22 Immutable Laws of Marketing_Original (1)

7/24/2019 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing_Original (1)

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1. The Law of Leadership

Its better to be the frst than it is to be better

There is always a signicant rst mover advantage in case of business, but this is

particularly true in case of marketing. It is much easier to get into the mind rst than

to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get

there rst

The reasons for this are:

1. There is a natural human tendency for people to stick with what they have got. The rst brand generally has the opportunity to become a generic rm for that

product category ! and making it even di"cult for competitors to gain a

foothold.

#espite that, most companies tend to pursue a $better product% style businessstrategy ! trying to develop something better than their competitors are presently

o&ering.

The downside to this law is ' not every rst is going to become successful. The rst

could be too late or some rst are too bad ideas that do not work.

The implications of this law in Indian conte(t can be understood as follows:

Bisleri, an Italian mineral water company, was launched in India in the year

1)*+ and bought by arle in 1)*). -isleri is now the market leader in bottled

water category in India, with /0 market share. The name $-isleri% has

become synonymous to bottled water

The rst steel company in India, Tata Steelstarted manufacturing ingots in

1)1. Today it holds around 0 market share and is is very reputed brand

with turnover of 2* -illion

Godrej manufactured India%s rst security safe in 1). 3odre4 5ecurity

5ervices is now the market leader in India with annual turnover of 6) 7rores

and *0 market share

Surf Excel, launched in 1)+) under the brand name 85urf8 in India as a rst

detergent powder, now is a ma4or home care brand

Fair & Lovely is India%s rst fairness cream, launched in 1)/+, today it

commends the largest market share in beauty care

Amulis the oldest and the most established dairy brand in the country. It now

has the market share of 190 in dairy foods

irst oil renery in India was set up in #igboi by Indian Oil. Today I;7L

accounts for nearly half of India8s petroleum products market share, 10

national rening capacity

Cadurywas the rst company to introduce chocolates and confectionery in

India way back in 1)9


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#a$$i is synonymous with instant noodles in India and had )0 market

share


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. The Law of 7ategory

I you cant be the frst in a category, set up a new category you can

be frst in

It is not as di"cult to nd a new category ! in which you can be rst to market ! as it

might appear. There are a number of di&erent ways to be rst because prospects

have an open mind when it comes to new categories. @veryone is interested in

what%s new, few people are interested in what%s better. It is more important to think

categories than to worry about brands. 7onsumers are often defensive about their

preferred brands, but open to thinking about a new product in an entirely di&erent

category.

5ometimes you can also turn an also'ran into a winner by inventing a new category.

This can be done by focussing on a single factorial or repositioning. rospects have

an open mind when it comes to categories rather than brands.


OlaCaswas the rst in India to introduce ta(i aggregator app in 1. It is

now one of the largest ta(i service providers with a network of more than

, cars across


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. The Law of Binds

Its better to be frst in the mind than to be frst in the marketplace

-eing rst in the mind of the consumers is a very crucial factor in marketing. This is

so because marketing is a battle of perceptions and not products. >hat prospects

are thinking is actually more important than what is actually occurring in the

marketplace. ;nce a person%s mind is made up, it can%t be changed. Therefore,

blasting your way into the consumer%s mind is the most e"cient and most productive

way to approach marketing. If you try and worm your way it, it%s unlikely to make a

big enough di&erence.

=lso, people do not like to change their mind set once they perceive a product or

service one way or another. They only perceive the brand in one way, they le the

brands in one way and this cannot be changed further. The perception that spending

more money is the answer to all marketing Fuestions, is incorrect. 5ometimes hugemarketing budgets can achieve fabulous success while at times they create no e&ect

what so ever.


Fevicol comes to our mind whenever we think of any adhesive as compared

to other products although it was not the rst product.

-erox comes to our mind whenever we think of photocopying. In fact,

photocopy and Gero( words are often used interchangeably.

