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The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands
What Charles Darwin did for biology, Al and Laura Ries do for branding. In their exciting new book, The Origin of Brands , the Rieses take Darwin's revolutionary idea of evolution and apply it to the branding process. What results is a new and strikingly effective strategy for creating innovative products, building a successful brand, and, in turn, achieving business success.Here, the Rieses explain how changing conditions in the marketplace create endless opportunities to build new brands and accumulate riches. But these opportunities cannot be found where most people and most companies look. That is, in the convergence of existing categories like television and the computer, the cellphone and the Internet. Instead, opportunity lies in the opposite direction—in divergence. By following Darwin's brilliant deduction that new species arise from divergence of an existing species, the Rieses outline an effective strategy for creating and taking to market an effective brand. In The Origin of Brands , you will learn how Using insightful studies of failed convergence products and engaging success stories of products that have achieved worldwide success through divergence, the Rieses have written the definitive book on branding. The Origin of Brands will show you in depth how to build a great brand and will lead you to success in the high-stakes world of branding.
- GenresBusinessNonfictionDesign
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Al Ries
65 books355 followersAl Ries is a marketing professional and author. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the Atlanta-based consulting firm Ries & Ries with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries. Along with Jack Trout, Ries coined the term "positioning", as related to the field of marketing, and authored Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind, an industry standard on the subject.
Ries graduated from DePauw University in 1950 with a degree in liberal arts and accepted a position with the advertising department of General Electric before founding his own advertising agency in New York City, Ries Cappiello Colwell, in 1963. The agency later changed to a marketing strategy firm, Trout & Ries.
In 1972, again cooperating with Trout, Ries co-authored a three-part series of articles declaring the arrival of the "Positioning Era" in Advertising Age magazine, promoting their concept of positioning.
In 1994, Ries founded Ries & Ries with his daughter Laura a recent graduate of Northwestern University and TBWA advertising account executive.
Ries was selected as one of the most influential people in the field of public relations in the 20th century by PR Week magazine in 1999. Ries has also written a number of books that have made the BusinessWeek best seller list on a number of occasions.
Ries graduated from DePauw University in 1950 with a degree in liberal arts and accepted a position with the advertising department of General Electric before founding his own advertising agency in New York City, Ries Cappiello Colwell, in 1963. The agency later changed to a marketing strategy firm, Trout & Ries.
In 1972, again cooperating with Trout, Ries co-authored a three-part series of articles declaring the arrival of the "Positioning Era" in Advertising Age magazine, promoting their concept of positioning.
In 1994, Ries founded Ries & Ries with his daughter Laura a recent graduate of Northwestern University and TBWA advertising account executive.
Ries was selected as one of the most influential people in the field of public relations in the 20th century by PR Week magazine in 1999. Ries has also written a number of books that have made the BusinessWeek best seller list on a number of occasions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 24, 2013
This would likely have made a lovely magazine article. All the filler/excessive examples/repetitiveness necessary to expand it to book length ruins what would otherwise be an interesting take. It also doesn't age well with many recent developments making a mockery of some of their assertions.
September 5, 2020
Considering this book is from 2004, it is a good read for looking at tech in hindsight.
Makes one understand why divergence is the key to evolution of tech & mankind.
But is too critical of convergence.
Yes, there have been numerous failures trying to converge certain products/technologies together.
But the 0.1% that have succeeded have been phenomenal.
IPhone, phone-video-calls, wechat-like superapps, hell even a McCafe.
I feel its about getting the right things together to create products that people will find indispensable.
A current Amazon would be a very good case study for the authors.
Makes one understand why divergence is the key to evolution of tech & mankind.
But is too critical of convergence.
Yes, there have been numerous failures trying to converge certain products/technologies together.
But the 0.1% that have succeeded have been phenomenal.
IPhone, phone-video-calls, wechat-like superapps, hell even a McCafe.
I feel its about getting the right things together to create products that people will find indispensable.
A current Amazon would be a very good case study for the authors.
December 3, 2020
(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
Эта книга написала в том же узнаваемом стиле, который можно найти во всех книгах как Райса, так и Траута. Да, это значит, что в книге много, просто очень много повторов, идей как из других книг этих двух авторов, так и в целом. Но, даже не смотря на то, что я очень не люблю повторы, я всё равно ставлю книге высшую оценку. Да, книга понравится всем поклонникам Траута и Райса, ибо в дополнении к новой идеи читатели получат привычный им стиль этого автора.
Нужно подчеркнуть, что новых идей в маркетинге не так и много. Чаще всего всё крутится вокруг нескольких популярных идей, что были описаны ещё в XX веке. К примеру, позиционирование или способность выделиться из толпы (брендов), клиентоориентированность сервиса, т.е. максимально полное удовлетворение пот��ебностей клиентов (среди прочего и WOW-эффект). Т.е. постараться впечатлить клиента или если быть ещё короче: клиент должен испытывать к бренду (крайне) положительные чувства, сильную лояльность. Так же существуют и другие идеи, разумеется, но эти - самые популярные и наиболее часто встречающиеся в литературе по маркетингу (не учебниках). Короче, разнообразием маркетинговая литература нас – читателей – не балует. Однако эта книга является исключением.
