The New Marketing Manifesto

By John Grant

The last issue of Pool reviewed Andy Law's Open Minds, a book about a new way of working and how this was approached at St Luke's, a London advertising agency. John Grant was one of the founding partners of St Luke's although he has recently departed to establish his own consulting business. He has launched himself with this book, The New Marketing Manifesto, that analyses some of the issues that he believes (and so do we at Through the Loop) will be important traits for brands in the 21st century.

The New Marketing Manifesto is structured around twelve "Rules of New Marketing." John Grant's argument is that brands will have to display at least one of these traits in order to prosper. Presumably, this can also apply to established brands, that, despite their existing equity, will have to be regularly updated to remain fresh and relevant in a changing marketing environment. The twelve new rules are as follows:

1. Get up close and personal

2. Tap basic human needs

3. Author innovation

4. Mythologise the new

5. Create tangible differences in the experience

6. Cultivate authenticity

7. Work through consensus

8. Open up to participation

9. Build communities of interest

10. Use strategic creativity

11. Stake a claim to fame

12. Follow a vision and be true to your values

The book is lavishly illustrated with examples of how the rules work in practice and many of these are taken from John Grant's own experience, particularly at St Luke's. It is refreshing to read a book with so many non-US examples although the number of international brands covered means that the majority of examples are easily recognisable. Many of the examples covered are given more coverage in the final section of the book. The provides a number of case studies for brands that are taking advantage of the new marketing, notably: IKEA, Tamagotchi, Football, New Labour's New Deal, Tango, Pizza Express, French Connection, The Spice Girls, St Luke's, British Telecom and Egg (Prudential)

The book is easy to read and will to stimulate the reader to identify which of the new rules may be appropriate to his or her brands and how they can be implemented. The reader may also be challenged to identify traits of the new marketing in other brands. The book does fill a gap on the shelves although, at the current pace of change, one has to ask how long before it will need to be revised and updated. This is a key element of the new marketing as companies and brands have to respond to the accelerating pace of change in many markets.

Review by Martin Payne