 (+4 with Introduction)

Dimensions: 8.0 x 5.375 x 0.375 (inches)

Other versions: paperback, hardcover, audiobook, Kindle, and audio cd (Amazon, new and used); paperback and Nook (Barnes & Noble); used paperback and hardcover (Thriftbooks.com)

Why did you buy it?

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing was on a “20 books recommended by successful executives” list in the Twitter feed of Inc.com. Not much more to it than that. I'm a sucker for a book list.

Would you buy it again? Yes.

Will you keep it as a resource? Yes. I like the layout and short chapters. It's easy to keep handy for quick reference.

Each short chapter lays out one of the 22 Immutable Laws.

Who is it for?

Anyone who uses, or aspires to use, marketing to promote their business, products, services, or themselves will benefit from this book. Even if you think your marketing plan is on point, this book could be for you.

Why? Because it serves as a reminder. There are 22 laws to remember, after all. If you have a lot of balls in the air, you may not have a lot of brain-space to dedicate to the many facets of your marketing strategy.

When you're developing a new project, browse the Contents page. Think about where your marketing could improve, and take a few minutes to remind yourself how to make that improvement.

Are you the type of person who likes to settle down with a book and a cup of coffee or tea and dedicate an hour or two to reading? Or are you the type who never has more than 5-10 minutes to spare? Or, like me, do you prefer to read in 10-20 minute chunks, and take a break, digesting the information and letting your eyes rest? Whichever one of those you most identify with, this book is for you. The chapters are so short, you can read one chapter in 5 minutes. 10 minutes max.

Remember: When we understand who the authors are, we understand who they’re writing for. Ries and Trout are marketing strategists. The book is a product, and their targeted audience is a market segment.

They’re professional advertising executives. Not marketing professors. They didn’t write a textbook. They wrote a book targeting the tens of millions of small business owners, executives, and aspiring executives, who have not taken courses in consumer behavior or decision science. This is as much a book for someone running an annual bake sale fundraiser as it is for an entrepreneur, small business owner, or director of a nonprofit.

The last three pages of the book are a section simply titled Warning. They write:

“We would be remiss if we did not warn our readers about the potential dangers of trying to apply the laws of marketing within an existing organization.... Management will not take kindly to any efforts to curtail their equity expansions. You may just have to wait them out… If you violate the immutable laws, you run the risk of failure. If you apply the immutable laws, you run the risk of being bad-mouthed, ignored, or even ostracized.”

This doesn’t mean the book is not for you. Only that, if you encounter resistance and this happens to you, you may feel frustrated watching your organization make bad decisions.

One more point. You may look at books like this one, and see big brand names and powerful multinational corporations, and think, "I'm running a small organization. This is not for me." Not true. There is only one Coca-Cola. One Apple. Ries and Trout, and every other author writing business books, know that.

They are using these companies' decisions and strategies to illustrate the concepts they're presenting. Because they know that you and I can absolutely learn useful lessons from the successes and failures of businesses that are massively larger than ours, with a radically different product, in different geographical locations, with a different mission.

For example, I bookmarked a passage about the failure of General Motors, a huge car company, because it reminded me of a similar situation in a very small nonprofit. Both allowed numbers to shift focus away from the brands (products, services, mission), resulting in a decline in numbers.

Text sample from middle of book.

How does it read? Fast and super easy. The chapters are short, and there is no fluff.

Did you find it useful? Yes. I had 19 page tabs and 7 bookmarks. I have other marketing books, but this one gets to the point and moves on.

How long did it take you? Maybe 2 hours over 3 days. It's a fast, easy read.

Did you skip anything? Nope.

Anything else I might want to know?

Yes. First, remember that while the book is almost 30 years old, and many of the references are dated, the immutable laws of marketing are, in fact, still immutable. Their recommendations are current, useful, and actionable.

With that stated, the people and companies Ries and Trout used as examples to demonstrate the laws of marketing, are not immutable. Many of them are dated. Even outdated. This is due simply to a combination of the decline of brands and companies and the development of technology over time.

For example, in Chapter 5, The Law of Focus:

“The leader owns the word that stands for the category. For example, IBM owns computer… ‘We need an IBM machine.’ Is there any doubt that a computer is being requested?… If the given words are computer, copier, chocolate bar, and cola, the four most associated words are IBM, Xerox, Hershey’s, and Coke.”

Hershey’s and Coke may still own chocolate bar and cola. But IBM and Xerox? In 1992, IBM may have been synonymous with computer. But, approaching 2022, someone born in 1992 is unlikely to connect with, or even comprehend, that relationship.

The Law of Focus, however-- “The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind”—is easy to connect with.

In another example, Chapter 13, The Law of Sacrifice:

“…The company sacrificed everything except the teenage market. Then it brilliantly exploited this market by hiring its icons: Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Don Johnson… ’Gotta have it’ is Pepsi’s new theme. The advertising shows older people like Yogi Berra and Regis Philbin drinking Pepsi.”

That was in 1992. If you were born in (or after) 1992, you might know who these people are without googling their names. Michael Jackson, for example. Or, Regis Philbin. But, as the list goes on, the name recognition dwindles. Lionel Richie?… Yes, he is Nicole Richie’s dad, but that's not why Pepsi wanted him. Don Johnson?… No, he is not “The Rock.” That's Dwayne. Yogi Berra?... No, 'Berra'. Not 'Bear'. He was a baseball player.

However, we don't need to know who those people were, to relate to the Law of Sacrifice: “You have to give up something in order to get something".

Now, I want you to understand me, the author of this blog, so you know who I'm talking to. That's you. I'm here to help you. Not stress you out.

So, you might want to know that Donald Trump is discussed in this book. Now you might not care. It may not bother you one way or the other. But some people care a lot.

As I write this, it is November 2021. Today, Donald Trump is a polarizing figure. Some absolutely adore him. While others absolutely abhor him. Those two types are the people I'm addressing.

This book was written in 1992. In 1992, Donald Trump was not a polarizing figure. For context, this is long before his reality show. Let alone the presidency. In 1992, other than a few cameos, Donald Trump was mostly known for his social life, an extravagant, luxury lifestyle, and Trump buildings. He was not known in the business world for being a great business strategist. He was, however, well known in business circles, for his marketing and promotion of the Trump brand.

While he is mentioned less than others, Ries and Trout do include about 4 or 5 discussions of the Trump brand and of Donald Trump. They’re not negative, but some are unflattering. Each one is a legitimate reference to a decision or strategy.

I know that some people get triggered, and may become agitated-- defensively or offensively-- when his name comes up. But, you're a busy person. You've got a lot going on. No one needs that kind of stress. So, I urge you to keep that in mind. If you know that you're likely to become either defensive or offensive at the mention of his name, you might want to know it’s in there.

This concludes my Book Brief. If there are books you'd like to know about or questions you'd like answered, please let me know.

Thank you for reading. Have a great day, and come back soon.

Shannon