Итак, главная идея заключается в том, что брэндинг подобен эволюции, которая создаёт новые виды (товарные категории), а не объединяет старые. Автор приводит пример компьютерную отрасль, в которой «большие ЭВМ разветвились, дав нам программное обеспечение для компьютеров, мини-компьютеры, персональные компьютеры и, наконец, программное обеспечение для персональных компьютеров». Так как книга написана в далёком 2004 году, т.е. до революции смартфонов, нужно быть готовым к довольно устаревшей информации. Более того, автор будет критиковать попытки заменить сотовые телефоны смартфонами, ибо это пример конвергенции. Я думаю, многие читатели найдут эту идею глубоко ошибочной и, в связи с чем, может возникнуть даже недоверие к автору. Но тут нужно понимать, что в то время когда писалась книга смартфоны ещё не достигли той популярности, какую обрели теперь. Более того, если я не ошибаюсь, Apple ещё не выпустил свои первые смартфоны. Поэтому автор говорит о смартфонах до эпохи Apple и Samsung. Другими словами это было ещё до тех огромных экранов с touchscreen технологией, т.е. без привычной клавиатуры, которая была свойственна всем сотовым телефонам, ярким представителем которых был телефон BlackBerry, который выполнял в ту пору часть функций нынешнего смартфона. Да и сам автор пишет, что объединение свойств может быть популярным, если оно в тоже время не усложняет основной продукт. К пример, фото и видео камера в сотовых телефонах была очень низкого качества, из-за чего мало кто всерьёз воспринимал их как важный фактор при выборе телефона. Я уж молчу про способность сотового телефона выходить в Интернет, у которого такая функция хоть и была, но из-за маленького экрана и огромного количества неудобств, функция выхода в Интернет не была актуальной для сотовых телефонов. В итоге, сотовый телефон использовался только для звонков и СМС. О чём и пишет автор. Так что его критика относится к старым моделям «смартфонов», которые не были популярны. То же самое касается и Netflix, о котором он так же пишет, добавляя в конце, что если эта компания не изменит способ доставки своей продукции, то её ждёт гибель. Многие могут тут указать, что автор ошибся. Но он-то как раз точно указал на необходимость смены способа дистрибуции. Что Netflix и сделал в итоге.
Да, книга стара, но идея, как мне кажется, очень правильная. Мир стремится к делению отраслей, а не к объединению. Раньше у нас был софт и железо только для ПК, а теперь и для ноутбуков и для планшетов и для смартфонов. Что это даёт, согласно книге? А это даёт возможность застолбить первое место в сознании покупателей, создав новую категорию. Как пишут авторы во множестве свои книг, главное застолбить в сознании покупателей, что твой бренд номер один в данной категории. Если это случилось, то при прочих равных, сбросить с первого места этот бренд будет практически невозможно. Поэтому остальным брендам придётся либо искать новую категорию, либо быть брендом номер 2 (быть анти-лидером отрасли), либо влачить жалкое существование мало популярных и мало известных марок. И вот понимание того, что рынок создаёт всё больше и больше категорий, т.е. что не происходит никакого объединения оных, и позволяет смотреть в будущее и планировать стратегический маркетинг. Создание категории смартфонов Apple и Samsung, это в точности то, о чём пишет Райс в этой книге. Мы видим, сколько появляется каждый день новых брендов. Но что это за бренды? Чаще всего это бренды «и я тоже», т.е. они практически ничем не отличаются от своих конкурентов. А значит, у них нет никаких шансов завладеть большой долей рынка, да и стать сверхприбыльными шансов у них тоже нет (вспомним, как быстро ушёл в небытие смартфон от Яндекс). Единственный вариант, это поиск и создание новых категорий. Как пишет автор, это всегда рискованно. Ибо когда создаётся новая отрасль, то количество потребителей равно нулю. Как пишут авторы, «нет рынка, нет каналов дистрибуции, нет конкурентов, на которых можно равняться». Это риск, ибо ва�� новый товар может изначально быть неактуальным для потребителей. Однако в любом случаи, понимание того, что рынок идёт по пути дивергенции, а не конвергенции, что происходит деление категорий и появление из старых категорий новых, крайне важно. Это не тактический инструмент маркетолога, поэтому многие и не смогут им воспользоваться, но для тех людей, кто занимается созданием маркетинговых стратегий и start-up компаний, эта книга крайне важна. Даже не смотря на то, что она довольно сильно устарела.
The book was written in the same recognizable style that can be found in all the books of both Al Ries and Jack Trout. Yes, it means that the book has a lot, just a lot of repetitions, ideas from the other books of these two authors, as well as in general. Even though I don't like repetitions, I nevertheless give the book the highest rating. Yes, the book will please all fans of Jack Trout and Al Ries because, in addition to the new idea, the readers will get the usual style of this author.
It should be emphasized that there are not so many new ideas in marketing. Most often, everything revolves around a few popular ideas that were described back in the XX century. For example, positioning or the ability to stand out from the crowd (brands), customer-oriented service, i.e., the perfect customer satisfaction (among other things, the WOW-effect). I.e., try to impress the client, or if to be even shorter: the client should feel for the brand (extremely) positive feelings, strong loyalty. There are also other ideas, of course, but these are the most popular and most frequently encountered in the marketing literature (not textbooks). In short, a variety of marketing literature does not spoil us - the readers. However, this book is an exception.
So, the main idea is that branding is like evolution, which creates new species (product categories) rather than combining the old ones. The author gives an example of a computer industry in which "large computers have branched out, giving us software for computers, minicomputers, personal computers and, finally, software for personal computers." Since the book was written in the distant 2004, i.e., before the smartphone revolution, you need to be prepared for fairly outdated information. Moreover, the author will criticize attempts to replace cell phones with smartphones because this is an example of convergence. I think many readers will find this idea deeply erroneous and, in connection with this, there may even be distrust of the author. But here, you need to understand that at the time when the book was written, smartphones have not yet reached the popularity that they have now. Moreover, if I am not mistaken, Apple has not yet released its first smartphones. Therefore, the author talks about smartphones before the era of Apple and Samsung. In other words, it was even before those huge screens with touchscreen technology, i.e., without the usual keyboard, which was typical of all cell phones, a bright representative of which was the BlackBerry phone, which performed at that time part of the functions of the current smartphone. The author himself writes that the combination of features can be popular if it does not complicate the main product at the same time. For example, the photo and video cameras in cell phones were of very poor quality, so few people took them seriously as an important factor in choosing a phone. Not to mention the ability of a cell phone to access the Internet, which even though it had such a feature, but because of the small screen and the huge amount of inconvenience, the function of Internet access was not relevant for cell phones. As a result, the cell phone was used only for calls and SMS, which is what the author writes about. So his criticism refers to old models of "smartphones," which were not popular. The same applies to Netflix, which he also writes about, adding at the end that if this company does not change the way its products are delivered, it will die. Many may say here that the author was wrong. But he just pointed to the need to change the way of distribution. It is what Netflix did in the end.
