The 22 Non Mutable Laws of Selling Carrots: # 7 The Ladder

The law is about AVIS and his effort to compite Hertz.
Look how Father Bunny was taking care of out Holden (an Avis car)

The Law of the Ladder tells us that in most market categories (or markets) , there is actually more than one available slot in the mind of the customer and besides that an Hierarchy of Categories that must be observed.

Certainly this law is clearer when you refer to big categories and it dilutes when you deep down the sub categories and niches.

Once again consumer perception and his ability to retain information (sometime his will to retain it) must be observed. Research indicates that humans –unlike bunnies- can only retain three (maximum seven) concepts at the same time.

How many carrot juice brands can you mention?

More important is that –according to them- one must observe his position in the ladder and design a strategy according to this position.

A practical exercise (but a bit complex): Luxury sedans (cars).

Mercedes, BMW, audi (70%) in Europe. No French car maker in the row (Renault, Peugeot, Citröen).

No French car maker has succeeded in placing one of their models in the premium segment. Poor design, poor engineering, lack of tradition? May be.

But sometimes they tried to approach the problem as if they were on top of the ladder and tried to compete directly with German brands.