The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
By Al Ries and Jack Trout
HarperBusiness, 1994 - 160 pages

I recently read this book and I found it straightforward and insightful. I have a B.S. in Acct. and an MBA in finance. I have taken graduate level marketing courses and I have worked in evaluating corporate strategies. This book is a must read for those that own their own business or are interested in advertising/marketing. I believe many executives that want to move their business career forward should read the book as business processes are tied together intricately. If you want to be CEO you better learn this stuff or perish!

Some of the examples/predictions are definitely dated (early 90's / late 80's) and turn out to be wrong but the branding ideas stay true due to values and beliefs. Like others I found the most interesting law to be of brand extension as I hadn't been exposed to such a thought process before (I am not in marketing) but there is a lot of merit to the thought.

I love it how the authors continually pound away that marketing and advertising are more of perception in the mind than actual real world truths. The examples provided in each chapter really help the reader get the key points.

About the Author: Al Ries is a well known marketing strategist. He is the coauthor of such international bestsellers as The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind and the author of Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It. His daughter Laura Ries is a graduate of Northwestern University and a partner in their marketing strategy firm, Ries & Ries in Roswell, Georgia. She is the coauthor of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. Together they speak and consult with major companies around the globe.  JACK TROUT is President of Trout & Partners Ltd. (troutandpartners.com), one of the most prestigious marketing firms in the United States, with offices in 13 countries and a client list that includes AT&T, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Sears, and other Fortune 500 companies. Recognized as one of the influential gurus of marketing, Trout was the first to popularize the idea of "positioning" products and ideas in the minds of consumers. A sought-after speaker, he is the author of numerous marketing classics including the bestselling Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and The Power of Simplicity.