Yes, the book is old, but I think the idea is very correct. The world tends to divide industries, not to unite. We used to have software and hardware only for PCs, but now we have software for notebooks and tablets, and smartphones. What does it give, according to the book? It gives us the opportunity to win first place in the minds of customers by creating a new category. As authors write in many of their books, the main thing to occupy in the minds of buyers that your brand number one in a given category. If this happens, it will be almost impossible to reset this brand from the first place. Therefore, the rest of the brands will have to either look for a new category, or be the number 2 brand (to be anti-leader of the industry), or to drag the miserable existence of little popular and little known brands. And here is the understanding that the market creates more and more categories, i.e., that there is no unification of them, and allows looking into the future and planning strategic marketing. Creating a category of Apple and Samsung smartphones is exactly what Al Ries writes about in this book. We see how many new brands appear every day. But what are these brands? Most often, these are 'me-too' brands. They are almost no different from their competitors. So, they have no chance to take a large share of the market and to become super-profitable (remember how quickly the smartphone from Yandex went into oblivion). The only option is to search for and create new categories. As the author writes, it is always risky. Because when a new industry is created, the number of consumers is zero. As the authors write, "there is no market, no distribution channels, no competitors on which to equal." It is a risk because your new product may not be relevant to consumers from the start. However, understanding that the market follows the path of divergence rather than convergence, that categories are divided, and new categories emerge from the old ones is extremely important. It is not a tactical tool of a marketer, which is why many people will not be able to use it. But for those who create marketing strategies and start-up companies, this book is extremely important, even though it is quite outdated.
Эта книга написала в том же узнаваемом стиле, который можно найти во всех книгах как Райса, так и Траута. Да, это значит, что в книге много, просто очень много повторов, идей как из других книг этих двух авторов, так и в целом. Но, даже не смотря на то, что я очень не люблю повторы, я всё равно ставлю книге высшую оценку. Да, книга понравится всем поклонникам Траута и Райса, ибо в дополнении к новой идеи читатели получат привычный им стиль этого автора.
Нужно подчеркнуть, что новых идей в маркетинге не так и много. Чаще всего всё крутится вокруг нескольких популярных идей, что были описаны ещё в XX веке. К примеру, позиционирование или способность выделиться из толпы (брендов), клиентоориентированность сервиса, т.е. максимально полное удовлетворение пот��ебностей клиентов (среди прочего и WOW-эффект). Т.е. постараться впечатлить клиента или если быть ещё короче: клиент должен испытывать к бренду (крайне) положительные чувства, сильную лояльность. Так же существуют и другие идеи, разумеется, но эти - самые популярные и наиболее часто встречающиеся в литературе по маркетингу (не учебниках). Короче, разнообразием маркетинговая литература нас – читателей – не балует. Однако эта книга является исключением.
Итак, главная идея заключается в том, что брэндинг подобен эволюции, которая создаёт новые виды (товарные категории), а не объединяет старые. Автор приводит пример компьютерную отрасль, в которой «большие ЭВМ разветвились, дав нам программное обеспечение для компьютеров, мини-компьютеры, персональные компьютеры и, наконец, программное обеспечение для персональных компьютеров». Так как книга написана в далёком 2004 году, т.е. до революции смартфонов, нужно быть готовым к довольно устаревшей информации. Более того, автор будет критиковать попытки заменить сотовые телефоны смартфонами, ибо это пример конвергенции. Я думаю, многие читатели найдут эту идею глубоко ошибочной и, в связи с чем, может возникнуть даже недоверие к автору. Но тут нужно понимать, что в то время когда писалась книга смартфоны ещё не достигли той популярности, какую обрели теперь. Более того, если я не ошибаюсь, Apple ещё не выпустил свои первые смартфоны. Поэтому автор говорит о смартфонах до эпохи Apple и Samsung. Другими словами это было ещё до тех огромных экранов с touchscreen технологией, т.е. без привычной клавиатуры, которая была свойственна всем сотовым телефонам, ярким представителем которых был телефон BlackBerry, который выполнял в ту пору часть функций нынешнего смартфона. Да и сам автор пишет, что объединение свойств может быть популярным, если оно в тоже время не усложняет основной продукт. К пример, фото и видео камера в сотовых телефонах была очень низкого качества, из-за чего мало кто всерьёз воспринимал их как важный фактор при выборе телефона. Я уж молчу про способность сотового телефона выходить в Интернет, у которого такая функция хоть и была, но из-за маленького экрана и огромного количества неудобств, функция выхода в Интернет не была актуальной для сотовых телефонов. В итоге, сотовый телефон использовался только для звонков и СМС. О чём и пишет автор. Так что его критика относится к старым моделям «смартфонов», которые не были популярны. То же самое касается и Netflix, о котором он так же пишет, добавляя в конце, что если эта компания не изменит способ доставки своей продукции, то её ждёт гибель. Многие могут тут указать, что автор ошибся. Но он-то как раз точно указал на необходимость смены способа дистрибуции. Что Netflix и сделал в итоге.