Band,Aid comes to our mind whenever we come across any cutHwound.

#aruti comes to our mind whenever we think of mileage as we think that

Baruti is synonymous with mileage. Fli'"art is synonymous with e'commerce industry in India.

#ercedes Ben. is synonymous with lu(ury cars in India although it is not the

rst company to launch lu(ury cars.


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9. The Law of erception

Marketing is not a battle o products, its a battle o perceptions

7ontrary to popular opinion, the best product does not always win in the marketplace

over the long haul. The belief that the best product will ultimately win is an illusion !

if for no other reason than because deciding what is the $best% product is a sub4ective

4udgment call rather than an ob4ective, scientic process. The most successful

products focus instead on creating the right perception in the mind of the prospect.

Bost people will form their entire perceptions on the basis of a minute amount of

e(perience ! and freFuently not even their own e(perience but someone they know.

;n that sliver of information, they will Fuite readily declare a universal truth.

Barketers who don%t understand this law freFuently try and get the $truth% on their

side ! that is, they look at the product as the hero of the marketing initiative and use

factual comparisons to highlight why their product is superior to anything elseavailable.


Tata /ano is generally perceived as being a cheap car or the 1 lakh car

although its present price is somewhere around . lakhs.

#aruti Su.u"i is perceived as the car for the common class and hence is

thought that it is not able to build premium cars.

arle,G is perceived to be a 3lucose biscuit that is it can be an alternate

source of energy.

!ead & S+oulders s+am'ooperceived as dandru& removing shampoo and

is potent against dandru& problems. #a$$i is perceived to have a minutes cooking time, whereas the actual

cooking time of Baggi is more than minutes.

Intelprocessers are perceived to be fast processors as compared to =B#

processors for computing purposes.


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+. The Law of ocus

The most powerul concept in marketing is owning a word in the

prospects mind

The Law of ocus suggests marketing is like a magnifying glass '' you use it to focus

your messages until you $$burn%% your way into the mind of the prospect, and link

your product with one single word or concept. =chieve that, and whenever that word

or concept comes up, the prospect thinks of your product or service.

In nding that word:

The simpler the better

ou can%t focus on any word that doesn%t have proponents for the opposite

point of view. Cor e(ample, you can%t own the word $$Fuality%%, because

everybody stands for that and nobody stands for $$the lack of Fuality%%D The narrower and more precise the focus, the more you will achieve

The most e&ective words are benet oriented. In marketing, it%s always more

e"cient ! even for complicated products ! to focus on one word or benet, and make

that the emphasis of everything the company does.

Glucose,(CenergyD ! ocussing on the word energy, 3lucose'# has been able

to $burn% its way into the consumers% minds.

Indi$oC;n timeD ! >ith the campaigns $;ne time is a beautiful thing%, Indigo

has been focussing on having timely services in the otherwise cluttered airline

industry.

#ercedes Ben. C@(cellenceD ! Bercedes -enJ has focussed on the worde(cellence, to distinguish itself as a lu(ury brand.

0aymond C7omplete BanD ! The tagline catered to the $self'actualiJation%

level of Baslow%s Kierarchy and has helped the brand to create its own image.

#aruti Su.u"i CBileageD ! $?itna deti hai%, $petrol khatam hi nahi ho rha%

campaigns have

Set 1etC5e(yD ! 5et >et%s TA7 used the tagline $very very se(y%. It was able

to gain signicant market share as a result of this.

(ominoes CKome #eliveryD ! ocussing on home delivery services, its

campaigns had the tagline $khushiyon ki home delivery%. It also o&ered free

piJJas if delivery time e(ceeded minutes. These e&orts have helped

#ominoes become the market leader with 0 market share, ahead of iJJaKut.

#a$$iC BinutesD ! This instant noodle brand from estle focussed on the

cooking time and was able to burn its way into the minds of customers.

