Tim Manners of Westport has released his first full book, “Relevance,” which he says should be the no. 1 thing on marketers”™ minds, especially in such a bruising economic climate.
Manners is the president of David X. Manners Company, a communications company; editor of a trends and insights report called Cool News of the Day, a print magazine about marketing called The Hub, and a news, headlines and trends page called Extra Texture, all based in Westport.
Cool News of the Day predates the term blog, which it now is, and has an early fan in the marketing guru Seth Godin, also a Fairfield resident and friend of Manners.
“In this area, Fairfield County, there”™s tons of marketing and PR businesses,” said Manners. “The business of marketing is supposed to be the business of ideas.”
According to Manners, his book is an outgrowth of tracking trends and interviews with marketing people that helped him to develop ideas about marketing and approach.
“Relevance is such a big word and big idea, but at the same time any brand you can name has either flirted with, or succumbed to, irrelevance,” said Manners. “If you think about Lehman Brothers, for most of those 150 years, it was a high-end boutique with highly personalized service and well regarded. Though they, with many issues at work, issued subprime mortgages. How does that happen? Uncharitably, you could say greed and, charitably, you could say pressures to grow.”
According to Manners, you can see similar trends happening to brands that lose their way in other ways, sighting Starbucks as an example.
“What I”™ve learned in writing this book is the difference between relevant and irrelevant brands is the relevant ones don”™t lose sight of what made them great to begin with,” said Manners. “In my many conversations with marketing people, the word relevance came up over and over again. It really is that prevalent. Many people believe that it”™s the ultimate. Your brand is relevant or you”™re lost, you”™re nowhere.”
Manners also came to the conclusion that most of what happens in marketing is not relevant.
“When I mention this to these marketing people, they laugh because they say it”™s so true,” said Manners. “I thought it was interesting enough to dig into that and hang this entire book on this single word.”
Manners looked at the book as a case study in problem solving.
“The shortest chapter is the one on the outcome,” said Manners. “And that”™s usually how it goes; the answers are simpler than what you have to do to get to them.”
Manners said many companies find themselves falling victim to the epidemic of irrelevance, which can bring once-powerful brands to their knees.
He finds that many companies”™ strategies focus on demographics, fashion-forward images and media-focused communications. He says what is missing and will allow companies to prosper even now is what he calls the essence of marketing, which is simply finding ways to help people solve problems and live happier lives.
The book is laced with case-study examples of more than 80 brands, most recognizable names, as well as insights provided via interviews with 50 top marketing executives.
“I”™m a nonlinear guy,” said Manners. “You can pop in at any given point and take something away. I wanted it to be fun to read, not a chore. I think the Web has changed the way people read and I think the book is definitely a reflection of that.”
Manners released books in the past comprised of collections of his essays in Cool News of the Day and his other marketing journalistic pursuits, though this is his first intended book.
The book is currently on sale with Portfolio a member of the Penguin Group publishers and Manners is now taking on the task of marketing the marketing book.
He lives in Westport with his wife, Beth, and two children, Holly and Spencer.
