Immutable Laws of Marketing

I realized that I referenced this book in talking about Nintendo in third place, but didn’t write about it. The Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout isn’t just a flashy business book. It explains the world around us, much like Darwin’s Origin of Species did years ago.

It’s a short little thing and it’s spot-on if you can forgive that it was written in 1994 (it praises Lotus Notes as a market leader). A couple years ago, Eric Sink wrote a Cliff’s Notes version aimed at small software companies.

I could read from beginning to end, then return to the beginning and still get something new out of it. The Laws have helped me understand why decisions get made and, at times, why a decision doesn’t work.