Quote

To get into the consumer's mind, you have to sacrifice. You have to reduce the essence of your brand to a single thought or attribute. An attribute that nobody else already owns in your category.

Al Ries

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Al Ries
Age: 98
Born: 1926
Born: November 14
Author
Economist
Atlanta
Georgia
Mind
Consumers
Attribute
Essence
Category
Sacrifice
Consumer
Nobody
Reduce
Single
Attributes
Already
Categories
Else
Brand
Thought
Brands
Owns

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A laser is a weak source of energy. A laser takes [only] a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. But with a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out cancer.
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Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills.
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Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.
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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.
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The best way to make news is to announce a new category, not a new product.
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Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.
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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 essence of positioning is sacrifice. You must be willing to give up something in order to establish that unique position.
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What's your brand? If you can't answer that question about your own brand in two or three words, your brand's in trouble.
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Good things happen when you narrow your focus.
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The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.
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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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The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospects mind.
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Today, communication itself is the problem. We have become the world's first overcommunicated society. Each year we send more and receive less.
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