The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

The news media wants to talk about what’s new, what’s first, and what’s hot, not what’s better. When your brand can make news, it has a chance to generate publicity. And the best way to make news is to announce a new category, not a new product.

The best way to generate publicity is by being first. In other words, by being the first brand in a new category.

If you want to be rich, you have to do what rich people did before they were rich—you have to find out what they did to become rich. If you want to have a successful company, you have to do what successful companies did before they were successful.

Rich people buy expensive houses and eat in expensive restaurants. They drive Rolls-Royces and wear Rolex watches. They vacation on the Riviera.

Would buying an expensive house, a Rolls-Royce, and a Rolex make you rich? Just the opposite. It’s likely to make you poor, even bankrupt.

Good things happen when you contract your brand rather than expand it.

A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.

Because it wants to sell more cars. And in the short term, it does. But in the long term, the model expansion undermines the brand name in the mind of the consumer

The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.

Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect.

The objective is to create in the mind of the prospect the perception that there is no other product on the market quite like your product.