The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

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Summary: Hi Dr. Camey!!
Review: A. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout is a must read for any marketer or someone who is interested in marketing. While most marketing executives can come up with some great ideas from time to time, there always seems to be some sort of catch to them or they wind up doing something to hurt that brilliant idea without even knowing it. Ries and Trout have come up with what is known as The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing are designed to help marketers keep from making those fatal mistakes that turn great ideas into marketing disasters.
The format of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is laid out in such a manner that each chapter covers one of the 22 immutable laws of marketing. The laws range in subject matter from the introduction of new products, how to maintain market position, how to gain market position, how to combat marketing strategies of your competition, to how to stay at the top once you reach your maximum marketing potential for your company. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing has successfully accomplished to present one big general idea in twenty two different ways thus making the book very informative and useful to any marketer at any level in any company.

B. Aside from the overall great information and insight provided by the book, there were many great points and ideas that were referred to that I found to be particularly interesting. One such idea was the seventh immutable law of marketing entitled "The Law of the Ladder". "The Law of the Ladder" suggests that in every market there is a number one, number two, number three, and so on companies in the market. These number one, two, and three companies are referred to as "rungs" on the ladder. The law of the Ladder suggests that the best way to market your company if you are currently occupying the second rung on the ladder is to admit your position of being number two and use that to your advantage rather than trying to chase after the company currently occupying the top rung. This law is risky because it requires you to completely expose your company and admit your weakness to the company currently ahead of you on "the ladder". This law works because it relates your company to the number one company in the field by admitting that your company is not number one, but second to the top company in the industry.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing makes for good reading because it is not only informative with the material addressed, but Ries and Trout have written the book in such a manner that even the most novice of marketers can relate to. Ries and Trout have also done a good job of making the book easy to relate to by lots of referrals to examples of large, well-known corporations that are still in business today. This book was also written in such a manner that you can pick it up for five minutes and read a little at a time and everything still makes sense.

C. The only weaknesses of the book that I personally can think of would be that the examples used seemed to focus on three main industries. Those industries are beer or alcoholic beverages, car manufacturing, and computer technology. It would have been nice to occasionally hear about some other industries other than these three.

D. As a fellow marketer I would definitely recommend you take the time to read this book. It isn't very long in length and is fairly easy to read yet very informative to the seasoned marketing executive or the college undergraduate with an interest in marketing. The value of the content contained in the book far outweighs the small sacrifice of time it takes to read.


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Summary: Recommendation of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Review: I would recommend The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing whether the reader is interested in marketing or not. It is a fun and short read. I especially enjoyed the style in which the book was written. The authors would introduce the law being addressed in the chapter, give a brief comprehensible definition, and then give two or three real life examples of the law being used, and not being used effectively. By keeping the book short the authors hace produced a book that is enjoyable and educationally valuable.