The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Law Description Example

Many brands assume that in order to grow, they need to Don’t try to be a jack
The Law of expand. of all trade – Don’t
Expansion: spread yourself
But according to Ries and Ries, the more a brand expands, the
“The power of a brand across categories,
less powerful it becomes. In the short term, brands might be
is inversely you will lose focus,
successful when they expand, “but in the long term, the model
proportional to its identity and market
expansion undermines the brand name in the mind of the
scope.” share
consumer.”
If you have to get surgery on your knee, who would you rather KSBL – MBA program
have operated on you? A surgeon who is specialized in only Subway
knee surgery or a general surgeon who does knee surgery…and Event planning
The Law of
many other things? My guess is, it would be the former. Be specific – identify
Contraction:
that one category
“A brand becomes Your brand is no different. Ries and Ries give the example of
and work for it
stronger when you Subway, which, amongst a sea of generalized delis, chose to just
Dominos, Starbucks
narrow its focus.” focus on one thing: submarine sandwiches. And in doing so,
they succeeded in becoming a leading fast-food restaurant
chain.
The Law of Publicity: As Ries and Ries mention, advertising is not the way to make a
“The birth of a brand name for your brand—publicity is. Safeguard
is achieved with And the best way to generate that publicity is by being first in
publicity, not your brand’s category. When you’re first in a category, it’s much MCB Visa
advertising.” easier to generate a buzz around your brand.
The Law of The Law of Advertising: “Once born, a brand needs LUX, Pepsi, Coke,
Advertising: advertising to stay healthy. HBL, UBL, Meezan,
“Once born, a brand Tapal Tea
needs advertising to
stay healthy.
When FedEx started out, it was competing with another brand, Safeguard –
called Emery Air Freight. So, in order to gain a hold in the Protection against
The Law of the Word: marketplace, FedEx narrowed its focus to just overnight germs, Emirates –
“A brand should strive shipping. It created a new category and came to own the word Safety and comfort
to own a word in the “overnight.” Shan Foods
mind of the Armoa and Taste
It has since expanded globally, which means that it’s no longer
consumer.” Volvo – Safety
able to ship everything overnight. This has weakened the brand
Rose petal – Softness
image—and the company itself
Raymond – The
complete men
The Law of According to the law of credentials, brands must have a “claim
Credentials: to authenticity.” And the best way to establish that claim is by Medicated tooth
“The crucial creating a new category in which your brand can become the paste
ingredient in the leader.
success of any brand As Ries and Ries state, Polaroid created a new category for Beauty soaps
is its claim to instant photography…and became the leader of that category.
authenticity.” But when it tried to beat Kodak in conventional photographic Shampoo
 film, it failed miserably. After all, why would anyone buy
conventional film from an instant photography brand?
There’s no denying that quality is important. But quality is not
what determines a brand’s success. As Ries and Ries
demonstrate, there is absolutely no correlation between sales Montblanc pens
and quality—often the highest quality product is lower ranking
The Law of Quality: in sales. Rolex watches
“Quality is important, Quality, or the notion of quality, is determined by the mind of
but brands are not the buyer. So, “if you want to build a powerful brand, you have Emirates
built by quality to build a powerful perception of quality in the mind.” Key word
alone.” here: perception. Hertz rent a car

And in order to do this, you have to narrow your focus and

become a category leader. Once your brand dominates a
category, it’s generally automatically perceived as being higher
quality.
The Law of the The most efficient, most productive and most useful aspect of
Category: branding is creating a new category. Customer really don’t care Habib university
“A leading brand about the new brand they are much concerned about the Electronic cars
should promote the category. Low sugar
category, not the
brand.”
The name of your brand is what differentiates it from
competitors. So (if you haven’t chosen it yet), give some serious Be unique
The Law of the Name:
thought to the name that you choose for your brand, as this will Nike, Pepsi, Lux, Surf,
“In the long run a
play a huge role in its long-term success. Tapal
brand is nothing more
than a name.” Your brand name should be catchy and easy to pronounce. And
of course, it should represent your brand personality and image.
Once a brand finds success in its category, the leader generally
tries to expand its range of products and services. This is a big
mistake. Line extensions may generate more revenue short- Hotel industry
The Law of term, but long-term, they destroy brands. And unfortunately, Holiday Inn
Extensions: many leaders don’t realize this until it’s too late. Since it’s not
“The easiest way to something that happens overnight, a leader generally blames Honda generators
destroy a brand is to something else, instead of the line extension, for the brand’s
put its name on downfall.
everything.” As Ries and Ries claim, before creating a line extension, a leader
should first ask themselves what the customers of their current
brand will think when they see the line extension. If you really
want to expand, then create a second, separate brand.
Otherwise, continue to be a specialist and build your current
brand.
The Law of Customers want choice. They want something to compare your
Fellowship: brand with. Otherwise, they get suspicious. Coke – Pepsi
“In order to build the Choice stimulates
But too much choice lowers consumption. As Ries and Ries say, demand, healthy
category, a brand
two major brands per category are ideal (Think: Coke and Pepsi
should welcome other for cola. Listerine and Scope for mouthwash…Bose and Beats competition helps
brands.” for noise-cancelling headphones). build the category.

