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Al Ries

Al Ries Quotes

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Al Ries, born on November 14, 1926, is a renowned marketing and advertising author whose works have had a profound impact on marketing theory, particularly in the area of brand positioning.

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All Brands Mind Marketing Products Ifs Should Branding Business Focus Position

Famous Al Ries Quotes

“Advertising is the way great brands get to be great brands.”

Way Advertising Brands

Book:The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR

Source: The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR

“If you can build a powerful brand, you will have a powerful marketing program. If you CAN'T then all the advertising, fancy packaging, sales promotion and public relations in the world won't help you achieve your objective.”

Ifs World Helping Powerful Achieve Program Relation Marketing Objectives Advertising Brands Fancy Promotion Public Relations Packaging

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“It's the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product. IBM didn't invent the computer; Sperry Rand did. But IBM was the first to build the computer position in the prospect's mind.”

Mind Firsts Hands Company Position Products Computer Ibm Upper Hand

Author:Al Ries

“Your brand's power lies in dominance. It is better to have 50% of one market, instead of 10% of five markets.”

Lying Five Brands Dominance

Author:Al Ries

“What should a brand leader advertise?Brand leadership, of course. Leadership is the single most important motivating factor in consumer behavior.”

Should Important Courses Leader Behavior Factors Brands Consumers

Author:Al Ries

“Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things.”

Way Sells Efficient Branding

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“What's your brand? If you can't answer that question about your own brand in two or three words, your brand's in trouble.”

Ifs Two Three Answers Trouble Brands Three Words

Author:Al Ries

“Successful brands get into the mind slowly. A blurb in a magazine. A mention in a newspaper. A comment from a friend. A display in a retail store. After a slow buildup, people become convinced that they have known about the brand forever.”

People Mind Known Forever Successful Convinced Stores Newspapers Magazines Brands Comment Display Retail

Author:Al Ries

“Only brand names register in the mind... What you should generally do is take a regular word and use it out of context to connote the primary attribute of your brand.”

Should Mind Use Names Brands Primaries Attributes Register Of Context Brand Names

Author:Al Ries

“Marketing is not selling. Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect.”

Mind Building Marketing Selling Brands Building A Brand

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“It normally takes decades to build a brand... It's the forgetting of the old truth that allows a person to accept a new truth. You need to allow enough time for this forgetting to take place”

Needs Persons Enough Forget Accepting Decades Brands Enough Time

Author:Al Ries

“If you want to build a brand, you must focus your branding efforts on owning a word in the prospect's mind. A word that nobody else owns.”

Ifs Want Mind Effort Focus Brands Branding

Author:Al Ries

“The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.”

Claims Authenticity Brands Ingredients Crucial

Author:Al Ries

“To get into the consumer's mind, you have to sacrifice. You have to reduce the essence of your brand to a single thought or attribute. An attribute that nobody else already owns in your category.”

Mind Sacrifice Essence Brands Consumers Categories Attributes

Author:Al Ries

“The real barrier (to building a brand) is the human mind. It normally takes decades to build a brand because it takes decades to penetrate the gray matter in between your ears.”

Mind Humans Real Matter Building Ears Decades Brands Barriers Human Mind Gray Penetrate Gray Matter Building A Brand

Author:Al Ries

“The Internet is the ultimate in brand-centered buying.”

Internet Ultimate Brands Buying

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“The best way to make news is to announce a new category, not a new product.”

Way Products News Best Way Categories New Products

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.”

Book:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Source: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

“The essence of positioning is sacrifice. You must be willing to give up something in order to establish that unique position.”

Giving Order Sacrifice Position Willing Giving Up Unique Essence

Book:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Source: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

“The Law of the Generic: One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.”

Giving Law Names Brands Routes Generic Generic Name

Author:Al Ries

“THE LAW OF THE CONTRACTION: A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.”

Law Focus Stronger Brands Contractions

Author:Al Ries

“Changing the direction of a large company is like trying to turn an aircraft carrier. It takes a mile before anything happens. And if it was a wrong turn, getting back on course takes even longer.”

Ifs Trying Happens Turns Courses Change Company Miles Things Happen Aircraft Carrier Wrong Turn Large Companies Aircraft Carriers

Book:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Source: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

“A branding program should be designed to differentiate your cow from all the other cattle on the range. Even if all the cattle on the range look pretty much alike.”

Ifs Should Looks Business Program Marketing Range Cows Branding Cattle Differentiate

Author:Al Ries

“Today, communication itself is the problem. We have become the world's first overcommunicated society. Each year we send more and receive less.”

World Years Firsts Problem Today Fear Atheism Communication Rage Thought Provoking

Book:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Source: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

“Positioning is how you differentiate yourself in the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.”

Mind Position Products Differentiate

Book:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition

Source: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition

“When a really new product comes along, it's almost always a mistake to hang a well-known name on it. The reason is obvious. A well-known name got well-known because it stood for something. It occupies a position in the prospect's mind. A really well-known name sits on the top rung of a sharply defined ladder. The new product, if it's going to be successful, is going to require a new name. New ladder, new name. It's as simple as that.”

Ifs Mind Wells Reason Names Simple Mistake Known Successful Position Products Obvious Defined Being Successful Well Known Ladders New Products

Author:Al Ries

“The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospects mind.”

Mind Powerful Business Concepts Marketing Most Powerful Prospects

Author:Al Ries

“War and marketing have many similarities.”

War Marketing Similarity

Author:Al Ries

“Marketing is what a company is in business to do. Marketing is a company's ultimate objective.”

Company Ultimate Marketing Objectives

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class Brand

“The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.”

Next Generations Products Next Generation Previous Generations

Author:Al Ries

“A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.”

Should Mind Strive Brands Consumers

Author:Al Ries

“Everyone is interested in what‘s new. Few people are interested in what‘s better.”

Author:Al Ries

“Customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable by a single word, the shorter the better.”

Want Business Customers Brands Scope Single Word

Author:Al Ries

“Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills.”

Strategy Marketing Advertising Timing Himalayas

Book:Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition: Authors' Annotated Edition

Source: Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition: Authors' Annotated Edition

“A laser is a weak source of energy. A laser takes [only] a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. But with a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out cancer.”

Light Energy Focus Source Weak Cancer Holes Streams Diamond Wipe Drills Lasers

Author:Al Ries

“It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.”

Mind Firsts Business Marketplace

Book:The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World's Two

Source: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World's Two

“Good things happen when you narrow your focus.”

Happens Focus Good Things Things Happen

Author:Al Ries

“Strategy should evolve out of the mud of the marketplace, not in the antiseptic environment of an ivory tower.”

Should Environment Strategy Evolve Towers Mud Marketplace Ivory Ivory Tower

Book:Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition: Authors' Annotated Edition

Source: Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition: Authors' Annotated Edition

“A successful branding program is based on the concept of singularity. It creates in the mind of the prospect the perception that there is no product on the market quite like your product.”

Mind Successful Products Like You Perception Concepts Program Branding Singularity

Author:Al Ries

About the Author

Born: November 14, 1926
Known for: Author
Quotes: 39

Related Topics

Brands Mind Marketing Products Ifs Should Branding Business Focus Position

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding: How to Build a Product or Service into a World-Class BrandRelated source material

Positioning: The Battle for Your MindRelated source material

Marketing Warfare: 20th Anniversary Edition: Authors' Annotated EditionRelated source material

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary EditionRelated source material

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Exposed and Explained by the World's TwoRelated source material

The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PRRelated source material

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