“A brand is a relationship that is based on trust,” he said to me back in 2005 when I was a business reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press.Since then I have quoted him countless times on a wide variety of topics and he always — ALWAYS — provided interesting, unique and invaluable insight.
And when I became publisher of Manitoba Inc. a couple of years ago and needed a branding columnist, I knew exactly who to call.
Not only did “Swys” — I never called him by his given name — write and speak about contemporary topics, he also tapped into retro stories that couldn’t help but catch your eye — the rise and fall of TV dinners, the rise and fall of Consumers Distributing and the stories behind classic marketing taglines, including “It’s the pause that refreshes” (Coca-Cola), “the Breakfast of Champions” (Wheaties) and “Tastes great, less filling!” (Mlller Lite).
Swys died unexpectedly shortly before our fall deadline. He was 61 years old. He had recently filed his column on the high cost of poor business writing, which should be mandatory reading for business people who think they can write well, but can’t.
“Like any professional skill, writing improves with practice. Think before you write. Make your point early. Cut unnecessary words. Avoid jargon. Read your work aloud. Edit with the reader in mind rather than your ego. The first draft is never the final draft,” he wrote.
A prolific writer, he also filed a number of other columns which he suggested we put on our website to keep the content fresh. Find them at manitoba-inc.ca/jeffswystun.
He authored four books, including Why Marketing Works: 7 Time-Tested, Brand-Building Principles, which topped the advertising and marketing categories on Amazon when it was released in 2019. He also ghost-wrote 10 others. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg, he worked in New York and Toronto but returned home a couple of years ago. Known as the “consultant to the consultants,” his clients included Ralph Lauren, Paramount, Deloitte Digital, Facebook and Google.
His best quotes weren’t always in a story, sometimes they were in the form of advice in a text message.
“When you find what’s relevant to an audience, drown them in it,” he wrote to me earlier this year.
Thanks, Swys. We will.
— Geoff Kirbyson Publisher, Manitoba Inc.