1oodlandCToughD ! >oodlands campaigns have focussed on toughness and

ruggedness. This has made the brand number one in outdoor shoes.


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*. The Law of @(clusivity

Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospects mind

The Law of @(clusivity suggests that whena competitor owns a word or position

in the prospect8s mind, it is futile to attempt to own the same word. Bany

companies continue to violate the law of e(clusivity. ou can8t change

people8s minds once they are made up. In fact, what you often do is reinforce

your competitor8s position by making its concept more important. The main

reason the companies gets in to this trap is market research. Msing Eesearch

7ompany makes a wish list and they deliver that to that customers. >hat is

missing here is that some other company already owns that that idea. >hich

violates law of e(clusivity and marketing campaign fails.

ew of the e(amples in Indian conte(t.

e'si CoungistanD ! ocussing on the youngsters. >hich helped epsi to

capture market of youngsters from opponent coca cola CrideD2

(uracell CLong lastingD,

#a$$iC BinutesD ! This instant noodle brand from estle focussed on the

cooking time and was able to burn its way into the minds of customers.

!utc+ C7onnectivityD simple idea and insight brought to the fore its core

proposition ' that of a superior network.

#ercedes Ben. C@(cellenceD ! Bercedes -enJ has focussed on the word

e(cellence, to distinguish itself as a lu(ury brand, where 3olvo C5afetyDconcentrated on safety.

(ominoes CKome #eliveryD ! ocussing on home delivery services, its

campaigns had the tagline $khushiyon ki home delivery%. It also o&ered free

piJJas if delivery time e(ceeded minutes. These e&orts have helped

#ominoes become the market leader with 0 market share, ahead of

i..a !utClavour of owD


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/. The Law of the Ladder

The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the

ladder.

5trategies should be made according to which position you occupy on the

ladder. ;therwise there is high chance of failure of strategies. =ll products are

not created eFual. There8s a hierarchy in the mind that prospects use in

making decisions. or each category, there is a product ladder in the mind.

;n each rung is a brand name. our marketing strategy should depend on

how soon you got into the mind and conseFuently which rung of the ladder

you occupy

The mind is selective. rospects use their ladders in deciding which

information to accept and which information to re4ect. In general, a mindaccepts only new data that is consistent with its product ladder in that

category. @verything else is ignored.

roducts urchase every #ay N Kigh Interest roducts ! Bany Eungs on

ladders InfreFuent urchase N ersonal ride ! Bany Eungs

InfreFuent urchase N Mnpleasant e(perience' Aery few rings

urchased once in lifetime N Mnpleasant ! o rungs

There8s a relationship between market share and your position on the ladder

in the prospects mind. The brand in the nd

rung tend to have half the marketshare of brand on the 1strung and twice the market share of brand on rd

rung.

.


Altois entry level leader. Eenault ?wid was launched competing with =lto in

this segment.

Coca Cola comes in the 1strung of ladder then comes nde'siCo

II# A+medaad is the 1strung of management institutes ladder in India.

Their strategy is di&erent from other institutes which comes below in the

ladder

ITC Ltd2comes in the 1strung of cigarette industry ladder.

Airtel4 Idea4 3odafonecome among the top rung of the ladder. @ach other%s

strategies e&ect the others business.


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hen we consider long term view of marketing the competition usually winds

up as struggle between two ma4or players. >hen you are holding rdposition

you aren8t going to make much progress by going out and attacking the two

strong leaders. >hat can be done is to carve out a protable niche.

?nowing that marketing is a two'horse race in the long run can help you plan

strategy in the short run. It often happens that there is no clear'cut o. .

>hat happens ne(t depends upon how skilful the contenders are.

The customer believes that marketing is a battle of products.8 It8s this kind of

thinking that keeps the two brands on top: OThey must be the best, they8re

the leaders.O

.


