Newt Gingrich's campaign for the GOP presidential nomination seems undeterred by his campaign to sell his books. He and wife Calista often drive their handlers crazy by spending time signing books instead of stumping for votes. Or, are those the same things?

Doesn’t it make perfect sense that 2011 holiday book sales are strong…despite the growing popularity of electronic reading; or, perhaps, because of it?  Or, despite the loss of bankrupt Borders’s 650 stores from the retail mix?

Books — real books — are tangible.  All the better to put under the Christmas tree or hand to someone special as a gift.

And, to show that you care. Really care.

Retailers and publishers report, by the way, that sales of non-fiction titles are the strongest sector in their industry.  In addition, big, expensive books seem to be a niche unaffected by the recession or worries about online competition.

This news comes at a time when I’ve been thinking (again) about the virtues of the tangible…particularly in marketing and business development communications.  It made me wonder about the many, varied ways we value the ability to touch, hear, smell and see a person, place or thing — ways such as…

• The Demingesque notion of genchi genbutsu, which helped foster the rise and hegemony of Japanese and other Asian manufacturers.  It means to go and see.
• Gemba, meaning “the actual place” where value is added, truth is found, problems arise and so forth.  In other words, the factory floor…as opposed to a conference room, an e-mail or a PowerPoint presentation.
• The tactile instrument check that airplane pilots conduct, touching every gauge and dial before they taxi to the runway and hit the throttle.
• The way nurses and other health care professionals use their sense of touch to assess or treat a patient.  (Ever been to a dermatologist for a general exam?)
• How proofreading a hard copy of a document tends to overcome cognitive impenetrability, slowing us down and helping catch typos we might not notice on the screen.

So, go kick a tire.  Visit a client and demonstrate that you care.  When that’s not always practical, write them a note or pick up the phone.  The more tangible, the better.