The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands, By Al Ries & Laura Ries

My Amazon Review
Darwinian Branding?
Ries and Ries pulled it off…again. While I’ll admit to being a member of the Al Ries fan club, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this volume because I didn’t think the pair could carry the evolutionary analogy—the tree of life—through the whole book. But I was pleasantly surprised. Like other Ries and Ries work, I spend a lot of time nodding my head in silent agreement and muttering, “How can corporate America be so blind?” While they’re not always correct (some of their speculations fall flat in the light of history) and I recognized many of the examples and principles from previous works, The Origin of Brands was a pleasurable read that added to my body of knowledge on the subject of brands and 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 to:

* Divide and conquer
* Exploit divergence
* Use the theories of survival of the firstest and survival of the secondest
* Harness the power of pruning

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.

Review
"Illuminating examples and wry humor combine for a delightful read." -- Harvard Business Review

About the Authors
Al Ries and his daughter and business partner Laura Ries are two of the world's best-known marketing consultants, and their firm, Ries & Ries, works with many Fortune 500 companies.