Coca Cola & e'siCo

Eveready&(uracell

3isa & #aster card

Indi$o & 5et Air*ays

OLA & 6er

Fli'"art & Ama.on


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). The Law of the ;pposite

I youre shooting or second place, your strategy is determined by the leader

In strength there is weakness. >herever the leader is strong, there is an opportunity

for a would'be o. to turn the tables. Buch like wrestler uses his opponent8s

strength against him, a company should leverage the leader8s strength into a

weakness.

If you want to establish a rm foothold on the second rung of the ladder, study the

rm above you. >here is it strongP =nd how do you turn that strength into a

weaknessP

= good o. can8t a&ord to be timid. >hen you give up focusing on o. 1, you make

yourself vulnerable not only to the leader but to the rest of the pack.

e'si positioned itself as a cola for the ew 3eneration because Coca,Cola

was positioned as a more conservative and old style cola. Sco'e positioned itself as a good tasting mouthwash to e(ploit the weakness

of Listerine which has a bad taste.

Fo$$ deodorants became the rst Qno gasR deodorant which heavily

impacted the market share of Axe2

Sunfeast 7i''ee8created a new noodle block which was round in shape and

does not need to be broken while cooking, providing really long N slurpy

noodles unlike the market leader#a$$i.

(omino9s i..afocused on the fastest home delivery service as i..a !ut

was focusing on the dining in e(perience.


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1. Law of #ivision

Over a period o time, most categories will divide into numerous segments, eachacting like a category

@ach new segment will generally have a rationale for e(istence, a market leader

Cwho will generally be Fuite di&erent from the category leaderD and completely

di&erent from market dynamics.

Bost freFuently, the market leader in each segment will be di&erent from the

category o. 1 ! unless the category leader successfully develops a new brand for

each segment that emerges.

Biscuits ,;ver a period of time biscuits were divided into di&erent categories

like cream biscuits, cookies, nutritional biscuits and snacks biscuits. @.g.

Britanniabrands like Barie 3old, 3ood #ay, -ourbon and + +.

Soa's : 5oaps were divided into glycerine soaps, transparent soaps and

cleansing bars .e.g. !6L#ove, Lu(, Lifebuoy and ears. /e*s a'ers :>ere split into regional , national , business newspapers and

magaJines.eg Times Grou' newspapers were split into Baharashtra times,

T;I , @T and Sig wheelsC BagaJineD

A''arels :They were categoriJed as -usiness formals and business casuals

e.g. 3an !eusen was split into Aan Keusen formals and Aan Kuesen 5ports.

#oiles :@arlier only mobile handsets were available in the market but now

they can be categorised as -ar phones, 5mart phones ,hablets and

Tablets.eg Samsun$ has launched bar phones like 3uru , smart phones like

the 3ala(y 5*, phablets like ote 9 and tablets 3ala(y tab .


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11. The Law of erspective

Marketing eects take place over an e!tended period o time

The Law of erspective says that Omarketing e&ects take place over an e(tended

period of timeO, but the cru( of this law is that some marketing actions are negative

in the long'term even though they seem positive in the short'term. or e(ample, if

we take the e(ample of sales and coupons in the retailing industry, these devices are

like drugs '' they produce a short'term high, but the only way to maintain the high is

to keep going. @ventually, we will have to keep those coupons rolling out not to

increase sales but to keep sales from falling o& if we stop.

Bi$ Ba.aar! In order to increase its sales during weekdays, -ig -aJaar

started giving discounts on >ednesdays. -ut the result was that the footfall

during >ednesdays soared while the footfall which was high during weekends,

went down.

E,Commerce 1esites! They play on deep discounts and provide

continuous discounts in order to keep the sales owing and encourage the

customers coming to e'commerce websites. The trend has been so that the

customers now shop from @'commerce websites mostly because they are

available at a discounted price. Like recently, Fli'"artorganiJed -ig -illion

#ay 5ale and it was followed by Ama.on.

