^{November/December 2000}

Book Review:
The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding

By Jeffrey W. Rasco, CMP 

It really is a jungle out there. With an estimated 550 billion pages of content on the Internet and 375 million users seeking information, it’s easy to get lost. In their new book, The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding, father-daughter authors Al and Laura Ries, contend that the future belongs to those who do the best job of building their brands online.

1. The law of either/or
The first law establishes the foundation of the branding decision and is probably the most important law for show producers to consider. Is the Web presence to be a business or a medium? It can’t be both, according to the authors. The Internet’s greatest successes — Yahoo!, America Online, eBay and Amazon. com — were created as new businesses, not as re-creations of brick-and-mortar companies simply using the Net as a medium.

The advantage of organizing Web efforts as a separate business, say the authors, is that often what works in the real world doesn’t translate to the online world. Separating the business models prevents too much bleed-over from brick-and-mortar notions about generatingrevenue, marketing and measuring success. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with using the Internet as a marketing medium for an event, according to the Rieses. The Internet has created enormous efficiencies with online exhibitor and attendee registration, exhibit selection and management, information sharing and marketing opportunities, but these act to build on the brick-and-mortar brand rather than establish a new Internet business. 

Laura Ries warns that show producers attempting to build up their existing brand as an Internet brand may be disappointed. “Trade shows are about interpersonal connections. Meeting and schmoozing are impossible on the Net, and trying to take a successful show and move it to the Net won’t work,” she says. “An online trade show doesn’t seem interesting to me. I want to walk the aisles, to see and be seen. Don’t copy what a trade show is — rather, find new ways to address the business exchange. Offer something the physical show can’t.”

2. The law of interactivity
“The Internet is the only mass-communications medium that allows interactivity,” the authors say. “The secret to branding on the Internet is to present your brand in such a way that your customers and prospects can interact with your message.” Sites that simply provide information, much as other mediums do, will be lost online.

Interactivity isn’t simply selecting from a list of choices, it’s the ability to accept instructions and provide information in customized fashion, including additional information based on a query. It also means giving the user the ability to add to the site. When requesting information about a book on Amazon.com, the site provides not only a description, but also reviews of the book, lists of related books, other books by the same author and comments from other readers. If the book is purchased, Amazon.com records the purchase and in future searches provides a customized list of other books the user might enjoy. After finishing the book, users are also encouraged to add their own comments to those of other readers, building on the general knowledge base.

3. The law of the common name
A show manager introducing an existing show to the Internet doesn’t have to think much about when naming a site. Adding “dot-com” to the end, or “cyber” to the beginning has been generally accepted. According to the first law, this is using the Internet as a medium. To establish a new Internet business, reinvent the commerce model and build a new brand, the old names don’t work.

According to the Rieses, “the most important marketing decision you can make is what to name the product.” Common names, such as Art.com, Furniture.com or Drugs. com, tell something of what’s there, but are lost in the density of the Web. 

4. The law of the proper name
“The power of the proper name, as opposed to a common name, for an Internet brand, has been clearly demonstrated,” say the authors. “The big early winners — AOL, Amazon. com, eBay, Priceline.com, Yahoo! — have all been proper names rather than common names.” To help establish brands, the authors suggest names that are short, simple, unique, suggestive of the category, alliterative, speakable, shocking and personalized.

5. The law of singularity
There’s no second place on the Internet. While the physical marketplace may be able to sustain two similar shows, for example, the Internet is more competitive. If, for example, Amazon.com works fine when ordering books, why switch to another site? To be successful, show managers must not only position sites for the industry served, but also create a new service or niche in which they can be first. 

6. The law of advertising
Web sites, much like exhibitions, don’t appear before customers the way Coca-Cola does in a supermarket. Instead, Web sites, like shows, require customers to take an action to see the product. Thus, customers must constantly be made aware of the advantage of going to all that effort. If the site is first of its kind, chances are it can garner initial publicity just for that. Otherwise, organizers must find things about the site that will create news. 

7. The law of globalism
“The long-term winners on the Internet will be those brands that can transcend borders,” say the Rieses. “Amazon.com means books in virtually every country of the world. But Books.commeans books only in the 5 percent of the world where English is the native language.”

8. The law of time
Being first in the marketplace won’t benefit a brand unless it uses the timing advantage to be first in the customer’s mind. Companies that take too much time to perfect the details will lose any advantage they’ve gained by being first. 

9. The law of vanity
Being the biggest and baddest in the real world means nothing on the Net. Laura Ries says this applies especially to large shows or show management companies. “Too many companies think they can make a play because of who they are. They confuse the market, especially if they jump in with the same name. Success comes from reinventing and launching a second brand. Take a lesson from Toyota and their Lexus brand or the Gap’s Old Navy.”

10. The law of divergence
Technology convergence is a big buzz word, but in reality few technologies successfully converge, they diverge. An Internet brand is separate from a trade show brand, even if the two are closely linked because attendees want different things than Web users. Shows can’t simply converge into online marketplaces, but show producers can make great strides with new brands. 

11. The law of transformation
This final law is overriding. The Internet is changing everything, say the authors. It has the potential to reduce the number of physical shows by providing alternatives, while increasing the power and potential of the remaining events. The Net is already transforming traditional methods of disseminating information. Paper directories, brochures, catalogs and direct mail may be all but eliminated in time. 
Immutable laws? Even the authors say perhaps no, but they follow their own lead with the provocative title and excellent advice for an industry attempting to find itself in the Internet age.

Jeffrey W. Rasco, CMP is senior consultant on the events industry for AppliedTheory Austin. He can be reached at jrasco@appliedtheory.com .