"Dumbass" Branding?

On his FusionBrand blog, Nick Wreden writes that Al and Laura Ries's book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding has a "dumb branding title", because the laws of branding are not immutable.

Well, I suppose he's right, strictly speaking. It's definitely a bold claim to describe 22 laws and pronounce them immutable.

What I think Nick neglects to recognize or acknowledge, however, is the Rieses' point that new generations of marketers tend to repeat the mistakes of the past. As I've mentioned, much of what product managers do is recommend marketing strategies that contradict natural instincts. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the community of marketing experts needs to firmly remind the novices that it's not "different this time".

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