Laura Ries Speaker Biography

Positioning Pioneer, Branding Guru, Marketing Expert, and Bestselling Author of The Strategic Enemy

Marketing speaker Laura Ries is a globally recognized Positioning Pioneer and Branding Guru, celebrated for transforming complex marketing principles into impactful, real-world strategies. As the co-founder of Ries & Ries, she has spent decades helping companies define their brands, dominate their categories, and future-proof their identities. With a commanding presence on stage, Laura Ries is not only a top marketing keynote speaker—she’s a dynamic force in brand thinking. Her talks are rich in substance yet remarkably clear, offering strategic insight while remaining accessible to audiences at every level. Because she draws from decades of hands-on consulting experience, her advice is grounded, timely, and actionable. While many speakers entertain, Laura equips. In a marketplace flooded with noise, her approach to brand positioning and focus has proven indispensable. Executives, entrepreneurs, and marketers worldwide seek her out for guidance that goes beyond inspiration—delivering practical branding strategies with measurable outcomes.

The Strategic Enemy

Laura’s latest book, The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For, introduces a bold new framework: brands that succeed do so by clearly defining what they stand against. This positioning-through-opposition concept reflects her innovative thinking. Through these influential works, Laura Ries continues to redefine what it means to build a brand that resonates deeply. Philip Kotler, known as The Father of Modern Marketing, says “The Strategic Enemy is different and distinctive. Laura has taken her father Al Ries’ positioning concept to a new level. She recommends that your brand needs to position itself as a clear alternative to an “enemy” brand or category in the mind. The book provides many fascinating company examples and insightful analysis of each case.” And, Martin Lindstrom, New York Times best-selling author of Small Data and Buyology, calls The Strategic Enemy “a must-read. A sharp, modern guide to timeless positioning that actually works.”

Strategic Insights

World-renowned marketing speaker Laura Ries brings a level of strategic clarity few can match. Her keynotes go beyond theory, helping organizations understand how to simplify, sharpen, and scale their brand identities. She frequently emphasizes that the key to market leadership lies in focus, not expansion. Moreover, Laura shows how brand extensions, while tempting, often dilute identity and confuse consumers. This distinction between strategic branding and tactical marketing forms the core of her approach. Because she draws on real business case studies, her sessions feel immediate and relevant—not abstract. Laura Ries also explains how customer psychology affects buying behavior, giving companies a framework for anticipating market shifts. In doing so, she helps businesses stay agile without compromising brand integrity. As a Positioning Pioneer and Branding Guru, she has consistently led organizations away from short-term tactics and toward lasting strategic differentiation. Her clarity of message makes even the most seasoned professionals see branding in a new light.

Author and Thought Leader

Laura Ries is not only a keynote speaker—she’s one of branding’s most influential thought leaders. Alongside her father, marketing legend Al Ries, she co-authored the enduring classics The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. These books have shaped how generations of marketers think about brand creation and competitive positioning. She also co-wrote The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, a provocative exploration of how credibility, not media spend, builds trust. On her own, Laura authored Visual Hammer and Battlecry, both of which emphasize the power of visual messaging and emotional impact in branding.

Ries & Ries

Laura Ries’s impact on global branding is most evident in her work with the consulting firm Ries & Ries. The firm has advised clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies, providing brand strategy rooted in the foundational principles of positioning. Because Laura remains active in consulting, her keynotes are infused with fresh, real-time market insights and compelling success stories. This relevance makes her one of the most respected branding consultants and marketing speakers on the global circuit. She understands the cultural nuance required for brands operating across borders, and she tailors her strategies accordingly. Whether guiding a technology company through a rebrand or helping a legacy brand reclaim its identity, Laura delivers clarity in an increasingly complex marketing landscape. Unlike theorists who stay in the classroom, she works in the trenches of real business. That practical expertise is exactly what makes Laura Ries an enduring Positioning Pioneer and Branding Guru for today’s fast-evolving marketplace.

The Power of Branding in a Noisy World

Every keynote branding speaker Laura Ries delivers drives home a singular, essential message: clarity cuts through noise. In an age where consumers are overwhelmed by options, her advice is both timely and timeless. Strong brands aren’t built on broad messages—they’re built on sharp ideas repeated with consistency. Laura helps audiences understand that effective branding is not about saying more, but about saying one powerful thing well. She also champions the role of PR over advertising in building initial brand credibility. By emphasizing third-party validation and earned media, she shows why trust—not volume—is the new currency. Through a mix of storytelling, strategy, and visuals, Laura energizes audiences while giving them tools they can implement immediately. For companies ready to break out of the clutter and own a market position, Laura Ries provides both the roadmap and the rallying cry. Her keynote speeches are more than lectures—they’re blueprints for brand leadership in a distracted world.