Ba4or Eetail outlets like antaloons andS+o''er9s sto'give timely

discounts resulting in the fact that the customers mostly during the discount

season and the footfall dwindles during normal time of the year.


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1. The Law of Line @(tensions

There is oten an irresistible temptation to e!tend the e"uity o a successul brand

into unrelated felds

Invariably, any company that becomes highly successful starts to believe it can

succeed in any other business eld of its choosing. >henever that happens, the

company ends up becoming weaker rather than stronger ! because it attempts to be

all things to all people rather than staying tightly focused on what made it succeed in

the 1stplace.

Therefore, line e(tension ! the taking of a successful brand name and putting it on anew product in an unrelated category ! never works out in practise. Ideally it sounds

alluring but the reality comes back to the fact marketing is a battle of perception

rather than battle of products.

ITC : ;riginally a cigarette company has e(tended its line to hotels, agro

business, B73 products, stationary products and IT business.

Tata :;riginally Tata was into te(tiles and steel making and over the years it

e(tended its business to automobiles, airlines, salt, and power.

#ut+oot $rou' :Initially into nance but now it caters to insurance, health

care, hospitality. e'si Co :?nown for its aerated drinks the brand has over the years

e(tended its line to packaged drinking water, chips and other B73 products.

!T #edia : 5tarted with print business but e(tended its business to di&erent

verticals like online 4ob portals, radio and campaigns like leadership summits,

movie review sites.


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1. The Law of 5acrice#ou have to actually give up all the choices and ocus on one thing in order toachieve anything signifcant

7ompanies that attempt to do everything end up doing nothing of any note. Msually,there are three things a company must sacrice to make progress:

1. ;&ering a full product line ! 7ompanies that try and generaliJe are alwaysweak, while those that specialiJe succeed.

. Targeting too broad a market ! -y attempting to serve too broad a marketdemographic, nobody is happy. 7ompanies achieve more when they stoptrying to please everyone and instead focus in on one specic segment with alaser like focus.

The need to make constant strategy changes ! 7ompanies that are forever changingtheir market strategy to try and match the twists and turns of the marketplace endup serving no one ! because nobody understands what they stand for.

e'siCo! The 5trategy of targeting the youth segment in order to compete

with 7oca 7ola and other companies to capture the market share indicates thelaw of sacrice strategy adopted by epsi7o.

A''le! The =pple Inc. has always concentrated on manufacturing Fuality

products for the upper middle and higher class segment. It does notmanufacture products for the lower class or the bottom of the pyramidsegment.

!arley (avidson! Karley #avidson has specialiJed in manufacturing 7ruiserbikes and sacricing on the product line.

0olls 0oyce! Eolls Eoyce caters to only Kigh et'worth Individuals CKIsD for

their cars and has foregone the lower class and the middle class population.


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19. Law of attributes

$or every attribute, there is an opposite, eective attribute%

=ccording to this law, you can8t own the same word or position that your competitor

owns. ou must nd your own word to own. ou must seek your own attribute. Too

often a company attempts to emulate the leader. OThey must know what works,Ogoes the rationale, Oso let8s do something similar.O ot good thinking. It8s much

better to search for an opposite attribute that will allow you to play o& against the

leader. The key word here is opposite'similar won8t do.

@(amples in the Indian conte(t are as follows:

Sony 3aioo&ered laptops with di&erent colours and talked little about the

specications, which was the attribute on which di&erent players were

competing in the market.

Lenovocame up with a degree rotating screen laptop model when the

ma4or players were talking on grounds of specications.

(iscoverycommunications instead of competing in the information channelsector directly with national geographic channel came up with =nimal lanet

channel which concentrated on life science only.

3inicosmetics came up with idea of a deodorant $with no gas% and competed

on attribute to last longer than other similar products.

!ector-everages came up with ethnic drinks by the name of aperboat and

competed on grounds of di&erent taste than other similar o&erings.


