Posted on May 21, 2012

The most powerful marketing concept? Own a word.

The renowned book “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” is still as relevant for marketers as when the authors, Al Ries and Jack Trout, first wrote it back in 1993.

Law#5 is The Law of Focus whereby the authors propose:
”The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind.”

That is quite a claim. Of all 22 Laws, one might argue this is the most important. But is it as true today as it was 20 years ago?

Consider the examples highlighted in the book:

Crest… cavities
Mercedes… engineering
BMW… driving
Volvo…. safety
Domino’s…. home delivery
Pepsi-Cola…. youth
Nordstrom… service

While these brands may have evolved somewhat since this book was written, for the most part each company still owns these words in the minds of consumers.

In other words, The Law of Focus stands the test of time.

So how can you apply the value of focus in your organization?

The Value of Focus

As a value, Focus means concentration of attention or energy; maximum clarity.

Ries and Trout suggest marketers must burn their way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word or concept. But how do you do that? By concentrating all attention and energy around a single concept. Note that this one concept must meet two important criteria:

It must be relevant to your target customers.
It must not be owned by any of your competitors, direct or indirect.

Let’s look at an example. In the automotive industry, Volvo has owned the word safety for many years. It is clearly important to consumers. And Volvo was the first to own it.

So how does such a clear focus get started?

Consider the statement made by the founders of Volvo when they started the company in 1927:
“Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain, safety” — Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson

Safety has been the single guiding principle of Volvo for over 80 years, providing maximum clarity to every employee, every shareholder, every supplier, and ultimately every customer.

That’s the power of focus.

Note that this is by no means easy. In fact, Ries and Trout call this “The ultimate marketing sacrifice.”

So how do you get all your stakeholders willing to sacrifice?

The Leadership of Focus

Strong leadership is required to help an organization apply the power of focus. When this occurs, and complete ownership of a single word in the mind of consumers is achieved, then another marketing law is triggered. Market Leadership.

Leaders who apply the power of focus internally will ultimately achieve leadership in the market.

Consider for a moment, how a friend may offer you a drink, and asks “What kind of Coke do you want?” Or when someone asks you “Do you have a Kleenex?” And in our modern world, its not uncommon to hear “I’ll Google that to find out.”

These brands – indeed, the companies of Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, and Google – are the leaders in their categories. And their leadership abilities are demonstrated by the fact they each own a word they created in our minds.

However, generally it’s easier to take ownership of a word that already exists in the dictionary – like safety. Creating new words that are embraced by consumers requires a complex set of leadership skills, time, and massive resources.

To sum up The Law of Focus, Ries & Trout make an important statement:
“The essence of marketing is narrowing the focus. You become stronger when you reduce the scope of your operations. You can’t stand for something if you chase after everything.”

If you are trying to develop a specific focus at your organization, I encourage you to read a previous post 11 principles to develop a focus for your brand. These were extracted from another book by Al Ries called Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on it.