The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Al Ries and Jack Trout spent decades helping companies fight for space in customers' minds, and this short book is their summary of what they learned. Each chapter is one law, from the Law of Leadership, which argues it is better to be first than better, to the Law of Perception, which claims marketing is a battle of perceptions rather than products. The examples come from Coca Cola, IBM, Xerox, Burger King, and dozens of other brands, and the authors are unusually willing to name companies they think are making mistakes. The book is short, blunt, and easy to read in an evening. Founders and marketers keep returning to it because the frameworks map cleanly onto new industries.
Also by Al Ries
What you might want to know about The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Al Ries and Jack Trout distill decades of marketing consulting into twenty two short laws that they argue you break at your peril.
Yes. The specific examples are older, but the underlying laws about being first in a category, owning a word in the mind, and focusing a brand apply directly to modern startups and software companies.
The book is only around 140 pages and can be read in a few hours, which is part of why so many founders and marketers recommend it as a first read on positioning.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing was written by Al Ries, published in 1993 by HarperBusiness.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is 143 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing takes most readers 2 to 3 hours to finish.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
