Quote

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.

Al Ries

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Al Ries
Age: 97
Born: 1926
Born: November 14
Author
Economist
Atlanta
Georgia
Change
Takes
Aircraft
Anything
Courses
Mile
Back
Course
Miles
Even
Company
Direction
Trying
Getting
Changing
Like
Wrong
Large
Turns
Longer
Happens
Turn
Carrier

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The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.
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THE LAW OF THE CONTRACTION: A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.
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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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It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.
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The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.
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Positioning is how you differentiate yourself in the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.
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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. After a slow buildup, people become convinced that they have known about the brand forever.
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If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. If you CAN'T then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective.
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A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.
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Marketing is not selling. Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect.
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Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills.
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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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Good things happen when you narrow your focus.
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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. You need to allow enough time for this forgetting to take place
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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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A branding program should be designed to differentiate your cow from all the other cattle on the range. Even if all the cattle on the range look pretty much alike.
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Only brand names register in the mind... What you should generally do is take a regular word and use it out of context to connote the primary attribute of your brand.
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Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.
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