Marketing executives and consumer advocates alike predict a future of brand-proof consumers, armed with technology and a sophisticated understanding of marketing techniques, who can effectively tune out ad campaigns. But as Rob Walker demonstrates, this widely accepted misconception has eclipsed the real changes in the way modern consumers relate to their brands of choice. Combine this with marketers' new ability to blur the line between advertising, entertainment, and public space, and you have dramatically altered the relationship between consumer and consumed.
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Editorial Reviews
©2008 Rob Walker; (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By G. K. Darby
Format:Hardcover
I second what Po Bronson says about "Buying In." This book is much more than a simple, cocktail party business book -- it's an attentive, subtle and entertaining meditation that not only uncovers the latest trends in buying, selling and marketing but also pushes us to consider larger questions beyond these subjects. Personally, since finishing the book, I've taken a harder look at my purchases and what they mean to my larger sense of identity. Not that this is some kind of Chicken Soup for the Marketing Soul, but Walker isn't afraid to follow his many case studies and pieces of hard evidence to wherever they lead, and sometimes that means not only a critique of consumer culture but a look at contemporary American culture as a whole. And that's what I love most about this book -- that Walker dives into consumer culture with such wide, bemused eyes. The reporting reminds me of Studs Terkel -- when a journalist can turn a subject into something wonderful, literally into something "full of wonder." I was happy to follow marketing detective Walker on his tour of energy drink kitesurfing, dive bars, chicken sausage cookouts, underground dance parties, and Lower East Side sneaker boutiques. (As someone who almost got kicked out of an "underground" New York sneaker boutique for merely trying to, um, shop, I was pleased to have Walker pull my coat on this corner of underground brand culture.) And where his tour leaves us, at the end of the gripping final chapter, is in a place that is somewhat contradictory and unexpected and completely fascinating.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm a huge fan of Rob Walker's style and regularly read his 'Consumed' column and mourn his recently departed 'Murketing' newsletter. Heck, I even read his yearly 'zine on departed public figures. That said, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when reading 'Buying In.'
Unlike typical industry commentators and critics, Walker tends not to add hype to the mix, but rather breaks down products, trends and marketing techniques to almost a scientific level. More text book than hyped book du jour.
If you're looking for a quick easy read with sound bites that will make you sound cooler to your colleagues- this is not the book for you. If you're looking to dig into a book that will make you rethink the branding of your favorite companies while offering insights into the industry in general, you should probably stop reading this review and just order the book--just don't expect to finish it in one sitting.
Walker doesn't have schtick, no funny hair or pretentious wording, just an extremely meaty read that makes me think I should reread it in case I missed anything.
Unlike typical industry commentators and critics, Walker tends not to add hype to the mix, but rather breaks down products, trends and marketing techniques to almost a scientific level. More text book than hyped book du jour.
If you're looking for a quick easy read with sound bites that will make you sound cooler to your colleagues- this is not the book for you. If you're looking to dig into a book that will make you rethink the branding of your favorite companies while offering insights into the industry in general, you should probably stop reading this review and just order the book--just don't expect to finish it in one sitting.
Walker doesn't have schtick, no funny hair or pretentious wording, just an extremely meaty read that makes me think I should reread it in case I missed anything.
36 of 43 people found the following review helpful
By D. Stuart
Format:Hardcover
Rob Walker's book is excellent. Since the dawn of the internet age, just over a decade ago, the classic marketing paradigm (brands, 4Ps, advertising etc) have been on a slippery slope, and the only trouble is nobody has been quite sure which way it would all tilt. I have a raft of books talking about the "new marketing" (there was a boom in these after 1998 and the new millennium) but in my view Rob Walker is the first author to really nail the subject. He gets it so right.
