Ad Age

 
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What good are the words to a song without the music?
By Al Ries for Ad Age.com: 2/2010

In a song, what’s more important the words or the music? I think most people would agree that the music is more important. Advertising need visuals in the same way that lyrics need music if you want to drive your words into the minds of your prospects. Without a visual hammer, an advertising campaign is almost certain to fail.

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The principles of marketing can be summarized in one word: FOCVS
By Al Ries for Ad Age.com: 1/2010

A number of people have asked us to summarize our marketing principles in a simple, easy-to-remember way. Good thought. Having written (or co-written) 11 books on the subject, I can see how our basic principles can get buried in a blizzard of examples and case histories. What’s the No.1 principle of marketing, at least as far as we’re concerned? It’s the principle of focus. You narrow the focus in order to own a word in the mind of the consumer. Without a focus, it’s very difficult to build a strong brand. And without a strong brand, any company’s future is in doubt. While “focus” should be the key ingredient in any marketing campaign, it’s not the whole story. So we developed an acronym called “FOCVS” which does sum up our key thoughts.

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