Al Ries

Alfred Paul Ries (November 14, 1926 – October 7, 2022) was an American marketing professional and author. He was the cofounder and chairman of the Atlanta-based consulting firm Ries & Ries with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries. Along with Jack Trout, Ries is credited with resurrecting the idea of "positioning" in the field of marketing.^[2]

Al Ries
Born	Alfred Paul Ries (1926-11-14)November 14, 1926 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Died	October 7, 2022(2022-10-07) (aged 95) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Education	DePauw University (1950)[1]
Years active	1950–2022
Website	www.ries.com

Life and career

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1926, Ries graduated from DePauw University as a mathematics major in 1950.^[3][4][1] He accepted a position with the advertising department of General Electric^[5] before founding his own advertising agency in New York City, Ries Cappiello Colwell, in 1961.^[6][7] Jack Trout joined the agency in 1967.^[7] Ries and Trout wrote a three-part series of articles for Advertising Age in 1972.^[8] The themes discussed in that series of articles inspired their later book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, published in 1981.^[7] Ries wrote an article for AdWeek that centered around the historical failure of converged devices, Why the iPhone will fail, published in 2007.^[9]

The American Marketing Association, NY Chapter announced Ries as one of the 2016 inductees to the Marketing Hall of Fame.^[10]

Ries died in Atlanta, Georgia on October 7, 2022, at the age of 95.^[3][11]

Books

• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Warner Books. 1981. ISBN 9780446308007. OCLC 881659550.
• Ries, Al; Trout, Jack (1986). Marketing Warfare. McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 9780070527300.
• Ries, Al; Trout, Jack (1990). Bottom-up Marketing. Plume. ISBN 9780452264182.
• Ries, Al; Trout, Jack (1991). Find A Horse to Ride: The Key to Marketing Yourself. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070527355.
• Ries, Al; Trout, Jack (1994). The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing. HarperBusiness. ISBN 9780887306662.
• Ries, Al; Ries, Laura (2000). 11 Immutable Laws of Branding on the Net. HarperCollinsBusiness. ISBN 9780002572224. OCLC 43674591.
• Ries, Al (2005). Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends On It. Collins Business Essentials. ISBN 9780060799908. OCLC 977381847.
• Ries, Al; Ries, Laura (2012). The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. HarperBusiness. ISBN 9780060007737. OCLC 934866574.
• Ries, Al; Ries, Laura (2012). The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands. HarperCollins books. ISBN 9780060570156.