The 22 immutable laws of branding

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… to branding the best route for a startup is a master branding strategy. When I started EarthLink's mobile business I actually met with Al and Laura Ries the authors of "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding". Their advice. Call it EarthLink Wireless. I have been involved with over 500 startups over the years. I have never seen a sub-branding strategy work for a technology startup. What prompted me to write the article was one of the companies that I am working with (Flux Media) is changing their company name to their product name (Centrafuse) because the use of the two different brands was creating confusion to their potential partners. YC companies Omnisio, Reddit, Xobni, Scribd, Loopt, Dropbox, Tipjoy, and Justin.tv to name a few all use a master brand strategy. My guess is that nearly all of them do. Perhaps we should ask HN.

…pretty cliche to quote a book in response to an article, but this article was pretty light on details and heavy on opinion. A book I highly recommend to entrepreneurs is the 22 immutable laws of branding. He cites a lot of statistics, and explains a lot of phenomenon that I have observed over the years. Perhaps it just fits my biases but it is the best explanation of branding I've ever read. Anyway, specifically in that book he principally discusses highly specific branded products versus this "master brand" idea. The problem with master branding strategies is that people make up their mind about a product based on the brand, and they don't change that if it's for a new product. A for instance is the tradition Chevy / Ford / Dodge debate. Most people seem to be drawn to one of these brand, and they generally don't switch between them. So …

You are not trying to pick a name. You are trying to build a brand. The canonical text on the subject is The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. The name, logo type, mascot, tag line etc should all be coherent and consistent. Here's Steve Yegge on branding: http://blip.tv/file/319044/

the 7 habits? too many pages, not enough value. here are some that i found valuable: maximum achievement, the 13 strategies of war, the 22 immutable laws of branding, founders at work, how to get rich (felix), and a speed reading book/class. please add yours here too.