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1+. The Law of 7andor&hen you admit a negative, the prospect 'potential customer( will give you a

positive response or it

eople appreciate honesty. It makes them feel a connection with you when you trust

them enough to be honest with them. In fact, when you admit a negative, customers

assume it is the truth''otherwise, why would you admit itP >hen a customer knows

the salesperson is lying, typically, they won8t want to buy the product because

somewhere in the back of their minds, they8re wondering, OIf they lied about this,what elsethey are lying aboutPO

The law of candor must be used carefully and with great skill. irst, your OnegativeO

must be widely perceived as a negative. It has to trigger an instant agreement with

your prospects mind. If the negative doesn8t register Fuickly, your prospect will be

confused and will wonder, Q>hat8s this all aboutPO e(t, you have to shift Fuickly to

the positive. The purpose of candor isn8t to apologiJe. The purpose of candor is to set

up a benet that will convince your prospect.

This law only proves the old ma(im: !onesty is t+e est 'olicy2

31'The 1)/ A> will stay ugly longer.

3ol"s*a$en' Aolkswagen did it when they acknowledged that the ObugO is

ugly.

Listerine! the taste you hate twice a day.

Avis ,5ince changing the mind of a prospect is di"cult once it has been made

up, then marketing strategy should consist of ideas and concepts that already

e(ist in their mind. Avis *as remar"ale in doin$ t+is *+en t+ey

advertised ein$ /o2 ;2

Bourneville, 7adbury came up with the campaign Q/ot so S*eet< to

attract the di&erent youth segment with their attitude and gained a largeattention for this pure dark chocolate which has a strong taste.


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1*. The Law of 5ingularity

In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results%The idea is that there is a single, most successful, bold stroke that must do to move

yourself out in front of the pack and achieve substantial results.

Barketing is a battle of ideas. If you are to succeed, you must have a single

successful move to describe your value and deliver sustainable results.

This might be a little hard to grasp. ;ftentimes we all believe that a good mi( of

di&erent marketing strategies will get us the results we want. = little advertising

here, a couple of webinars there, each e(ecuted well will win the day. ope, not

according to this law.

#aruti S*ift, Baruti came up with a single stroke when we talk about power

and design%s best combination in Indian market. 5ales hiked in a very short

spawn of time.

SBI,The 5tate -ank of India customiJed its all softwares, implement the new

core system, and provide ongoing operational support for its centraliJed

information technology. The 5tate -ank of India has achieved its goal of

o&ering its full range of products and services to all its branches and

customers, spreading economic growth to rural areas and providing nancial

inclusion for all of India8s citiJens.

C+evrolet ,>ith the success of Uapanese and 3erman anking attacks,

3eneral Botors was under pressure to commit resources in an attempt toshore up the bottom and the top of its lines.

3B made the fateful decision to build many of its midrange cars using the

same body style. 5uddenly, no one could tell a 7hevrolet from a ontiac,

;ldsmobile, or a -uick. They all locked alike.

Coca,Cola =$et it4 >classic


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7oca'7ola nally got smart put Qnew cokeR aside and went back to focusing

on the original idea of classic coke%-y focusing on the original concept that

was rst in the prospect%s mind, 7oca'7ola was able to attack epsi and

market to the younger generation by o&ering them the )eal Thing% ot only

did this reach the younger generation but woke up original fans and salesincreased.

1/. The Law of 5acrice

*nless you can write your competitors plans you cant predict the uture

Barketing plans must make the assumptions about the future ! which means they

will usually be wrong, particularly due to the fact that competitor reaction cannot be

anticipated.

5ince the future cannot be predicted with certainty:

1. =t least study the general trend. ou should avoid 4umping to conclusions that

are unwarranted or e(trapolating too far but at least gives some general

awareness.. =void assuming the future will be a replay of the past or the present.. Try and anticipate what you do if something totally une(pected eventuates.9. -uild e(ibility into your plans and your organiJation, so you can respond to

changes as they occur.+. #evelop a responsive attitude within the organiJation. Instead of shunning

change, embrace it for the opportunities that will be created.

