The New Marketing Manifesto: The 12 Rules for Building Successful Brands in the 21st Century

Citation

Palmer, A. (2002), "The New Marketing Manifesto: The 12 Rules for Building Successful Brands in the 21st Century", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 1/2, pp. 272-273. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm.2002.36.1_2.272.1

“New, improved” are words that have frequently been used to revive the fortunes of a tired product. Now it is marketing that has been accused of being tired, so why not apply this tried and tested method to marketing itself? Here we have a bold vision of a new way of doing marketing, elucidated by John Grant, who has plenty of practical experience of challenging assumptions about marketing.

The word “new” is used quite liberally throughout the book, so we are presented with a brave new world in which “new” Britain is ruled by “new” labour, inhabited by “new” man, who works in the “new” economy and learns about the world through “new” media. This heady mix provides the foundations for “new” marketing.

One of the central arguments of this book is that brands have moved on beyond being mere trade marks or aspirational objects. They have now become popular ideas by which people live, putting them on a par with traditions that guide our actions. Brands must connect with consumers’ everyday lives, so it is the marketer’s task to “get up close and personal” with consumers, to “tap basic human needs” and to “cultivate authenticity”. Marketers need to get off their pedestals and connect with the real world that their target markets inhabit.

Like any good ad man, the complexities of “new” marketing are reduced by the author to a number of key features, in this case 12 simple rules. There is nothing revolutionary in these rules and most would appear to be sound common sense; for example, rules exhort marketers to “create tangible differences in the experience” and “work through consensus”. The author himself admits that there is nothing revolutionary here. The great value of this book is to give a focus to some basic ideas of which many marketers have lost sight, as they become more removed from the customers they seek to serve.

Perhaps the greatest strength of this book lies in its examples and case studies. The author has an enviable media background and brings to the book experience of working with such brands as IKEA, Clark’s Shoes and Tango. The book is written authoritatively and in a very clear style, which avoids unnecessary jargon. The 12 rules are put to the test at the end of the book in a series of case studies of varying depth. These are probably not a really comprehensive test of new marketing, for they tend to concentrate on fast moving and fashionable products such as The Spice Girls, The Tamagochi and French Connection. There is relatively little reference throughout the book to the application of “new” marketing ideas to “old” economy products. Would the new rules work as effectively for consumers of products such as gas and electricity, who are never likely to become excited by the traditions of a brand or the desire of the supplier to “get up close and personal”?

Like any politician who launches a manifesto, this manifesto is sure to attract critics. It is very UK in its orientation and some of the suggested innovations in communication methods, such as being relatively blunt and honest, may be something quite familiar to US readers. Many of the “new” world phenomena, which help to define new marketing, are already losing their sparkle and leaving observers wondering whether there was really anything new. As an example, the author is excited by the prospects of new media and applauds Procter & Gamble’s decision to direct 80 percent of its promotion budget to new media. But old media have a habit of fighting back hard, as witnessed by the huge amount of advertising by the new media owners themselves in traditional newspapers and television channels. It is now recognised that the “new” economy is very dependent upon the “old” economy, and it might be reasonable to expect that many of the rules of old marketing will be around for some time. It would be interesting to revisit the book in ten years’ time to see how many of the highly applauded cases are still successful according to the 12 rules of new marketing. In fact, the rules themselves can be usefully applied to show where companies fail and the author provides a very interesting analysis for the failings of The Spice Girls as a brand – they broke one of the 12 rules by not following their vision and being true to their values.

Although this book is based mainly on discussion of communication issues, it would be a very good read for anybody whose job is remotely connected with marketing. Its clear and focused presentation of issues should act as a “wake up” call to those who have become complacent. While the book is relatively light on underlying theories of marketing, it is very well served by the richness of its examples and the experience of its author.