When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive (88).So if you are to succeed, you must have an idea or attribute of your own to focus your efforts around. Since Crest owned cavities, other toothpastes avoided cavities and jumped on other attributes like taste, whitening, breath protection (85).For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute.It’s a battle of perceptions, not products or services.
The problem is getting the idea or concept into the prospects’ mind (15) Someone has an idea or concept he or she believes will revolutionize an industry, as well it may. Thousands of would-be entrepreneurs are tripped up every year by this law.If marketing is a battle of perception, not product, then the mind takes precedence over the marketplace. The law of the mind follows from the law of perception.It’s better to be first in the mind, than first in the marketplace (14).When you’re the first in a new category, promote the category.This is counter to classic marketing thinking, which is brand oriented: How do I get people to prefer my brand? Forget the brand.If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in (10).Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products (8).The basic issue in marketing is creating a category you can be first in… It’s much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first (3).Many people believe that the basic issue in marketing is convincing prospects that you have a better product or service.It’s better to be first than it is to be better (2).