1 The Leadership It’s better to be the first than it is to be better.
2 The Category If you can’t be first in a category, change the nature of the category or set up a new category you can be first in.
3 The Ladder The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder.
4 Duality In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.
5 The Mind and Perception Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions; and sometimes it’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.
6 Focus The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind.
7 Extension There’s an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand.
8 Exclusivity and Superiority Owning a superior position in the customer’s mind is vital; marketing is a continuous search for exclusivity.
9 Division Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.
10 The Heart (Emotion) Marketing strategies without emotion will not work.
11 Attributes When you have to focus on attributes, for every one of them, there is an opposite and effective attribute.
12 Candor When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive.
13 Sacrifice You have to give something up in order to get something.
14 Success Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure.
15 Failure Failure is to be expected and accepted.
16 Unpredictability Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you can’t predict the future.
17 Hype The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press.
18 Acceleration Successful programs are not built on fads, they’re built on trends.
19 Perspective Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.
20 The Opposite If you are shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.
21 Origin Where brands come from is often more important than how good they are.
22 Resources Without adequate funding and expertise an idea won’t get off the ground, and a brand cannot be built.