Many times, when you are working on your business strategy for your new product or your mainline business, you may wonder how to market your product. Should you follow a trend? Should you use the same strategy as your competitor? How do you differentiate yourself from your competitor? How do you stand out?
Well, here are some laws that you can keep in mind.
The Law of Leadership
It’s better to be first than it is to be better. First mover ADVANTAGE.
The brand that comes out on top in any industry is most likely the one that took over the industry first. An incredibly relevant example? There are SO many AI tools out there now, some are exceptionally powerful and useful.
But if I asked you to name an AI tool I can almost guarantee the FIRST brand that comes to mind is ChatGPT. Why? They were the first major mover in the industry.
Humans are naturally resistant to change, so if you can be the first mover in a category, establish rapport with customers, and provide them with a product or service that gives them substantial value, they will have a hard time leaving you.
The other reason the first mover in an industry maintains its position as a leader is because the name of the first mover often becomes the verb for the industry. Google was the first major mover in the search engine market, do you search something online? Or do you Google it?
The Law of Perception
Marketing is a battle of perception.
Your perception in the minds of consumers is everything. Study how perceptions are formed by consumers and kiss the competition goodbye.
Just as much as you bought that Louis Vuitton bag based on your perception of the luxury brand, you bought it based on how others view the brand. Consumers often make their purchase decisions based on the perception of others.
You bought it because you perceive it as luxurious but ALSO because you know others perceive owners of a Louis Vuitton bag as being wealthy, sophisticated, and of high status. And you want to align yourself with those traits in the minds of your peers.
The Law of Opposite
If you’re NOT the first mover in an industry, use the leader’s strength as a weakness. The core of this strategy isn’t focusing on being better than the leader, but being DIFFERENT.
Positioning yourself against the leader corners the market and puts consumers in a position to choose between your two brands. All business is taken away from the alternatives.
A perfect example of this is based off of a brand we talked about earlier this week, Airbnb. Hotels, Inns, Motels, Vrbo, there are plenty of competitors in the market for Airbnb, but hotels are the top dog.
Instead of worrying about the alternatives, Airbnb positioned themselves as being different than hotels (aka the leader). They made Hotels their common enemy.
In consumers' minds it’s no longer choosing between a Vrbo, Motel, Airbnb, and Hotel, it’s just Hotels vs. Airbnb. Exactly what Airbnb wants.
The Law of Perspective
Truly effective Marketing makes its impact over a long period of time.
Don't pivot too quickly away from your strategies if you aren't seeing immediate success. Too often brands will put together an elaborate plan for the year ahead, only to abandon it at the first hurdle. Don't be that brand.
The Law of Line Extension
The supposed most violated immutable law of Marketing, the Law of Line Extension is when brands try to be all things to all people.
If you’re Marketing to everyone, you’re Marketing to no one. Taking your brand name (that is already successful in your market) and introducing it to a new market, never works.
This would be like Apple trying to enter the car market to compete with Mercedes and Tesla.
The initial brand name recognition would result in a short term win for Apple that disguises the long term negative implications.
The Law of Attributes
Just like Newton’s 3rd Law, for every product attribute there is an equal and opposite attribute.
Stay with me for a second…
In the toothpaste industry, Crest owned cavities, so other toothpastes avoided referencing cavities in their Marketing and leaned into whitening, breath protection, and taste.
The key here is having an idea or attribute unique to your product or service to focus your Marketing efforts around. Otherwise you will be stuck competing on price.
The Law of Hype
A company’s situation is opposite of its reflection in the press.
Things are going well? The company doesn’t need any hype.
A company that is desperate for hype indicates trouble ahead.
The Law of Success
Ego is the enemy of successful Marketing.
This can lead to Marketers substituting their OWN judgment for what consumers want. Want to avoid this? Stay in tune with your customers. Frequent engagement on socials, opportunities for feedback on your website, and host the occasional customer survey.
Oh - and stay UP TO DATE on your industry.
The best Marketers think as a prospect thinks, regardless of their past successful campaigns. The larger your company, the more you will have to fight breaking this law.
The Law of Candor
If you admit a negative, consumers will give you a positive. This seemingly goes against ALL common Marketing wisdom that says to amplify your success stories and social proof your brand.
Any negative claim you make about yourself is accepted as truth by consumers. Positive claims can be seen as boisterous and less reliable.
To pull this off you need to address a widely recognized “negative”. If your acknowledgement of a negative doesn’t immediately trigger agreement in consumer’s minds, then you’re in trouble (they will be confused).
The Law of Candor isn’t about apologizing for your brand’s faults, but to disarm your audience so you can offer a convincing benefit.
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