Al Ries, Branding

Do you want to create a leading brand?

Then Al Ries is your man. Al Ries is the legendary marketing strategist who co-authored a series of articles declaring the arrival of the Positioning Era in 1972. Positioning is about how to place your brand in the mind of a consumer in a crowded marketplace, and this concept has revolutionized how people view branding.

Al is the bestselling author of 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It.

In our interview, Al and I talk about what it takes to make a brand truly flourish, which often defies logic and conventional wisdom:

• How to be the leading brand – the Heinz, Starbucks, Red Bull or Gatorade – of your category
• What people will remember after reading a magazine with 200 ads – and what this means for your brand
• Why doing things different is more important than doing things better than the competition
• How to increase profits by focusing on a single concept (find out why Nintendo is more profitable than Sony)

Learn more about Al Ries at www.ries.com. Or you can check out the Al Ries page on Wikipedia for additional background information.

Listen to my interview with Al Ries

0:16    Michael introduces Al Ries
1:11    How to be the leading brand – the Heinz, Starbucks, Red Bull or Gatorade – of your category
3:07    What people will remember after reading a magazine with 200 ads – and what this means for your brand
6:06    Why doing things different is more important than doing things better than the competition
8:17    How to increase profits by focusing on a single concept (find out why Nintendo is more profitable than Sony)
18:54   What must we say yes to and what must we say no to
22:06   How to find out more about Al Ries
22:50   Michael closes the interview