Да, книга стара, но идея, как мне кажется, очень правильная. Мир стремится к делению отраслей, а не к объединению. Раньше у нас был софт и железо только для ПК, а теперь и для ноутбуков и для планшетов и для смартфонов. Что это даёт, согласно книге? А это даёт возможность застолбить первое место в сознании покупателей, создав новую категорию. Как пишут авторы во множестве свои книг, главное застолбить в сознании покупателей, что твой бренд номер один в данной категории. Если это случилось, то при прочих равных, сбросить с первого места этот бренд будет практически невозможно. Поэтому остальным брендам придётся либо искать новую категорию, либо быть брендом номер 2 (быть анти-лидером отрасли), либо влачить жалкое существование мало популярных и мало известных марок. И вот понимание того, что рынок создаёт всё больше и больше категорий, т.е. что не происходит никакого объединения оных, и позволяет смотреть в будущее и планировать стратегический маркетинг. Создание категории смартфонов Apple и Samsung, это в точности то, о чём пишет Райс в этой книге. Мы видим, сколько появляется каждый день новых брендов. Но что это за бренды? Чаще всего это бренды «и я тоже», т.е. они практически ничем не отличаются от своих конкурентов. А значит, у них нет никаких шансов завладеть большой долей рынка, да и стать сверхприбыльными шансов у них тоже нет (вспомним, как быстро ушёл в небытие смартфон от Яндекс). Единственный вариант, это поиск и создание новых категорий. Как пишет автор, это всегда рискованно. Ибо когда создаётся новая отрасль, то количество потребителей равно нулю. Как пишут авторы, «нет рынка, нет каналов дистрибуции, нет конкурентов, на которых можно равняться». Это риск, ибо ва�� новый товар может изначально быть неактуальным для потребителей. Однако в любом случаи, понимание того, что рынок идёт по пути дивергенции, а не конвергенции, что происходит деление категорий и появление из старых категорий новых, крайне важно. Это не тактический инструмент маркетолога, поэтому многие и не смогут им воспользоваться, но для тех людей, кто занимается созданием маркетинговых стратегий и start-up компаний, эта книга крайне важна. Даже не смотря на то, что она довольно сильно устарела.
The book was written in the same recognizable style that can be found in all the books of both Al Ries and Jack Trout. Yes, it means that the book has a lot, just a lot of repetitions, ideas from the other books of these two authors, as well as in general. Even though I don't like repetitions, I nevertheless give the book the highest rating. Yes, the book will please all fans of Jack Trout and Al Ries because, in addition to the new idea, the readers will get the usual style of this author.
It should be emphasized that there are not so many new ideas in marketing. Most often, everything revolves around a few popular ideas that were described back in the XX century. For example, positioning or the ability to stand out from the crowd (brands), customer-oriented service, i.e., the perfect customer satisfaction (among other things, the WOW-effect). I.e., try to impress the client, or if to be even shorter: the client should feel for the brand (extremely) positive feelings, strong loyalty. There are also other ideas, of course, but these are the most popular and most frequently encountered in the marketing literature (not textbooks). In short, a variety of marketing literature does not spoil us - the readers. However, this book is an exception.
So, the main idea is that branding is like evolution, which creates new species (product categories) rather than combining the old ones. The author gives an example of a computer industry in which "large computers have branched out, giving us software for computers, minicomputers, personal computers and, finally, software for personal computers." Since the book was written in the distant 2004, i.e., before the smartphone revolution, you need to be prepared for fairly outdated information. Moreover, the author will criticize attempts to replace cell phones with smartphones because this is an example of convergence. I think many readers will find this idea deeply erroneous and, in connection with this, there may even be distrust of the author. But here, you need to understand that at the time when the book was written, smartphones have not yet reached the popularity that they have now. Moreover, if I am not mistaken, Apple has not yet released its first smartphones. Therefore, the author talks about smartphones before the era of Apple and Samsung. In other words, it was even before those huge screens with touchscreen technology, i.e., without the usual keyboard, which was typical of all cell phones, a bright representative of which was the BlackBerry phone, which performed at that time part of the functions of the current smartphone. The author himself writes that the combination of features can be popular if it does not complicate the main product at the same time. For example, the photo and video cameras in cell phones were of very poor quality, so few people took them seriously as an important factor in choosing a phone. Not to mention the ability of a cell phone to access the Internet, which even though it had such a feature, but because of the small screen and the huge amount of inconvenience, the function of Internet access was not relevant for cell phones. As a result, the cell phone was used only for calls and SMS, which is what the author writes about. So his criticism refers to old models of "smartphones," which were not popular. The same applies to Netflix, which he also writes about, adding at the end that if this company does not change the way its products are delivered, it will die. Many may say here that the author was wrong. But he just pointed to the need to change the way of distribution. It is what Netflix did in the end.
Yes, the book is old, but I think the idea is very correct. The world tends to divide industries, not to unite. We used to have software and hardware only for PCs, but now we have software for notebooks and tablets, and smartphones. What does it give, according to the book? It gives us the opportunity to win first place in the minds of customers by creating a new category. As authors write in many of their books, the main thing to occupy in the minds of buyers that your brand number one in a given category. If this happens, it will be almost impossible to reset this brand from the first place. Therefore, the rest of the brands will have to either look for a new category, or be the number 2 brand (to be anti-leader of the industry), or to drag the miserable existence of little popular and little known brands. And here is the understanding that the market creates more and more categories, i.e., that there is no unification of them, and allows looking into the future and planning strategic marketing. Creating a category of Apple and Samsung smartphones is exactly what Al Ries writes about in this book. We see how many new brands appear every day. But what are these brands? Most often, these are 'me-too' brands. They are almost no different from their competitors. So, they have no chance to take a large share of the market and to become super-profitable (remember how quickly the smartphone from Yandex went into oblivion). The only option is to search for and create new categories. As the author writes, it is always risky. Because when a new industry is created, the number of consumers is zero. As the authors write, "there is no market, no distribution channels, no competitors on which to equal." It is a risk because your new product may not be relevant to consumers from the start. However, understanding that the market follows the path of divergence rather than convergence, that categories are divided, and new categories emerge from the old ones is extremely important. It is not a tactical tool of a marketer, which is why many people will not be able to use it. But for those who create marketing strategies and start-up companies, this book is extremely important, even though it is quite outdated.
July 10, 2009
Why I Read this Book: Each and every one of us are exposed to thousands of brands a day. I wanted to understand what it takes to put a brand in that special place in one’s mind and how I could use that knowledge to fuel my own success.
Review:
I must admit that I am quite the fan of Ries’ work. He and Trout did a fantastic job with Positioning so many years back, which has had a grand effect on countless businesses. Al and his daughter Laura (who from now on I will address as Ries) took the fundamentals of a classic and built many of today’s new concepts into a book that anyone interested in building a successful brand and company should have down cold. The Origin of brands is that book.
Ries stayed consistent with his previous work in that this book is written in a very clear, concise and easily digestible manner. A book like this can be comfortably read in a number of days. One of the main reasons for this is that Ries chose a few simple yet fundamental concepts and stuck with them throughout the book by giving fantastic examples of everyday brands to which all of us can relate. I feel strongly that examples are a fundamental part of a well written book, especially when it relates to a specific area of expertise as this one does.
