The name is pronounced "Reese." It's a german word and in German diphthong, the second vowel is pronounced, not the first.

It?s the difference between being a follower and a leader. When you serve a market that already exists, you are automatically a follower because some other company created that market. When you create a new market, you are automatically the leader. (Intel in microprocessors. Red Bull in energy drinks. Starbucks in high-end coffee shops.) It?s an enormous advantage to start off as the leader because it is very difficult for someone else to take your leadership away from you. When you start off as a follower, it is extremely difficult to ever become the leader.

As a market matures, it tends to fragment into two different markets, usually at opposite ends of the scale. In razors, expensive multi-blade razors like Mach 3 and Fusion are big sellers as are cheap disposables like Bic. There just isn?t much action in the middle of the market. Red wine is a big seller as is white wine, but rose wine is nowhere. Regular Coke is a big seller as is Diet Coke, but the company?s mid-calorie brand, C2, was a disaster. Many industries are in trouble today, including the automotive industry, the airline industry and the supermarket industry because companies in these industries are focused on the mushy middle instead of the high and low ends of the markets.

1. You need an idea to start with. You need a unique position that you can use to try to get into a prospect's mind. You might, for example, pick out a segment of the market that you are the leader in and then position yourself as the leader in that category.

2. If you are not the leader in any category, you can try to establish yourself as the "alternative," or the No. 2 brand in the category. As Pepsi-Cola is to Coca-Cola. How do you do that? You ask yourself "what is the leader's position?" and then you become the opposite. Coca-Cola is "the real thing." It's the original cola, as a result of its introduction more than a hundred years ago. So Pepsi became the opposite with its strategy to go after teenagers. "The Pepsi Generation."

3. You need a spokesperson. The best spokesperson is almost always the chief executive. We recommend that the chief executive of any major corporation spend at least half of more of his or her time on outside public relations activities.

Many advertising agencies believe that since most products are similar, it's the advertising that needs to be different. That's why they want to launch new brands with advertising and then use PR to make the advertising famous.

In our opinion, products might be similar, but their perceptions are not. Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola might taste pretty much the same, but the brands occupy different positions in the prospect's mind. The best advertising works against ideas and concepts that already exist in the mind. (This is the core of our positioning concept.)

Since advertising lacks credibility, a company needs PR first to establish the brand's credibility and then advertising second to reinforce and reaffirm that credibility.