PBooks

Laura Ries Speaking Topics

The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For

The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For dives into the powerful branding principle that the most successful companies don’t just stand for something—they stand against something. In this dynamic keynote, branding expert and positioning pioneer Laura Ries reveals how identifying a clear strategic enemy can sharpen your message, galvanize your team, and captivate your audience. Drawing from real-world case studies and decades of experience, she shows how brands that take a stand—against complexity, waste, conformity, or convention—create stronger emotional connections and carve out dominant positions in the market. Audiences will walk away with a bold new framework to energize their brand and build lasting differentiation in a noisy world.

The Visual Hammer

Laura Ries is a leading branding strategist for prominent media outlets, a sought-after speaker, a popular television personality, and a best-selling author. She recently released Visual Hammer, which discuss how the critical missing piece in most marketing programs is a powerful visual that can drive a brand into the mind. Consumers are blasted with words at an astounding rate. Between traditional media and new social media, the amount of words, tweets and status updates is overwhelming. Ries believes that in a world of words, a visual hammer is the best, most effective way to get inside a consumer’s mind, yet 99% of all marketing programs lack one. She says one reason is that management is totally focused on words, when they need to think more about visuals. A visual hammer is a symbol that stands for a brand name. It subconsciously communicates the emotional power of a brand while driving a verbal idea into the mind. In this presentation, she discusses effective visual hammers and explains how an audience can capitalize on this concept and create visual hammers of their own.

The Immutable Laws of Marketing and Branding

Based on her decades of experience, Laura Ries discusses the immutable laws of marketing and branding in a presentation tailored to her audience and its industry. She also discusses how the internet, including social media, plays a role in today’s marketing and how organizations can effectively use these tools to their advantage.

Narrow Your Focus

Al and Laura Ries make sure that their seminars are visually focused. They use up to 300 slides per hour, which adds up to 1,800 slides in an all-day presentation, which totals 900% more information imparted by the typical speaker. Their tailored, carefully edited slide list of images and key ideas makes watching their presentation feel like watching a movie. And they deliver suspense, comedy, intrigue and education, completely revolutionizing the traditional marketing seminar. No two speeches are exactly alike. Using examples from a wide variety of industries around the world, Al and Laura Ries discuss and illustrate the laws and principles of positioning, marketing and branding, all of which have made their own business bolder and better. Starbucks narrowed its focus to high-end coffee and became the world’s largest coffee chain. Dell Computer narrowed its focus to personal computers “sold direct” and became the world’s largest PC manufacturer. BMW narrowed its focus to “driving” and became the largest-selling European luxury car in the U.S. Focus is the key to successful brand building in today's ultra-competitive marketplace, and Al and Laura Ries give presentations that embrace and apply the right focus for clients and audiences.

Laura Ries Books

The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For

Purchase Book

Battlecry: Winning the battle for the mind with a slogan that kills.

Purchase Book

The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Purchase Book

Visual Hammer: Nail your brand into the mind with the emotional power of a visual

Purchase Book

Laura Ries Videos

Laura Ries Articles

Laura Ries Speaker Testimonials

The Strategic Enemy is different and distinctive. Laura has taken her father Al Ries’ positioning concept to a new level. She recommends that your brand needs to position itself as a clear alternative to an “enemy” brand or category in the mind. The book provides many fascinating company examples and insightful analysis of each case.

- Philip Kotler | Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management

The Strategic Enemy is a must-read. A sharp, modern guide to timeless positioning that actually works.

- Martin Lindstrom, New York Times Best-Selling Author | Small Data and Buyology

It’s no longer enough to simply stand for something. By standing against something you create a compelling, vivacious brand that people can root for. The Strategic Enemy unpacks some of the best examples in modern marketing and shows why the most powerful position is to push against another position.

- Andy Pearson, VP of Creative | Liquid Death

The Strategic Enemy is a remarkable playbook for anyone brave enough to define their brand by what they stand against. Laura Ries shows that choosing an enemy isn’t about negativity — it’s about clarity, courage, and standing for something that matters. If you want your brand to stand out, start here.

- Guy Kawasaki, Host & Chief Evangelist | Remarkable People & Canva