Name the #1 business email server...Exchange...although many would say Outlook, but it is a client and not a server.Name the #2 business email server...Notes would be namedName the #3 business email server...most readers of my blog will say GroupWise but there are a lot of people who have never heard of GroupWise.

A secret to the Law of the Opposite is that you must study the company above you. And once you study it, you must find the weakness and then exploit that weakness. Another secret to the Law of the Opposite is to not attempt to be like the leader, instead attempt to be different. SouthWest Airlines is a perfect example. Everyone reading this blog has flown them at least once. Before 9/11, SouthWest’s strategy was determined by what the Airline Industry Leaders did.If they served meals and had first class seating, then SW didn’t serve any meals and didn’t have any first class seating...they were the opposite and they pushed that difference, making a perceived weakness into a strength.

This is why marketing effort is so difficult to track. A dollar on advertising spent today usually results in a sale next year.

The debilitating nature of Line Extensions is that in the short term they seem like a good idea. It boosts your strong brand by putting it in front of new customers.The darker side is that it dilutes the meaning of your brand and what your brand stands for. It confuses your customers in the long run about why customers should buy your product. It actually weakens your strong brand and confuses the new brand that it has been placed on.

WHAT DO COWBOYS SMOKE? Philip Morris should know a "more is less" problem when they see one. The same thing happened to their flagship brand, Marlboro. In an effort to maintain growth, Marlboro introduced Marlboro Lights into Marlboro Country. Then they introduced Marlboro Mediums, then Marlboro Menthol, and even Marlboro Ultra-Lights. Suddenly, for the first time in memory the brand started to turn down. It's obvious what the problem was about: Real cowboys don't smoke menthols and ultra-lights. Philip Morris isn't stupid. They are back in Marlboro Country with the red-and-white package. There's not a menthol or medium in sight.

Crest owned the attribute of fighting cavities. This meant other products competing in the space needed to find a different attribute to own that wasn’t similar to cavities.Close-Up went with Freshens Breath.Another good example is UPS and FedEx.FedEx owns the word “speed” as well as “overnight”. UPS, to compete, must own an attribute that is the opposite of ‘speed’ and ‘overnight’.The exact opposite would be “slow” and “Takes a week”, not exactly good attributes to hold in the customer’s mind. Instead, look at the implied attribute that FedEx inherits with owning the position of ‘speed’ and ‘overnight’.

This might be a little hard to grasp. Oftentimes we all believe that a good mix of different marketing strategies will get us the results we want. A little advertising here, a couple of webinars there, each executed well will win the day. Nope, not according to this law.Each of your competitors is doing the same thing. A little here a little there. If you are bigger than they are you are probably giving them the opportunity to match your efforts, just a little smaller in size, which means that you really aren't gaining much of an advantage. An example they give is the two strong moves that were made against General Motors. The Japanese came at the low end with small cars like Toyota, Datsun and Honda. The Germans came at the high end with super premium cars like Mercedes and BMW Victoria's Secret was started in San Francisco, California, in 1977 by Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Roy Raymond,[3] who felt embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in a department store environment. He opened the first store at Stanford Shopping Center, and quickly followed it with a mail-order catalog and three other stores.[3] The stores were meant to create a comfortable environment for men, with wood-paneled walls, Victorian details and helpful sales staff. Instead of racks of bras and panties in every size, there were single styles, paired together and mounted on the wall in frames. Men could browse for styles for women and sales staff would help estimate the appropriate size, pulling from inventory in the back. In 1982, after five years of operations, Roy Raymond sold the company to The Limited.

This might be a little hard to grasp. Oftentimes we all believe that a good mix of different marketing strategies will get us the results we want. A little advertising here, a couple of webinars there, each executed well will win the day. Nope, not according to this law.Each of your competitors is doing the same thing. A little here a little there. If you are bigger than they are you are probably giving them the opportunity to match your efforts, just a little smaller in size, which means that you really aren't gaining much of an advantage. An example they give is the two strong moves that were made against General Motors. The Japanese came at the low end with small cars like Toyota, Datsun and Honda. The Germans came at the high end with super premium cars like Mercedes and BMW

Amazon and dell are great innovators of change

LAWS of MARKETING 22immutable Asia

The 22 Laws should be used as a 'diagnostic check' of a company's market plan for a given product or service; it is probably a useful exercise to cross-check your own plans against the 'laws‘, if only to ensure that all possible perspectives and issues have been considered. The second use is a reminder of the importance of the perception of your service or product in the mind of your customer (and the consequent need to undertake qualitative research such as focus groups and depth interviews to better understand and define this perception).

It’s better to be first, than it is to be better

Who is the market leader in ‘essence of chicken’? Source: Reader's Digest Gold Consumer Survey

If you can’t be first in a category. Set up a new category to be first in.

Traditional Categories

If better to be first In the mind, than to be first in the marketplace

Marketing is not a battle of products. It’s a battle of perception.

The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a WORD.

= Safety = Fast Food = ???

It’s not just owning ‘words’

Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospects mind.

The strategy to use depends of which rung of the ladder your on.

In the end, every market becomes a two horse race.

If you’re shooting for 2nd place, then your strategy is determined by the leader.

Over time, a category will divide into two or more categories.

Other Laws still apply

Marketing effects takes place over a long period of time.

There is pressure to extend the equity of the brand.

The Top Ten Best Selling Sodas of 2007 1. Coke Classic 17.2% 2. Pepsi Cola 10.7% 3. Diet Coke 10% 4. Mountain Dew 6.6.% 5. Diet Pepsi 6% 6. Dr. Pepper 5.9% 7. Sprite 5.6% 8. Fanta 1.8% 9. Diet Mountain Dew 1.6% 10. Diet Dr. Pepper 1.6%

You have to give up something in order to gain something.

For every attribute, there is an opposite effective attribute.

When you admit a negative, the prospect gives you a positive.

In each situation, only one move will produce a significant results.

Unless you an write your competitors plans, you can’t predict the future.

Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance leads to failure.

Failure is to be expected and accepted.

The situation is often the opposite than the way it appears.

Successful programs are not built of fads, they’re built on trends.

Without adequate funding, an idea wont get off the ground.