Ries uses a rather unique way of starting the book with a theme from which he bases most every chapter. He begins with the concept of Darwin, evolution and convergence vs. divergence. In the end this book can be explained in these basic concepts. Ries makes the reader quickly realize that the road to the top for your brand and business is that of divergence; not convergence. Please remember that statement, because that is the base on which the book is built. The natural course of products and nature alike is for things to converge and branch of into separate ideas and products. How often do you see a tree with branches growing into each other? Possibly for the same reason the web/tv or the clock radio never made it and why no one ever really uses their Swiss Army knife. It just is not natural. The key that Ries emphasizes is sum of most products combined is less valuable than their separate parts. After all, how well does any one tool in a Swiss Army knife actually work? I think I’ll stick with my full-sized pair of scissors and screw driver if you don’t mind.
This idea of the success of divergence has huge implications on each one of use striving towards success. The wonderful thing about divergence is that things will always be diverging and therein lays countless opportunities for success with new brands in new categories. If an entrepreneur is looking for success, he should start with where things will diverge next. This is where one can find the greatest opportunity to be first and to positively establish your brand in the mind of the customer. What better way to be first than to create a new category and be the first brand in that category? Ries is quick to remind us of numerous examples. How many brands were in the cola category before Coke hit the market? How many energy drink brands before Red Bull? How about the athletic shoe category before Nike? The answers are all zero. The real success is not in developing the unique brand but instead in developing a new category in which your brand can be first. I encourage you to think about this as you go through life working towards success.
One of the beauties I enjoy most about brands and the concepts that make them most successful is that they are directly transferable to the most valuable brand of all; you. This is a concept that I bring up in a number of reviews and it is one that should not be taken lightly. Your most valuable brand is yourself and you are the one in charge of securing its position in the minds of those around you. Even Ries’ concepts about using public relations (PR) to build a brand as opposed to advertising are crucial to take into account. What is more valuable to you, hearing someone talk highly of themselves or hearing others talk highly of that person? The credibility, value and success come from the things others say about your brand and that of your product.
Our brand and those we build are only as strong as their respective PR and do not gain credibility from self advertisement. I encourage you to think about branding in this light as you dig into the concepts detailed in The Origin of Brands. You will get exponentially more out of any branding or positioning book by realizing that these concepts are just as important to implement with your personal brand as they are with the product brand you are building. I hope you enjoy learning about brands in this new light. I assure you that your return on learning will be invaluable. I know it has been for me. So the real question is, what new category does your brand define?
-Reading for Your Success
Review:
I must admit that I am quite the fan of Ries’ work. He and Trout did a fantastic job with Positioning so many years back, which has had a grand effect on countless businesses. Al and his daughter Laura (who from now on I will address as Ries) took the fundamentals of a classic and built many of today’s new concepts into a book that anyone interested in building a successful brand and company should have down cold. The Origin of brands is that book.
Ries stayed consistent with his previous work in that this book is written in a very clear, concise and easily digestible manner. A book like this can be comfortably read in a number of days. One of the main reasons for this is that Ries chose a few simple yet fundamental concepts and stuck with them throughout the book by giving fantastic examples of everyday brands to which all of us can relate. I feel strongly that examples are a fundamental part of a well written book, especially when it relates to a specific area of expertise as this one does.
Ries uses a rather unique way of starting the book with a theme from which he bases most every chapter. He begins with the concept of Darwin, evolution and convergence vs. divergence. In the end this book can be explained in these basic concepts. Ries makes the reader quickly realize that the road to the top for your brand and business is that of divergence; not convergence. Please remember that statement, because that is the base on which the book is built. The natural course of products and nature alike is for things to converge and branch of into separate ideas and products. How often do you see a tree with branches growing into each other? Possibly for the same reason the web/tv or the clock radio never made it and why no one ever really uses their Swiss Army knife. It just is not natural. The key that Ries emphasizes is sum of most products combined is less valuable than their separate parts. After all, how well does any one tool in a Swiss Army knife actually work? I think I’ll stick with my full-sized pair of scissors and screw driver if you don’t mind.
This idea of the success of divergence has huge implications on each one of use striving towards success. The wonderful thing about divergence is that things will always be diverging and therein lays countless opportunities for success with new brands in new categories. If an entrepreneur is looking for success, he should start with where things will diverge next. This is where one can find the greatest opportunity to be first and to positively establish your brand in the mind of the customer. What better way to be first than to create a new category and be the first brand in that category? Ries is quick to remind us of numerous examples. How many brands were in the cola category before Coke hit the market? How many energy drink brands before Red Bull? How about the athletic shoe category before Nike? The answers are all zero. The real success is not in developing the unique brand but instead in developing a new category in which your brand can be first. I encourage you to think about this as you go through life working towards success.
One of the beauties I enjoy most about brands and the concepts that make them most successful is that they are directly transferable to the most valuable brand of all; you. This is a concept that I bring up in a number of reviews and it is one that should not be taken lightly. Your most valuable brand is yourself and you are the one in charge of securing its position in the minds of those around you. Even Ries’ concepts about using public relations (PR) to build a brand as opposed to advertising are crucial to take into account. What is more valuable to you, hearing someone talk highly of themselves or hearing others talk highly of that person? The credibility, value and success come from the things others say about your brand and that of your product.
Our brand and those we build are only as strong as their respective PR and do not gain credibility from self advertisement. I encourage you to think about branding in this light as you dig into the concepts detailed in The Origin of Brands. You will get exponentially more out of any branding or positioning book by realizing that these concepts are just as important to implement with your personal brand as they are with the product brand you are building. I hope you enjoy learning about brands in this new light. I assure you that your return on learning will be invaluable. I know it has been for me. So the real question is, what new category does your brand define?
