Posts Tagged “Laura Ries”

Apple made their big yearly announcement today, coming down off Mt. Cupertino with the word from on high of new MacBook Pros and new iPhones. While the announcement was something of a mixed bag – a (very) few surprises, a lot of nice, new features, and one or two that didn’t make it into the products – overall it made for a pretty savvy media/marketing event. Nobody but Apple (even in the absence of Steve Jobs) can whip the faithful to a frenzy, not to mention get some serious ink by the mainstream media, like Apple can.

Earlier today, I read an editorial by marketer Laura Ries that reflected on the popularity of the iPhone. She offered that she’d originally believed that the iPhone would fail, because “convergence” is generally a bad idea, but owned up to the fact that the iPhone has been a success in spite of – not because of – it’s blending of a cell phone and a PDA. She then cited reasons she believed the iPhone took off (here’s a clue: “marketing”), and finished up by admonishing Apple to “keep it simple” and not continue to add functionality and features to the iPhone.

With all respect to a marketer that usually hits it out of the park, analysis-wise, I think she’s got a swing and a miss here. Here’s why… Read the rest of this entry »

As a marketing guy, I believe the smartest thing I can do to stay sharp is to spend a part of each day keeping up with what others are doing – and saying – in the world of marketing. In particular, I like to look at TV ads (go figure), listen to commercial radio, flip through magazines, and read the trades. I also enjoy reading marketing blogs, especially those written by people whose opinions I respect and value. Exhibit A: Ries’ Pieces, a marketing blog penned by Laura Ries. Laura is a crack marketer in her own right (you’ve likely seen her on one of the cable news channels) and author, and is the daughter of Al Ries, for my money, one of the living ‘gods of marketing.’ The senior Ries, along with his then-partner, Jack Trout, wrote a couple of the most influential books on marketing ever, including Positioning, the bible for how to view your brand within your marketspace.

I was reading Laura’s blog the other day, and noted her comments on the re-packaging/re-branding of Tropicana orange juice. I hadn’t noticed that Tropicana had changed their packaging prior to this, so I made it a point to visit the refrigerated section of my local grocery emporium, just to see what all the hubbub was about.What I found was…interesting. My conclusion was that, while Ms. Ries makes some incredibly valid and insightful points, there were a couple of things she missed. To wit… Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always been a big fan of intelligent discourse on marketing. 

Way too often, marketing seems like 1 part mysticism, 2 parts voodoo, 2 parts common sense, and an extra-large dolop of B.S. People that think things through, explain the rationale behind things, and provide a framework for determining what’s good – and what’s bad – in marketing do our entire industry a service. 

One of the most influential (and dare I say brilliant) marketers is actual a family of marketers. The Ries family has been pioneering common sense in marketing for years, first with a series of books by Al Ries and Jack Trout, then with Al and his daughter Laura Ries Brown. Books like Positioning, Marketing Warfare, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, and The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR have altered the ways marketers think about their craft. I don’t necessarily agree with every position the famiy Ries stakes out, but I always find their work to be thought-provoking, and, more often than not, find myself agreeing with them. Read the rest of this entry »