Qo one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. or should marketing

plans try to.R

Coca cola ' #uring the 1))* >orld 7up 7oca 7ola failed to anticipate

competitor epsi%s reaction to its o"cial sponsorship for the >orld 7up. epsi

in reply launched one of the most successful campaigns witnessed in India !

the $othing o"cial about it 7ampaign%.

Or"ut! @ven though ;rkut was much more popular before acebook entered

Indian market. It was not able to compete with the competition and acebook

took over the social media segment.

Blac"erry =0I#?! The ever popular blackberry messenger which was only

available on -lackberry 5martphones did not react in time to the competition

by >hats=pp Bessenger which was available freely on android thus leading tothe decline of sales of -lackberry 5martphones.


19/24

/o"ia! @ven though okia was the market leader in terms of market share in

India in the mobile phones segment. okia failed to compete with the

popularity of android operating system C;5D and stuck to its 5ymbian ;5 and

>indows phones, leading to loss of market share and decline in sales.

%yn$a ! Synga was well positioned when it was able to market games like

$Synga oker% and $armville% to acebook%s users but since the popularity of5martphones where games such as $7andy 7rush% have become popular, it

has failed come up with another popular game and is survive for survival.

1


20/24

!#T : India%s oldest watchmaker was shut down due to heavy nancial

losses. KBT dominated India%s watch market during the 1)/s. 5uch was

once its sway that it even had a waiting period, which could run up to 1

months. Introduction of WuartJ watches by Titan at cheaper prices took the

market away.

@in$s+er :Termed as ?ing of 3ood Times went bankrupt due to its non'sustainable business model and too much concentration on lu(ury in a price'

sensitive market.

&G ,The world8s largest consumer roducts 7ompany lost market share in

more than two'thirds of product categories in India during 19'1+ as nimbler

rivals with lower'priced alternatives found more takers. N38s lack of

innovation and focus on higher margins amid aggressive strategies adopted

by its rivals to increase their market share. KML and 7olgate lead the market.

(( ne*s : -eing the only channel in India it failed to capitalise its dominance

due to slow decision making owing to government control.

@inetic !onda , = premium scooter in its brighter days. Lost to TA5 scooty

and tussle within UA of ?inetic and Konda which ultimately led to a break'up. Itfailed to generate sales later owing to its high price.

1). The Law of ailure

$ailure is to be e!pected and accepted%

7ompanies face a tricky situation when a product or a process used in the product is

a failure. =dmitting a mistake and not doing anything about it is bad for your career.

= better strategy is to recogniJe failure early and cut your losses.

= company can either

ind the mistakeHfailure and move forward with necessary operational

changes

;r

=ccept mistake and do nothing

The second choice would be detrimental for the company%s future. It would result in

losses and brand value also takes a beating. ollowing the rst law, risks need to be

taken to be the rst and also best in business. These risks may lead to mistakes.

=dmitting these mistakes in a large organiJation may not be easy. It may a&ect

employee%s future. 5o we often make OsafeO decisions so as to not disrupt their

progress up the corporate ladder. 5o, if a sense of team work and incentives for

taking up creative work, also creating an ecosystem where new ideas are

appreciated would be benecial for the company.



21/24

Coca colabought Thumsup, and tried to decrease the brand presence

so that 7;?@ sales wold increase. This strategy failed, but 7oke did not

make changes for a long time. ow, Thumsup is also being marketed

and sold.

Fli'"artbig billion day sale faced a lot of technical and distribution

problems. lipkart admitted the mistake and made changes andimprovements in the same

=mong the worst performing BAs in India, the Evaliahas always

struggled to get going in the segment. To make things better, issan

had even given the @valia a couple of facelifts, but all e&orts went in

vain as the BA didn%t strike the right cord with Indian car buyers.

