Rating: 
Summary: This is a classic!
Review: "Positioning" move over! This book is a classic -- as we all are involved with branding something. I've recommended it to about 50 people. It will direct a lot of people's minds to thinking about their companies (or books or products or organizations) in a different way. Immensely stimulating.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive, thought provoking work.
Review: A fast, energetic read vital for anyone involved in marketing products or running a business. Ries makes an elegant case for the Brand as a simple idea in the mind of the customer, and shares his wisdom on how to get and keep it there. Stimulating concepts backed by real world experience. Highly Recommended. A good companion to Jack Trout's New Positioning.
Rating: 
Summary: Branding strategy and the dynamic environment.
Review: According to this book it takes many years to build the brand. However, the environment is very dynamic and product development cycle is shorter then ever. The brand theory is good when you can create a new market or when you can create your niche. But when it comes to rapid evolutionary competiton in your market it wont work because you loss the initiative. The book explaines clearly the branding ideas and common branding mistakes.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking Beyond the Living Room
Review: After reading this book I truely get the feeling these two looked around their home, rounded up all the brands they ran across and decided to make a book out of it. Needed a few more bucks, I'm not sure?I have never seen a more blatant use of glittering generalities in my life. All the examples they had were poorly supported, if at all. The law of contraction is just one example in which an analogy between the desire to become rich and acting like rich people, is flawed. The authors illustrate that if you were to start buying "expensive houses and eat in expensive restaurants" you wouldn't be rich, you'd just be poor. Well duh. They go on to say that you must do what rich people did before they were rich..."narrow their focus". While there is a modicum of truth in this it does not account for the continual refinement, and optimization that sucessfull brands adhere to on a daily basis, not just as a thought in the begining that you might want to consider. The argument basically states that you get rich, spend all your money, and once it's gone, that's it. Nevermind the work it takes to achieve and maintain your wealth. There are morsels of information that get your mind thinking but if you can barrow the book from a friend I recommend that before I would purchase it.
Rating:
Summary: Immutable?
Review: Al Ries and Jack Trout make another substantial contribution to our understanding of a subject which many people really do not understand. In essence, marketing is the process by which to create or increase demand for whatever is sold. In fact, Ries and Trout provide a convincing argument for Law 23: There are no immutable laws of marketing. The great value of this book lies in the challenges it poses to conventional thinking. The book is dedicated to "the elimination of myths and misconceptions from the marketing process." So many organizations combine the responsibilities for marketing and sales in the same position (eg Vice President of Sales & Marketing); the predictable result is that neither marketing nor sales is effective...nor could it be. How reliable are those 22 "immutable laws"? Obviously, Ries and Trout believe in them. Check them out. Judge for yourself. Consider each in direct correlation with what your organization has done, is doing now, and currently plans to do in the future. And be especially skeptical of all assumptions and premises which, as James O'Toole suggests in Leading Change, could well nourish and thereby perpetuate "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Ries and Trout presumably share O'Toole's concern about organizational decay which inevitably results from efforts to sustain the status quo. As Ries and Trout explain with compelling clarity, in marketing as in every other other area of organizational operations, all assumptions and premises should be suspect. See Law #23.
Rating:
Summary: Lo mejor de la Mercadotecnia
Review: El libro ejemplifica muy bien de lo que se trata de crear marcas líderes dentro del mercado, con extractos de marcas de talla internacional. En definitiva: un libro altamente recomendable.
Rating:
Summary: Then 1 Immutable Law of Al Ries
Review: Focus. Don't do a line extension to save your life. OK, this book is great and should be read by anyone involved in marketing (I mean come on, who doesn't have the 3 hours it takes to read this book). Unfortunately one serious drawback is that he uses plenty of examples to support his claims. Huh? Why is that a negative? Here's why: because it gets the reader to think of plenty of counter-examples that contradict his points. As another reviewer suggested the claim of "immutable" laws of marketing is a bit bold, but what the book does provide is food for thought in a highly readable context. You gotta give the guy credit though. He takes a stand. And there's a lot to be said for taking a viewpoint and standing by it in today's middle of the road world. If you don't feel up to reading "Focus," "Positioning," or some of the other texts by Al Ries, this one provides a lot of the insights in bite size pieces. Despite the knocks against it listed above there are a few points worth acknowledging: 1. Al Ries is a legend in marketing. 2. It's a good, fun read with many useful examples worth keeping in mind when developing marketing strategies. 3. By reading it for yourself you can develop examples to refute a lot fo the laws and move along the path towards critically evaluating branding strategies.
Rating:
Summary: A practical book...with rather tunnle vision of branding
Review: For anyone involved in branding this book gives very practical advice. A common complaint about business books is that they only see things from marketing functions and lacks overall strategic consideration. Overall very impressive and a must read for anyone involved in advertising or marketing! Another book I highly recommended is 60-Minute Brand Strategist by Idris Mootee. This book is really LOADED with SOILD, meaty real world branding insights and techniques that can are being kept as trade secrets. You will probably find this book a real eye opener. If you're looking for a more balanced marketing book, suggest going for David Aaker's books, some Kotler's books.
Rating: 
Summary: Al Ries and Laura Ries Lay Down the Laws of Branding
Review: From this powerful cross-generational duo comes the definitive "bible" on branding. Marketing gurus Al Ries and Laura Ries reveal the secrets behind the world's most powerful brands. Al Ries, pioneer of the revolutionary concept of "positioning", author of Focus and co-author of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, has more than 40 years of experience helping America's best companies take their products to the top. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is an incisive, no-holds-barred look at some of the best-and worst-decisions that America's top companies have made when it comes to branding. Al and Laura offer indispensable advice for CEO's, marketing executives, and other professionals whose success depends on creating a world-class product or service.
Rating:
Summary: Great for public relations professionals
Review: I am an independent PR consultant and find this book invaluable in setting my client straight with strategic marketing plans and positioning issues. If you have any say in a company's image, name, product/service development, public relations, advertising, or marketing, this book will save your career.
| 
