Do you realize that many public schools celebrate SAINT Patrick’s Day!\u00a0 With “Christmas vacation” turning to “Winter recess” and Easter break becoming “Spring break,” I wonder how long it will take before March 17 becomes “Green Day,” and the season of recycling can begin until its endpoint on April 22 – “Earth Day.”<\/p>\n
A number of years ago, the principals\u00a0of the Diocese in which I worked completed a seminar where\u00a0“Marketing is Education” was the theme. Near the end of the day, it was noted that one of the “marks” of our Catholic schools is the ease of access that a parent has to teachers and administration. A few minutes later, several of the principals pointed out that the role of the teacher and school administrator is much more difficult today than in was in the past.\u00a0 While they were trained in pedagogy and learning strategies, they felt as if they were acting more as counselors to parents, which consumes the time that could be directed to teaching.<\/p>\n
But isn’t that what happens when you provide the parent with an ease of access to teachers and administration – and that was over 15 years ago!\u00a0 The expectations are even more amazing today!\u00a0 Parents won’t think twice about calling teachers or administrators in the evening on their cell phones – if they have access to that number!<\/p>\n
That outcome reminded me of one of the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, a watershed text by Al Ries and Jack Trout, first published in 1994.\u00a0 Law #15 is The Law of Candor: When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive. Who said that teachers are only “called” to teach those that can fit into small desks? Could it be that in finding these types of connections, we will find what our schools of the future will look like?<\/p>\n
Finding negatives is a way for businesses to expand their customer base, create marketing strategies, or position themselves in their customer’s mind. That also leads to Law #7 – The Law of The Ladder: What strategy you use depends on the position you occupy on the ladder. One of the most memorable campaigns for this is Avis. As the #2 car rental company, they let everyone know that “We try harder.”<\/p>\n
These 22 laws provide some interesting food for thought for educators.\u00a0 As in everything marketing-oriented, not everything may be applicable to your school’s situation.\u00a0 However, if you’ve been a frequent visitor to this site, you know that creativity is all about making connections between things that seem “unconnectable.”\u00a0 In most months of the year, there are\u00a0 22 business days, so you can focus on one of these each day, and examine how it can pertain to your school…and isn’t this season of Lent all about self-examination?<\/p>\n
And, interestingly, this year, probably even more than the one 5 years ago when we were all in lockdown due to the pandemic!<\/p>\n
Before listing them, realize that Law #22 is not a cause for despair – it’s a reason to have a viable and vibrant development program…no matter what anyone thinks.<\/p>\n
Title<\/strong>: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Overview and Key Themes The 22 Immutable Laws:<\/strong><\/p>\n If you’d like to check out the book, visit this link<\/a>.\u00a0 While there, you can also check out Jack Trout’s book on “Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind,” and Al and Laura Ries’ “22 Immutable Laws of Branding.”\u00a0 The concepts of Branding and Positioning work with your “Case” statement to create a marketing message specific to your school.\u00a0 Then, to assist in creating a marketing plan for your school, you can check out my text, “Marketing: A 12-Step Plan to Increase Inquiries to Your School by visiting this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2010-2025 (Original Publication Date: 20050314)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you realize that many public schools celebrate SAINT Patrick’s Day!\u00a0 With “Christmas vacation” turning to “Winter recess” and Easter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MM-Purple.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ggCS-AC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7708,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions\/7708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAuthors<\/strong>: Al Ries and Jack Trout<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>A thought-provoking look at marketing strategy in general. Marketing means a lot of things to different people. This book is not going to give you textbook definitions; this is more about principles to bring to bear on your marketing thinking.<\/p>\n\n
\nIt\u2019s better to be first than it is to be better. The basic issue in marketing is creating a category you can be first in. For instance, most people know who flew across the Atlantic first, but not second.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>If you can\u2019t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in. For instance most people don\u2019t know who flew across the Atlantic third, but they know who the first woman to do that was.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace. For example, Altair 8800 was the first personal computer, but Apple became first in the mind (remember Apples for the Students?\u00a0 Fast-forward to today – what do people think “first” when they think “Personal Computer?”\u00a0 How about “Mobile Device?”).<\/li>\n
\nMarketing is not a battle of products; it is a battle of perceptions.<\/li>\n
\nThe most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect\u2019s mind. For instance, “Go Xerox this” or “Can you FedEx that for me?”<\/li>\n
\nTwo companies cannot own the same word in the prospect\u2019s mind.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>What strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder. For example, Avis is 2nd;\u00a0 <\/sup>therefore, “We try harder.”<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race. For instance, Coke v. Pepsi, McDonald’s v. Burger King. Sure, sometimes there are three (like Wendy’s)…but give it a little more time before #3 becomes a “specialty” brand (or becomes #2 when current #2 changes their approach).<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>If you\u2019re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.\u00a0 For instance, Coke was an “old” soft drink, so Pepsi went successfully for “The choice of a new generation,” spurring on “New Coke” (which was eventually replaced by “Coke Classic” which is now back to “Coke.”<\/li>\n
\nOver time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.\u00a0 Therefore, it is NOT a short-term strategy – it is a “medium-term” strategy.<\/li>\n
\nThere is an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand.\u00a0 That is, to deviate from what one does best in order to increase market share and therefore, profitability.<\/li>\n
\nYou have to give up something in order to get something.\u00a0 For instance, Federal Express sacrificed other air freight options for small packages to be delivered overnight, and therefore owned the word \u201covernight.”\u00a0 Other competitors had to develop new words, like “next-day.”<\/li>\n
\nFor every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute. For example, Crest toothpaste fights cavities, but Aquafresh freshens breath AND whitens teeth.<\/li>\n
\nWhen you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results. In a military sense, this is called the line of least expectation. What ever move is made, it will have an effect on all their other components of the system.<\/li>\n
\nUnless you write your competitors\u2019 plans, you can\u2019t predict the future.<\/li>\n
\nSuccess often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure.\u00a0 Beware when you get there.\u00a0 How will you know you’re successful?\u00a0 It depends on your strategic plan.\u00a0 If you don’t have one, failure will come sooner.<\/li>\n
\nFailure is to be expected and accepted.\u00a0 Use it as a learning process.<\/li>\n
\nThe situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press. When companies are successful, they feel they can cut back on their marketing.\u00a0 Then when things start a downward trend, they feel they have to market more – but it’s usually the first area where expenses are cut.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>Successful programs are not built on fads; they\u2019re built on trends. What does\u00a0your year to year enrollment trend look like?\u00a0 What does your year to year development dollars raised total look like?\u00a0\u00a0What does your retention ratio trend look like?\u00a0 What does your successful tuition capture percentage trend\u00a0look like?<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>Without adequate funding, an idea won\u2019t get off the ground.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n