#arutihas decided to pull the plug on the @stilo due to poor sales.

5ince its launch in /, the Baruti @stilo was a replacement for the

Sen but it could never garner the strong sales of its predecessor.

!ondacars were called back for retro tment, due to braking

problems.

5ales of Taveracars of Toyota were e&ected due to emission problemswhich could not be corrected.

. The Law of KypeThe situation is oten the opposite o the way it appears in the press%

Kype is the coin of the realm in the technology business. If you listen to vendors and

the media, it may sometimes seem as though every new product, service, concept or

even security threat will be the e(t -ig Thing. 5ome live up to all the fuss, but many

don8t '' and some fail spectacularly.

>hen things are going well, a company doesn8t need the hype. >hen you need thehype, it usually means you8re in trouble. ;ver the years, the greatest hype has been

for those developments that promise to single'handedly change an entire industry.

eople will read the labels and buy products on their merits rather than on the siJe of

the brand8s advertising budget. It8s all hype.

The hype created around a product sometimes causes the product to failure. The

marketing strategies used can go wrong causing failure of the product in the market.

;ver the past year, some of the most hyped products, even those that showed

promise, either turned out to be huge failures or still had Fuite a few kinks to work

out. >hile some products weren%t as great as advertised, others were poorly

marketed and Fuickly dropped o& the consumer radar.


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The (iet Co"ewas advertised ercely in India. -ut the outcome, diet 7oke

was a failure

Tata /ano, did not reach the hype created around it.

Bany movies like 0a,4 Ban$ Ban$did not reach the hype that was created

around them.

(airy #il" Bulywas promoted heavily but hasn%t got good appreciation in

the market.

A"as+ Taletintroduced as cheaper price was much hyped but was a failure

1indo*s was much hyped but did not reach the e(pectations

A''le i1atc+was seen as the ne(t big thing, but its sales were way below

e(pectations

1. The Law of =ccelerationuccessul programs are not built on ads, they.re built on trends%

= fad is a wave in the ocean, and a trend is the tide. = fad gets a lot of hype, and a

trend gets very little.

= fad is a short'term phenomenon that might be protable, but a fad doesn8t last

long enough to do a company much good. urthermore, a company often tends to

gear up as if a fad were a trend. =s a result, the company is often stuck with a lot of

sta&, e(pensive manufacturing facilities, and distribution networks.

= fashion, on the other hand, is a fad that repeats itself. @(amples: short skirts for

women and double breasted suits for men.

>hen the fad disappears, a company often goes into a deep nancial shock.


Though 4eans entered into market decades ago, it is still trending.


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5ele 5tick' ad

Loafers ' ad

7heetos cards

-ayblades, ;;%s ! ad

5ocial etworking ! >hatsapp, acebook CTrendD

. The Law of Eesources

&ithout ade"uate unding an Idea won.t get o the ground

=ccording to this law, if you have a good idea and you8ve picked up this book withthe thought in mind that all you need is a little marketing help, this chapter will

throw cold water on that thought. @ven the best idea in the world won8t go very far

without the money to get it o& the ground. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and assorted

idea generators seem to think that all their good ideas need is professional

marketing help.

@(amples of this law in the Indian conte(t are:

SAS Laswas a start up in the eld of information security, service and

products. They failed due to lack of funding and lack of proper team

formation.

(iscount ull2com: ;nline e'commerce platform for showing discount onclothes. The problem was lack on funds and less than attractive website.


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Tec+lo$$ers: The 7ompany used to deliver online technology news. The

main reason for their failure was lack of proper cash ow.

Late ni$+t foodDThe 7ompany was a late night food delivery service start

up with outsourced food. It failed because of nancial problems.

3isifyoo"s: It was a company which provided video cli& notes for business

books and it failed because of lack of funds.

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing_Original (1)

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