-Reading for Your Success
October 28, 2015
Outdated historical information (shucks didn't know this was published in 2005) but contains some applicable concets suited even to today's time. The writing though felt like what another reviewer here shared felt like it could have been better off as a short article than as a whole book. Tons of fillers and examples that are not relevant to this day and age anymore and a lot of "Did you that who did ___? Well it's ___" over and over again. Guess what I'm attacking mainly is Ries' hatred for convergence. The book is all about comparing Origin of Brands to Charles' Darwin Origin of Species by saying that Divergence is what brought many key brands out there today but he is too critical on convergence. There are a lot of good insignts though on tips on how to become a strong brand and I can actually understand now why some companies fail at launching a product while some others don't. It is an interesting read for the 2nd half of the book so my suggestion is to just skip the first few annoying chapters. Would have rated this one star higher if not for it.
April 13, 2013
كتاب اساسي لجميع العاملين في مجال التسويق و الدعايه و الاعلان.
من الكتب الجميله للكاتب ال ريز يستعرض فيها التاريخ القديم للشركات وكيف حصل تطور في السوق و الاسماء التجاريه.
اذا نظرت اليوم ، لفيسبوك و تويتر و يوتيوب و مؤخرا الكيك. .. راح تفهم نظريه التطور التي يتحدث عنها الكاتب.
من الكتب الجميله للكاتب ال ريز يستعرض فيها التاريخ القديم للشركات وكيف حصل تطور في السوق و الاسماء التجاريه.
اذا نظرت اليوم ، لفيسبوك و تويتر و يوتيوب و مؤخرا الكيك. .. راح تفهم نظريه التطور التي يتحدث عنها الكاتب.
January 9, 2020
I read about two chapters and gave up. Much of the examples are outdated. Also, way too many analogies. Not a pleasant read.
March 17, 2017
El origen de las marcas es un refrescante libro de mercadotecnia (o lo fue en su tiempo, pues leí la edición que se publicó en 2004). Esta obra abarca los temas de lanzamiento de nuevos productos, branding y posicionamiento que pueden ser digeridos por no ser comunicados sin conceptos técnicos, lo que lo hace una lectura amigable tanto para personas dedicadas a la mercadotecnia como para curiosos que tienen su primer acercamiento con ella (por cierto, ¡bienvenidos!).
De una manera creativa, los autores hacen una alegoría de la obra de Charles Darwin El Origen de las especies. Esta comparación resulta útil en el salvaje mundo de los negocios donde al parecer la marca grande se come a la marca pequeña y el más apto es el que sobrevive.
La idea principal del libro es la divergencia, que un poco más allá de la muy pregonada diferenciación. Comúnmente se les enseña a los estudiantes de mercadotecnia a ser igual que tu competencia, pero con un punto que los distinga de los demás; la divergencia dicta que si la competencia está haciendo algo, debo hacer una cosa totalmente diferente.
Este principio de la divergencia es la fuerza originadora de marcas exitosas, más después los autores nos enseñan que la marca no es el primer crío de la madre divergencia, sino la categoría. Podemos entender qué es una categoría si pensamos en cervezas: cerveza light, cerveza artesanal, cerveza oscura, cerveza importada…etc. Cada una de esas categorías divergieron de la categoría cerveza. Cuando una empresa logra crear una categoría, puede posicionar su producto en un mercado sin competencia, lo que automáticamente lo convierte en líder.
Cabe destacar que la divergencia no es lo mismo que la evolución pues esta última es un proceso de cambio paulatino, la divergencia es un cambio radical en la manera de hacer las cosas.
Supervivencia del primero en la categoría y cómo sobrevivir si se es el segundo, branding de nuevos productos, manejo de portafolio de marcas y técnicas para el lanzamiento de nuevos productos…todas estas son ideas secundarias expuestas por Ries&Ries.
Lo que me gusto del estilo de redacción es la cantidad de ejemplos que los autores exponen, acerca de empresas reales que todos conocemos. Lo que no me gustó fue que los ejemplos pueden ser repetitivos; dándole a los autores el beneficio de la duda, podría ser que hayan hecho énfasis en la enumeración de bastantes ejemplos de un solo tipo de concepto para que el concepto sea mejor asimilado (aunque creo que después de cinco ejemplos, debe ya ser claro). Además de esto, como lo mencioné al principio, no alcancé a disfrutar el libro porque leí una versión desactualizada, en la cual se hacía una especial mofa a la idea de la convergencia de teléfono y agenda electrónica, o de teléfono y cámara fotográfica (que en este tiempo conocemos como Smartphone).
De una manera creativa, los autores hacen una alegoría de la obra de Charles Darwin El Origen de las especies. Esta comparación resulta útil en el salvaje mundo de los negocios donde al parecer la marca grande se come a la marca pequeña y el más apto es el que sobrevive.
La idea principal del libro es la divergencia, que un poco más allá de la muy pregonada diferenciación. Comúnmente se les enseña a los estudiantes de mercadotecnia a ser igual que tu competencia, pero con un punto que los distinga de los demás; la divergencia dicta que si la competencia está haciendo algo, debo hacer una cosa totalmente diferente.
Este principio de la divergencia es la fuerza originadora de marcas exitosas, más después los autores nos enseñan que la marca no es el primer crío de la madre divergencia, sino la categoría. Podemos entender qué es una categoría si pensamos en cervezas: cerveza light, cerveza artesanal, cerveza oscura, cerveza importada…etc. Cada una de esas categorías divergieron de la categoría cerveza. Cuando una empresa logra crear una categoría, puede posicionar su producto en un mercado sin competencia, lo que automáticamente lo convierte en líder.
Cabe destacar que la divergencia no es lo mismo que la evolución pues esta última es un proceso de cambio paulatino, la divergencia es un cambio radical en la manera de hacer las cosas.
Supervivencia del primero en la categoría y cómo sobrevivir si se es el segundo, branding de nuevos productos, manejo de portafolio de marcas y técnicas para el lanzamiento de nuevos productos…todas estas son ideas secundarias expuestas por Ries&Ries.
