- EXPANSION - The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.
- CONTRACTION - A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.
- PUBLICITY - The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising.
- ADVERTISING - Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy.
- THE WORD - A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.
- CREDENTIALS - The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity
- QUALITY - Quality is important, but brands are not built on quality alone.
- CATEGORY - A leading brand should promote the cateogry, not the brand.
- NAME - In the long run a brand is nothing more than a name.
- EXTENSIONS - The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put its name on everything.
- FELLOWSHIP - In order to build the category, a brand should welcome other brands.
- THE GENERIC - One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.
- THE COMPANY - Brands are brands. Companies are companies. There is a difference.
- SUB-BRANDS - What branding builds, subbranding can destroy.
- SIBLINGS - There is a time and a place to launch a second brand.
- SHAPE - A brand's logotype should be designed to fit the eyes. Both eyes.
- COLOUR - A brand should use a color that is the opposite of its major competitor's.
- BORDERS - There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.
- CONSISTENCY - A brand is not built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years.
- CHANGE - Brands can be changed, but only infrequently and only very carefully.
- MORTALITY - No brand will live forever. Euthanasia is often the best solution.
- SINGULARITY - The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding are by Al Reis.