I've spent since 1996 doing market research amongst youth brands (mostly amongst energy drinks as it happens, so I feel Rob's discussion of Red Bull and other players is absolutely right on the mark.) In this past decade I've been conscious that the changes we've been seeing are part of a mich bigger pattern. But Walker is the first writer and critic to stand back and really put it all in perspective. His thinking here - wide-eyed, holistic, detailed and entertainingly pertinent - puts you in the right place to see everything and how it all fits. He kind of grabs you by the sleeve to take you there, such is the energy of his writing.
One is left with the interesting question: are brands what the manufacturers make of them? Or are they appropriated by the consumer to reflect what we want of them? The subtle cover art, with the title floating between a bar-code and a thumb print, kind of sums things up. (One of the most subtle covers I've seen since Rita carter's excellent Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self)
Rob Walker presents us with an excellent book for marketers, market researchers, tired media buyers, marketing graduates who think they know everything and anyone who is just plain fascinated by how our society ticks. This is great reading.
I've spent since 1996 doing market research amongst youth brands (mostly amongst energy drinks as it happens, so I feel Rob's discussion of Red Bull and other players is absolutely right on the mark.) In this past decade I've been conscious that the changes we've been seeing are part of a mich bigger pattern. But Walker is the first writer and critic to stand back and really put it all in perspective. His thinking here - wide-eyed, holistic, detailed and entertainingly pertinent - puts you in the right place to see everything and how it all fits. He kind of grabs you by the sleeve to take you there, such is the energy of his writing.
One is left with the interesting question: are brands what the manufacturers make of them? Or are they appropriated by the consumer to reflect what we want of them? The subtle cover art, with the title floating between a bar-code and a thumb print, kind of sums things up. (One of the most subtle covers I've seen since Rita carter's excellent Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self)
Rob Walker presents us with an excellent book for marketers, market researchers, tired media buyers, marketing graduates who think they know everything and anyone who is just plain fascinated by how our society ticks. This is great reading.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read if you are into marketing
I had to read it for a class project. It was really insightful and provided some novel approaches to conventional marketing approaches. An easy read.
Published 5 months ago by Elisa Morales
4.0 out of 5 stars
Buying in: what we buy and who we are is a good book!!
Honestly i dont read too many books because of the fact that i dislike to read period. But when i was assigned to read Buying in by Rob Walker i was actually intrested because this... Read more
Published 6 months ago by MelodWahaj
3.0 out of 5 stars
Take with a Grain of Salt
This book was a great beginning point for those who are interested in marketing. Everything stated in a book about effective marketing and whatnot should be taken with a grain of... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mel Woods
3.0 out of 5 stars
What We Buy and Who We Are
I enjoyed the agency that Walker granted to consumers in understanding the influence of advertising and marketing in our purchasing decisions. Read more
Published on April 17, 2011 by Jessica
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!
Walker provides his views on consumerism, and why we buy what we buy. He discusses how the consumer has an effect on a brand/product's meaning, and gives many examples throughout... Read more
Published on March 6, 2011 by keversma
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, well-written book on modern marketing trends
This book had a Gladwell-esque feel to it, the way it brought together different stories or research to make larger points about emerging trends in marketing. Read more
Published on February 9, 2011 by Jon Becker
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Mystery of Objects
A book about the mysterious power of objects in our lives.
About 75 years ago, the writing was on the wall in Europe. Read more
About 75 years ago, the writing was on the wall in Europe. Read more
Published on August 1, 2010 by Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marketing bookshelf essential
I really enjoyed the way Rob Walker takes us deep under the skin of what a brand really means rather than what a marketing manager thinks that their brand is in the book Buying In. Read more
Published on November 14, 2009 by Mr. G. Carroll
4.0 out of 5 stars
Have You Bought In?
Buying In is an overview of branding and the evolving relationship between brands and the consumer. As a result of this evolving relationship, branding, and the industry as a... Read more
Published on October 1, 2009 by John R. Sedivy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not light and fluffy but definitely a "must read"
In "Buying In", Rob Walker explores how modern consumers interact with brands and why you are less in control of what your brand means than ever before. Read more
Published on September 24, 2009 by The Marketing Guy Who Drives Sales -r
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