To get into the consumer’s mind, you have to sacrifice.
AL RIESIf you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program.
More Al Ries Quotes
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Even if all the cattle on the range look pretty much alike.
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An attribute that nobody else already owns in your category.
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You must be willing to give up something in order to establish that unique position.
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It normally takes decades to build a brand because it takes decades to penetrate the gray matter in between your ears.
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Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.
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The essence of positioning is sacrifice.
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If you want to build a brand, you must focus your branding efforts on owning a word in the prospect’s mind. A word that nobody else owns.
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Customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable by a single word, the shorter the better.
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The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.
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It is better to have 50% of one market, instead of 10% of five markets.
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Strategy should evolve out of the mud of the marketplace, not in the antiseptic environment of an ivory tower.
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Successful brands get into the mind slowly. A blurb in a magazine. A mention in a newspaper. A comment from a friend. A display in a retail store.
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The Law of the Generic: One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.
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Changing the direction of a large company is like trying to turn an aircraft carrier.
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Marketing is what a company is in business to do. Marketing is a company’s ultimate objective.
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The new product, if it’s going to be successful, is going to require a new name. New ladder, new name. It’s as simple as that.
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The best way to make news is to announce a new category, not a new product.
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Advertising is the way great brands get to be great brands.
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Positioning is how you differentiate yourself in the mind of the prospect.
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Positioning is not what you do to a product.
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It’s the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product.
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The reason is obvious. A well-known name got well-known because it stood for something. It occupies a position in the prospect’s mind. A really well-known name sits on the top rung of a sharply defined ladder.
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You have to reduce the essence of your brand to a single thought or attribute.
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But with a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out cancer.
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It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.
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It normally takes decades to build a brand… It’s the forgetting of the old truth that allows a person to accept a new truth.
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