I don’t read a lot of marketing books but somehow I got interested in this one via recommendations on Friendfeed. But wait, this isn’t a marketing book. I would call it a book on strategy with marketing theme. It’s an old book, written in 1993, but it was very surprising to find most of the examples and brands relevant and still in existince. Somehow the world doesn’t change as rapidly as we think.

What makes this book interesting is that it supports each law with a lot of examples from popular brands. Moreover, it’s pleasing to understand the reason behind recent campaigns in the Turkish market. For instance, Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish airline company, used a campaign that advocated their 2nd place in the market and tried to communicate that they are trying harder. This campaign created a lot of sympathy for Pegasus Airlines on my end, which is no surprise because they’re using a lot of laws mentioned in this book: Rule #7: The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder. Apparently, Avis uses a similar strategy, claiming that they were No 2. in rent-a-cars. Rule #15: When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in strategy and marketing.