Lo que me gusto del estilo de redacción es la cantidad de ejemplos que los autores exponen, acerca de empresas reales que todos conocemos. Lo que no me gustó fue que los ejemplos pueden ser repetitivos; dándole a los autores el beneficio de la duda, podría ser que hayan hecho énfasis en la enumeración de bastantes ejemplos de un solo tipo de concepto para que el concepto sea mejor asimilado (aunque creo que después de cinco ejemplos, debe ya ser claro). Además de esto, como lo mencioné al principio, no alcancé a disfrutar el libro porque leí una versión desactualizada, en la cual se hacía una especial mofa a la idea de la convergencia de teléfono y agenda electrónica, o de teléfono y cámara fotográfica (que en este tiempo conocemos como Smartphone).
March 20, 2024
"The primary objective of a branding program is always the mind of the prospect."
Al Ries, whom I have known for many years, is one of the fathers of branding.
The brand elevates your product above the noise of the competition.
It creates an emotional bond between your customers and your product.
The brand also becomes part of the mythology of any commercial culture.
In The Origin of Brands, Ries discusses the concept of divergence, which also exists in biological evolution.
Successful brands diverge from the mother "brand species"
Just as dogs diverged from wolves and humans from apes.
A good example that Ries didn't quite understand is the smartphone. It split off from the phone, the PC and the camera by combining all these technologies in a handheld computer.
Divergence through triple convergence.
Star Wars diverged from the usual scifi movies by bringing different genres together in a new way. Scifi, fantasy, western and action with a zen twist.
Lite beer diverged from normal beer without having to converge other beer components.
Divergence creates new, untapped markets.
Some of these markets may die off quickly. Others will mature and then go through a spin-off process that creates mutant products with new markets.
This is an interesting theory that deserves to be explored further as businesses position themselves in a competitive market.
You have to be different to be successful and the possibilities are limitless.
December 6, 2020
Este libro lo leí con 16 años, hace casi 10 años ya. Recuerdo haberlo devorado, me pareció muy interesante la alegoría de la evolución de las especies con las marcas empresariales, en comportamiento, en la lucha por el más fuerte para alcanzar el éxito. El libro da muchos ejemplos y situaciones reales del tema que va abordando en cada capítulo, lo que hace muy fácil la comprensión y amena la lectura.
July 9, 2020
The problem with this book is, it just explains a single point throughout the book, divergence and then many of the counter examples given have been successful. My take is instead of reading this book it's better to read an article summarising the book.
June 7, 2017
Extensive in it's promise
September 2, 2019
Unprecedented outlook on the topic
September 22, 2019
Good one. It has more examples that it should be, but I enjoyed it.
November 15, 2020
Several interesting ideas and great beginning. Still, this book is consisted by a lots of mockings for trends, brands and companies. Great example how not to analyze trends, because the authors are analyzing everything based on feeling rather than data (except the ones which are proving their point).
March 17, 2022
Outdated rubbish. Don’t waste your time.
January 26, 2023
Khó hịu vì cần sự am hiểu nhiều về văn hóa và các thương hiệu Mỹ cũng như thuyết tiến hóa của Darwin, thứ hay được nghe nói nhiều nhưng chưa bao giờ mình hiểu tường tận cạ
July 1, 2023
Achei incrível que um livro sobre branding com quase 20 anos consiga apresentar tantas ideias e linhas de pensamento que conseguem adaptar-se à atual realidade.
February 9, 2020
Was a bit hard to read because it takes Theory of Evolution to the extreme. But the idea of finding a niche and creating a brand and consumer mentality was pretty good. The example used in the book are pretty outdated and doesn't work out as predicted by the authors.
You need to have a really open mind to read this book or you will throw this away in 30 mins.
Also instead of comparing examples contradicting authors' theory. Try to figure out what the author really wants to say. That is only way to read this.
All that being said this was the toughest book I ever read. Almost a punishment and yet it was insightful.
You need to have a really open mind to read this book or you will throw this away in 30 mins.
Also instead of comparing examples contradicting authors' theory. Try to figure out what the author really wants to say. That is only way to read this.
All that being said this was the toughest book I ever read. Almost a punishment and yet it was insightful.
April 16, 2016
The book is nothing related to history or origin of branding rather it talks about the latest brand (during publishing) and their case studies.
The book is based on Ries’ study and experience on why some brand succeeds while others fail. According to him a brand becomes a hit among its customers if it offers something new or different from existing and flops when it tries to please everybody or offers too many different services under one name. The former approach he called ‘divergence’ and lateral he referred as convergence.
The book has plenty of examples where Ries has tried to prove his point, first half is dedicated to denounce 'convergence' approach which many big companies have gets seduced to easily. It includes example from software giant who offered internet services in television to media corporations who tried hard to push single brand in all three platform of print, electronic and digital. Ries has been a big critique of convergence and display it as the biggest cause for any brand to lose the market share. In fact, he even went to an extent where he dismissed the idea of internet services on mobile or so called smartphone because of small screen size. Ries may be wrong on convergence when it came to technology but remember Apple’s iPhone was an example more of a divergence and before it browsing anything on mobile was considered uncool.
In the latter half he talked about how age old brands have been threatened and toppled from their position by relatively new entrants and what should be the tactics in taking on a strong brand head on. The key to this success he has pointed out to 'divergence' where the new entrant offers something fresh and different to consumers than the existing. Like in his previous books, Ries have repeated here also that the first mover have the biggest advantage and more of a chance to dominate biggest share of market than his competitors.
The book is based on Ries’ study and experience on why some brand succeeds while others fail. According to him a brand becomes a hit among its customers if it offers something new or different from existing and flops when it tries to please everybody or offers too many different services under one name. The former approach he called ‘divergence’ and lateral he referred as convergence.
The book has plenty of examples where Ries has tried to prove his point, first half is dedicated to denounce 'convergence' approach which many big companies have gets seduced to easily. It includes example from software giant who offered internet services in television to media corporations who tried hard to push single brand in all three platform of print, electronic and digital. Ries has been a big critique of convergence and display it as the biggest cause for any brand to lose the market share. In fact, he even went to an extent where he dismissed the idea of internet services on mobile or so called smartphone because of small screen size. Ries may be wrong on convergence when it came to technology but remember Apple’s iPhone was an example more of a divergence and before it browsing anything on mobile was considered uncool.
