I recently jumped into a plane; Montreal-San Jose Costa Rica and then back. About 11 hours of flight. During that time I read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
The book was published in 1993, before the era of the Internet. The book claims that their marketing laws are Immutable, but a lot has changed since they wrote the book and many of those laws have been successfully broken.
The book focuses on the marketing strategies of the big companies of the era. The colas, the airlines, the automobile. I found it difficult to apply their marketing laws to small or medium-size businesses like my photography business. The book will not apply to other entrepreneurs such as lawyers, accountants, notaries, etc.
The first law, the Law of Leadership, claims that if you are the first in the market with a product, you will be the leader until something changes in the market.
Maybe that was true at their time, but recent examples from Google, Facebook, Apple, teaches us that you don’t have to be the first one in the market.
It’s nice to have a “First Mover” advantage, but it’s not a guarantee for long-term success. In fact, many contemporary business strategies suggest that being second has many more advantages. The first comer proves the concept and creates a market, the second comer can save money on research and development, and can come to the market with a different version of the same product or service.
There is a massage that I took home with me
- Perception is Reality
- Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception.
- Marketing is a game of mental warfare.
- Marketing is a battle of ideas
- Ego is the enemy of successful marketing.
Some lessons that I can apply to my photography business:
- The Law of focus: In the beginning, I was offering photography services for everyone. Now I am focusing exclusively on wedding photography. Can you narrow down your product or service? Let me know in the comments.
My recommendation:
I found the book inspirational and motivating. After reading it, I wanted to start a new marketing campaign. But it’s old, the examples are outdated, and so many of the Immutable Laws have been disproven by the Internet.
In summary. If you read it, you won’t regret it because it’s well written, but don’t go ahead and buy it. You can invest your time in so many more relevant books.