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They think category, “What do I want to drink? Do I want a beer? Do I want a coke? Do I want a gin and tonic?” In other words, they think category first. When they order something in a bar, they don’t think brand. “Hey, our brand is terrific!” “Our brand is this our brand is that.” But, most consumers don’t think in terms of brands. Yet, what do most marketers want to talk about? They want to talk about their brands. The first energy drink was Red Bull.īut before Red Bull came along, there wasn’t even a category called “energy drinks.”Īnd that brings up another point consumers are more interested in categories than brands. A perfect example of this is in the category of energy drinks. Almost invariably, the big successful brands are the ones that are not necessarily terrific at marketing or anything else, but they find a hole and fill it. Hopefully, in the best of all possible worlds, you look for an open hole in their minds. You have to start with the mind of the prospect and you have to think about what’s in their minds and relate what you are doing or what your product has to offer, to what’s in their minds. They think of marketing as communication “I’m communicating something about my product or service that makes sense.” But what we’ve been saying for years is that’s not the way to look at it. Here it is, thirty-five years later, and people are still doing the same thing. They miss the importance of thinking like their prospects think, which is the exact viewpoint you need in order to write successful marketing pieces.Īl Ries: Essentially, this gets right back to the first book you mentioned, Positioning. I find that to be the biggest problem with many marketing people. One sentence that jumped out at me is your point about having the ability to think like a prospect. Marsha Friedman: The first thing I wanted to talk about has to do with “the law of focus” from your book, The 22-Immutable Laws of Marketing. I’ve been such a huge fan of yours starting out with your book Positioning in the early 80s. Marsha Friedman: Al, I have to tell you that I’m so excited to be able to finally talk to you. If you wish to read parts two or three, click on the following links: I separated the interview into three parts and below we start with part 1. In this interview, Al shared many insights that I am excited to share with all of you. Al is also an internationally renowned speaker and consultant to many of the mega brands and corporations. Over the 2010 holidays, I had the privilege to interview Al Ries, who is an international marketing expert and author of 12 books on marketing, advertising and PR (The 22-Immutable Laws of Marketing, Positioning, The 22-Immutable Laws of Branding, Marketing Warfare, The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR, War in the Boardroom, among others).