Al Ries (pronounced Reese), marketing strategist and thinker who, along with partner Jack Trout, created “positioning,” passed away on Oct. 7 2022 at his home in Atlanta. He was 95 years old.
His work on positioning was all about owning a bit of the consumer’s mind. For the first time, the business world was told that creative advertising wasn’t enough persuasion; it needed smart positioning. Volvo owns “safety,” Crest “cavities” Sensodyne got ‘Sensitivity’, FedEx brings to mind “overnight,”. It is all about strength of association and cutting past the clutter of advertising messages.
In his own words, the task of positioning for brand builders is to “find an open hole in the mind and become the first brand to fill it.”
Trout & Ries went on to run an Ad agency, which mutated into a strategic consultancy. It successfully positioned the Trump Plaza Hotel as “Atlantic City’s centrepiece” and Burger King as the place to get “broiled, not fried” hamburgers.
The quality of focus on positioning was evident in the brief they handled for Sabena, the Belgian national carrier. In a contra-brief action, they positioned the country instead of the airline. Focused on five Belgian cities (Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Liège and Tournai) that had each received three stars from the Michelin Guide, whereas only one Dutch city, Amsterdam, had the same.
The campaign’s slogan was sheer genius: “In beautiful Belgium, there are five Amsterdams.” They shaped a prized selection of brands, including Paramount Pictures, AT&T, KPMG, Sotheby’s and IBM. Al Ries was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame in 2016.
Alfred Paul Ries was born on Nov. 14, 1926, in Indianapolis. He graduated in 1950 from DePauw University in Indiana, where he majored in mathematics and began his advertising career with