In the latter half he talked about how age old brands have been threatened and toppled from their position by relatively new entrants and what should be the tactics in taking on a strong brand head on. The key to this success he has pointed out to 'divergence' where the new entrant offers something fresh and different to consumers than the existing. Like in his previous books, Ries have repeated here also that the first mover have the biggest advantage and more of a chance to dominate biggest share of market than his competitors.
March 26, 2008
I am a bit challenged when writing my review for this book, so I will redirect people to what I said about J-pod, which was, in essence, that the existence of another very similar book to this one renders the effects somewhat muted. "Positing, the Battle for Your Mind" is the book of his that really has to be read, especially the 20th anniversary edition with honest comments, both showing the author's wisdom and failures of prediction.
The previous book covered a whole host of insightful and clever points, while this one seemed to mostly stress the main point. Nothing ever converges, despite the millions thrown at any such project adopting aforementioned title. The sol exception, is when things converge for convenience, say 7-11 or the Iphone. Even though the book came out before the magical product, it seemed to reflect his thinking to a T. See, the fact that the Iphone works as a convergence, seems to go strongly against the author's thesis. (I don't want to repeat what he painstakingly and thoroughly laid out in his book...hell...almost a treatise so extensive were his NUMEROUS examples) It is a Hand-held computer, MPS player, phone and camera all rolled into one, but it works solely because it is convenient. The camera is hardl impressive...but you are carrying it because who can be asked to carry a camera on top of a phone....and who wants a phone and an mps. All these things are small, but collectively your pockets are stuffed...which is why it works...despite the fact it would take a pretty poor camera for the Iphone to trump it.
Does this review sound slightly boring...well I think that is a fair reflection of the book. It is good, just VERY REPETITIVE and not as good as early work.
The previous book covered a whole host of insightful and clever points, while this one seemed to mostly stress the main point. Nothing ever converges, despite the millions thrown at any such project adopting aforementioned title. The sol exception, is when things converge for convenience, say 7-11 or the Iphone. Even though the book came out before the magical product, it seemed to reflect his thinking to a T. See, the fact that the Iphone works as a convergence, seems to go strongly against the author's thesis. (I don't want to repeat what he painstakingly and thoroughly laid out in his book...hell...almost a treatise so extensive were his NUMEROUS examples) It is a Hand-held computer, MPS player, phone and camera all rolled into one, but it works solely because it is convenient. The camera is hardl impressive...but you are carrying it because who can be asked to carry a camera on top of a phone....and who wants a phone and an mps. All these things are small, but collectively your pockets are stuffed...which is why it works...despite the fact it would take a pretty poor camera for the Iphone to trump it.
Does this review sound slightly boring...well I think that is a fair reflection of the book. It is good, just VERY REPETITIVE and not as good as early work.
May 31, 2017
The concept and execution of building a brand is not an easy task. This book details a how-to that every business can benefit from. If you want to grow your brand, buy this book, read it, and execute these not-so-easy-to-implement principles. Al Ries will guide you every step of the way.
Rudolf J Waldner
Marketing from the Trenches: Your Guide to Retail Success
The Corporate Jungle: Animal Personalities Colliding with Job Titles
Rudolf J Waldner
Marketing from the Trenches: Your Guide to Retail Success
The Corporate Jungle: Animal Personalities Colliding with Job Titles
June 18, 2009
i don't think this book is accurate anymore. it talks about how when products merge features into one product they fail (tv/vcr, for example). but in the six years since i've read it, the marketplace has changed and started to prove Ries wrong in this area. now we have keyboards on cell phones, along with MP3 players, etc and they're insanely successful. i'd be curious to see an updated edition of this book.
otherwise it has great theory that i've applied in real work situations. unfortunately it went over other people's heads when i explained it, but with the right diagrams and powerpoints the ideas eventually made me look kinda like i know what i'm doing. :)
otherwise it has great theory that i've applied in real work situations. unfortunately it went over other people's heads when i explained it, but with the right diagrams and powerpoints the ideas eventually made me look kinda like i know what i'm doing. :)
August 4, 2014
Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro El origen de las marcas, de Al Ries.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: marketing y ventas, gestionar marcas y posicionamiento.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro El origen de las marcas, Cómo crear marcas que perduren: El origen de las marcas
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: marketing y ventas, gestionar marcas y posicionamiento.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro El origen de las marcas, Cómo crear marcas que perduren: El origen de las marcas
October 27, 2014
O livro “A origem das marcas” peca apenas por ter sido editado já há alguns anos, pelo que muitos dos assuntos abordados já estão desactualizados. De qualquer forma, é possível tirar muitos ensinamentos sobre a criação de uma marca que os autores defendem que seja resultado da criação de uma nova categoria, através de divergência das já existentes.
Leia tudo em: http://blogbuythebook.wordpress.com/2...
Leia tudo em: http://blogbuythebook.wordpress.com/2...
November 28, 2007
Haters of the radio alarm clock, these guys explain why smashing together the good attributes of various products never creates a better one. It's fun to read about the demise of various brands and record their bad decisions. Convincing argument, now if only the non-design-oriented management of every non-Fortune 500 company could grasp this.
April 9, 2012
One of those books that gives you a new perspective on pretty much everything. The authors build a great case over time for the basic premise that building brands actually means building new product categories in which that brand can be the leader. It's written for marketing or PR people, but can give you a different outlook on consumer brands in general as well.
December 17, 2013
The Origin of Brands takes learnings from Darwin's evolution as a theory and establishes Divergence as the main tenet of brand survival than convergence with countless examples of today and from yesteryears....... however as times are changing fast especially in the area of technology, some observations dont hold good any more.......
September 18, 2015
It has a few key points that are helpful and accurate, but there are some serious errors in their assumptions about technology merging tools into one omni-device. The point that people will "always" want their PDA and their phone as separate devices because the interface would be too difficult to use was hilarious in hindsight.
October 2, 2007
wow! loved this book. first marketing book i actually read from start to finish! meighan-- a must read for you!
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