  We encode the real homotopy type of an $n$-dimensional $(r-1)$-connected
compact manifold $M$, $ r\ge 2$ into a minimal unital $C_\infty$-structure on
$H^* (M,\mathbb R)$, obtained via homotopy transfer of the unital DGCA
structure of the small quotient algebra associated with a Hodge decomposition
of the de Rham algebra $\mathcal A^*(M)$, which has been proposed by
Fiorenza-Kawai-L\^e-Schwachh\"ofer in \cite{FKLS2021}. We prove that if $n \le
\ell (r-1) +2$, with $\ell \geq 4$, the multiplication $\mu_k$ on the minimal
unital $C_\infty$-algebra $H^*(M,\mathbb R)$ vanishes for all $k \ge \ell-1$.
This extends the results from \cite{FKLS2021}, extending the bound on the
dimension from $5r-3$ to the general bound $\ell(r-1) +2$. We also prove a
variant of this result, conjectured by Zhou, stating that if $n \le
\ell(r-1)+4$ and $b_r (M) =1$ then the multiplication $\mu_k$ for all $k \ge
\ell-1$ vanishes. This implies two formality results by Cavalcanti
\cite{Cavalcanti2006}. We show that in any dimension $n$ the Harrison
cohomology class $[\mu_3]\in \mathrm {HHarr}^{3,-1}(H^* (M, \mathbb R), H^*(M,
\mathbb R)) $ is a homotopy invariant of $M$ and the first obstruction to
formality, and provide a detailed proof that if $n\leq 4r-1$ this is the only
obstruction. Furthermore, we show that in any dimension $n$ the class $[\mu_3]$
and the Bianchi-Massey tensor invented by Crowley-Nordstr\"om in \cite{CN}
define each other uniquely.
