The top 5 Laws of Marketing as stated by Al Ries and Jack Trout are:
- The Law of Leadership - Better to be first than to be better
- The Law of the Category - If you can't be first, create a new category
- The Law of the Mind - Better to be first in the mind rather than first in the marketplace
- The Law of Perception - Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products
- The Law of Focus - Own a word in the mind of the prospect
With the announcement of the pending acquisition of Novell by Golden Gate Capital, Francisco Partners, and Thoma Bravo, it is time to look at where Novell may be going in the future.
Novell has always been about Netware. The big Red N that appeared on millions of desktops over the years stood for Netware, not Novell.
Novell was the Networking leader, winner of Law #1 when Netware was king.
Novell established the "File and Print" category, winning Law #2
No one, not even Microsoft, was believed capable of unseating Netware as the dominant network operarting system, winner of Law #3
Robust, powerful, and everywhere, Netware was perceived to be the best, winning Law #4
Within Novell, it was always the Netware team that called the shots. Winning Law #5
But that was very far in the past, especially in Internet years. Today, with pending new ownership, Novell has the task of discovering who it is with the Five Laws.
Splitting Up
Splitting SUSE from Novell is one of the announcements that we have heard. They will still be owned by the same organizations, but the teams will now be separated. This is the best news for everyone involved. SUSE has its own battles to fight. The management team that ends up running SUSE will now be able to focus completely on becoming the best Linux flavor it can.
Law #1 says that Linux leadership is owned by Red Hat. Okay, go for Law #2 and create a new Linux category. I have argued for years that "Business-Driven Linux" is wide open as a category without a leader. SUSE Linux can dominate that category.
For the rest of Novell, SUSE Linux has been a mixed blessing. It gave the company a new shot in the arm, but internally it was swapping one task master (Netware) for another (Linux) except Netware generate $1 billion a year and SUSE was something much less.
The rest of Novell was left scrambling to find a purpose in a Linux company. Now, with new leadership, Novell can take the time to have each piece focus on being the best.
For example, Linux and Mac are both growing in popularity. Without being beholden to SUSE, Novell products can pursue supporting platforms used by their customers rather than platforms used by their parent company.
The Law of Focus says that splitting Novell into two separate entities is a very smart move.
In my next blog I will discuss ways Novell san SUSE can use the top five laws of marketing to move forward.
