22 Unchange Laws of Marketing.

Rule 6. Law of Monopoly

It is impossible for two companies to master the same word

in the mind of the customer.

If a competitor already owns a word

or already occupies a place in the customer’s mind,

there is no point in trying to master it.

As stated in chapter 5.

Volvo owns the word “safely”.

Many other automakers,

including Mercedes-Benz and General Motors,

also try to use the word “safely”

to make a profit in the market.

But no one except Volvo has succeeded in bringing this word

into the minds of customers.

Marketing The story of Atari is a testament to the hard work

when the company tried to get involved in the production

of home computers.

Against well-prepared and well-defended opponents,

the act of changing the name “game computer” may be acceptable

because it has the advantage of being widely perceived that

Atari invented computer games,

but that’s all.

The home computer market has already belonged to Apple, Commodore,

and others.

Despite the disastrous failures that have been reported,

many companies continue to violate the law of monopolies.

You can’t change someone’s mind once it’s formed.

You only strengthen the position of the opponent.

Federal Express dropped the word “overnight”

and tried to take the word “worldwide” of DHL.

“Overnight Letter” was printed on Federal Express packaging before,

now you see the words “FedEx Letter” printed in its place.

The company’s ad used to say,

“Must arrive overnight,”

but recently,

the word “worldwide” has appeared in a Federal Express ad instead.

This event raises an important question:

Has Federal Express ever mastered the word “worldwide”?

You can say never.

Someone has already mastered the word,

it’s DHL Worldwide Express.

Their concept is “Faster in the world”.

To succeed,

Federal Express must find a way to narrow its focus against DHL.

The company failed to do so

by trying to master a word that

belonged to DHL in the minds of its customers.

Yet another example of the effort aimed at mastering the word

that belongs to someone else.

Battery company Energizer has tried to take the concept

of “long-lasting” of Duracell batteries.

Despite Eveready’s efforts,

Duracell will still firmly grasp the word “long-lasting”.

Duracell has gone first into the minds of customers

with the word “long-lasting”.

Even the part called “Dura” speaks for durability.

The so-called “research” has become a trap

for marketers to go wrong.

An army of researchers was recruited,

focus groups were directed,

customer surveys (printed questionnaires) were produced,

and a 2-kilogram report containing a manifest

of the alleged consumer desires for products and services.

If that’s really what the customer wants,

then we have to give it to them.

What is the biggest problem consumers often face when using batteries?

It is no longer usable when it is most needed.

So what is required of the number one battery?

Of course,

the durability,

that’s what we have to advertise. Right?

Unfortunately, that’s not true.

The fact that researchers never tell you is that

another company already owns the idea.

These researchers just want to encourage their customers (ie you)

to increase the number of marketing programs.

The theory is that if you spend enough money,

you will master the idea.

Right? Wrong.

A few years ago,

Burger King went downhill and never recovered.

A market research report shows that:

contributing the most to the fast food industry is the word “fast”.

Nothing surprising.

So Burger King did what most prominent marketers do,

they go to the advertising office and say,

“If the world wants to be fast,

our ads have to tell them we’re fast.”

What the researchers missed was that

McDonald’s was perceived as America’s fastest-selling hamburger.

The word “fast” belongs to McDonald’s.

by this, Burger King launched their campaign

with the slogan “Best food for fast times”.

The show quickly turned into a disaster.

The advertising agency,

the board of directors was fired,

the company had to be sold,

and the decline persisted.

Many people have paid a heavy price for violating the monopoly law.