Al Ries Quotes - Page 2

The Law of the Generic: One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.

Marketing is what a company is in business to do. Marketing is a company's ultimate objective.

Advertising is the way great brands get to be great brands.

Customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable by a single word, the shorter the better.

It's the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product. IBM didn't invent the computer; Sperry Rand did. But IBM was the first to build the computer position in the prospect's mind.

Today, communication itself is the problem. We have become the world's first overcommunicated society. Each year we send more and receive less.

Changing the direction of a large company is like trying to turn an aircraft carrier. It takes a mile before anything happens. And if it was a wrong turn, getting back on course takes even longer.

Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.

When a really new product comes along, it's almost always a mistake to hang a well-known name on it. 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. 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.

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. You need to allow enough time for this forgetting to take place

Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills.

The real barrier (to building a brand) is the human mind. It normally takes decades to build a brand because it takes decades to penetrate the gray matter in between your ears.

War and marketing have many similarities.

The Internet is the ultimate in brand-centered buying.