When a brand has a generic name, it’s difficult for it to

The Law of the differentiate itself from competition.
Generic: Ries and Ries give the example of how, at your local GNC store, Instability to
“One of the fastest there are dozens of brand names that all start with “Nature,” differentiate its
routes to failure is like Nature’s Answer, Nature’s Gate, Nature’s Plus, Nature’s offering.
giving a brand a Herb…the list goes on. How can anyone tell the difference
generic name.” between these brands when they all sound the same???

When you think of brands like Old Spice, Oral-B and Olay, what
do you think of? Did you even know that Proctor & Gamble was
The Law of the the company that produced these products? I didn’t (until I Use company name
Company: looked it up just now). when required, else
“Brands are brands. focus on the brand
That’s because the leaders of Proctor & Gamble know the law
Companies are name only.
of the company: that “brand names should almost always take
companies. There is a
precedence over company names.” If you look at any of their
difference.” Lexus
products, you’ll notice that the brand name is the one that
stands out, while their company name is in small letters at the
bottom somewhere. They know that people buy and care about
brands, not companies.
Like the law of extensions, the law of sub brands states that sub Holiday Inn Crowne
The Law of Sub branding can destroy a brand. Years ago, Holiday Inn created a Plaza
brands: sub brand: a more expensive, upscale version of Holiday Inn,
“What branding called the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza. When you offer a
builds, sub branding cheap brand in the
Can you guess the outcome? People wondered why a Holiday
can destroy.” market and tag your
Inn was so expensive. The brand leaders eventually cut out the
name on it
“Holiday Inn” part, creating a more separate brand identity—
and had more success.
While Ries and Ries generally advise against brand expansion,
they admit that, if done correctly and under the right Toyota launched
The Law of Siblings: circumstances, it can be very effective. Lexus
“There is a time and a Wrigley is one example of a company that has dominated the
place to launch a
chewing gum market by creating many different brands, like
second brand.” Extra (the sugar-free gum), Freedent (the stick-free gum), Big
Red (the cinnamon-flavoured gum), Double mint (the
peppermint-flavoured gum) to name a few.
As the authors define it, a logotype is “a combination of a For maximum
The Law of Shape: trademark, which is a visual symbol of the brand, and the name impact, the logo type
“A brand’s logotype of the brand set in distinctive type.” should be
should be designed to horizontally placed
fit the eyes. Both
eyes.”
 Different colours mean different things. So ideally, your brand
will use colours that represent what it’s all about or the mood
The Law of Color: that you want your customers to have when interacting with
“A brand should use a
your brand.
color that is opposite
of major But it’s most important to choose colours that contrast with
competitors.” those used by your competitors. So, if your ideal colours are
already taken, then choose something else. This will allow you
to create a distinct brand identity and help to differentiate your
brand from competitors.
The Law of Borders: Every country is known for something different. France is Build a global brand
“There are no barriers known for its wine and cuisine; Germany is known for its But must consider
to global branding. A vehicles; Belgium is known for its beer; Italy is known for its the perception of the
brand should know no high-quality clothing…and as the authors claim, “when a brand country of origin
borders.” is in sync with its own country’s perceptions, that brand has the Shan Foods
possibility of becoming a global brand.”
Many brands mistakenly believe that in order to grow, they
The Law of need to change. But doing so dilutes the brand identity. As Ries
Consistency: and Ries state, “markets may change, but brands should stay
“A brand is not built the same. Limitation combined with consistency (over decades, Tapal, Emirates,
overnight. Success is not years) is what builds a brand.” Etihad, IBA, IQRA.
measured in decades,
not years.” The brand’s simplicity and consistency are two of the main
reasons why it continues to be so successful today.
There are certain instances in which a brand can change. But
only three:
• If your brand is “weak or non-existent in the mind” of the
The Law of Change:
consumer
“Brands can be
changed, but only • If you want to lower the price of your product (but doing the
infrequently and only opposite—increasing the price—is almost impossible) Credit cards
very carefully.” • If your brand is in a slow-moving industry (like banking or
insurance) and the change is going to take place over such a
long period of time that people won’t even notice (Note that
this won’t work in fast-moving industries like electronics or
tech)
Otherwise, consistency is the name of the game.
The Law of Mortality: As hard as it may be, at a certain point, you will probably have
“No brand will live to put your brand to rest and move on. Don’t waste your money
forever. Euthanasia is trying to keep alive a brand that’s dying or no longer relevant. Camay by P&G
often the best Nokia
solution.” Motorola
The Law of A single idea that you own inside the consumers mind.
Singularity: Google is for
search
“The most important
aspect of a brand is
its single-
mindedness.”
As you’ve probably noticed, there is a lot of overlap between many of these laws. However,
the key concluding points are as follows:
1. Go niche or go home. Be a specialist, not a generalist. And remember that to grow your
business, you don’t need to expand the range of your products and services (and you
probably shouldn’t). Maintain a singular focus and you will maintain your brand identity.

2. Create a new category for your brand, and in doing so, you will automatically become the
leader and “the best” of that category.

3. Once you’ve created your brand (and are first in the category) make it your aim to own a
word in the mind of consumer.

4. Promote your brand category, not the brand. And embrace competition; it will stimulate
interest in your brand’s category and ultimately, it will help drive business growth.

5. If you are going to create a “sibling” brand, then find a way to differentiate it as much as
possible from your current brand.

6. The only thing that matters is what the consumer thinks about your brand and
how they perceive it to be.