Al Ries

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Al Ries is a marketing legend. He is the co-founder of the Atlanta-based Ries & Ries consulting firm with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries. He is the bestselling author of 10 books on marketing and travels the world on consulting assigments and speaking tours.

Al Ries is a father of Positioning and co-author of the seminal book on the subject Positioning: The battle for your mind which was recently celebrated with a 20th Anniversary hardcover edition with updates and comments from the authors.

After graduating from DePauw University, Al worked in 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, Al co-authored the now infamous three-part series of articles declaring the arrival of the Positioning era in Advertising Age magazine. The concept of positioning revolutionized how people viewed advertising and marketing. Marketing was traditionally thought of as communications, but positioning said that successful brands are those that find an open hole in the mind and then become the first to fill the hole with their brand name. Examples: Kleenex in tissue. Hertz in rent-a-cars. Red Bull in energy drinks.

In 1994, Al started Ries & Ries with his daughter Laura a recent graduate of Northwestern University and TBWA advertising account executive.

Al’s book, The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, generated enormous interest in the marketing community. The book made both the Business Week and The Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. In addition to being reviewed by these publications, it was also reviewed by USA Today, Harvard Business Review, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times and many other publications. The books debunks the myth that advertising is needed to build brands. Instead it says that brands need the credibility of PR to establish their position in the mind of the consumer. And that advertising while not dead, is crucial for the maintenance of brands. Ad dollars should therefore be spent reinforcing the word the brand owns in the mind.

In 2005, Advertising Age magazine choose the 75 most important ad moments of the last 75 years celebrating the publication’s 75th anniversary. The emergence of positioning came in at number #56.

Ad Age commented on how the concept remains just as relevant in today’s environment, “The positioning era doesn’t end. What became a part of the marketing lexicon in the early ‘70’s holds its own in the textbooks of today.”

[edit] Bibliography

Al Ries
- Focus (1996)

Al Ries with Laura Ries
- 22 Immutable Laws of Branding (1998) (2002)
- 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding (2000)
- The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR (2002)
- The Origin of Brands (2004)

Al Ries with Jack Trout
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (1980) (2000)
- Marketing Warfare (1985)(2005)
- Bottom-up Marketing (1988)
- Horse Sense (1991)
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (1993)