Law # 5 – The Law of the Word – A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.

“The law of the word is extremely important.” said the teacher. This law is expressed in both books, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.”

“You mean words not word, don't you” asked the student?

“Not necessarily.” answered the teacher. “You strive to have your product associated with a word. Even better, you want your product's name to become a synonym for the word.”

“Can you give me some examples?”

“When people want a photocopy, they say Xerox this. When they need a tissue, they ask for a Kleenix. When you need to search on the Internet, you Google the information.

Those are the best case scenarios. There are other examples. Fedex's word is overnight delivery. When people want a cola drink, they ask for a Coke. A gelatin desert, Jello. Adhesive bandage, Band-Aid.”

“I understand.” said the student. “The goal is to have people think your product when they think of that word.”

“Yes.”

“How do you achieve that?”

“The best way is to be number 1 in that category. However, that is not always possible. The next best thing is to create a category where you can be number 1.”

“How do you achieve that?”

“As explained in the book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, find a weakness of your competitor or an area of the market that is undeserved and fill that niche. For example, there are many new ethnic groups in communities. Where do Brazilians shop for food? Where do Latinos purchase music from their original countries? Fill these needs and the name of your company can become a synonym for where Brazilians buy food or Latinos by music.”

“So this is the modern way to market a brand.” said the student.

“It may appear modern in a global sense, but it is actually an old established concept. When I was growing up” said the teacher, “when something broke, everyone in the neighborhood went to the person who was known as Mr. Fix-It, when we needed fish we went to Alberto the fish man. Abe was the meat man and Saul the dairy man. These peoples' names became associated with their products, or the names of the products became associated with them.”