Customer Reviews

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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 thought this book would give me insights into why people like me buy the stuff we do. After all, the title says "the secret dialog between what WE buy and who WE are." Instead, it was a murky examination of mostly oddball marketing campaigns that successfully launched some products into commercial success. If I got the point - not sure I did; and I couldn't finish the book - it is that the methods discussed are going to be the successful marketing methods of the FUTURE. I think you can get an idea about the focus of the book from some of the chapter subtitles: "pink boots," "rickety bridges," "cool guys," "sexy t-shirts for young people." There may be some great stuff here, but it went over my head.

This book is the perfect textbook for a college-level course on marketing.

Actually, it's the perfect book for the layperson who is interested in how marketing is carried out nowadays.

No - it's really a stinging inditement of modern youth, with their assurances that they are "immune to marketing" going hand-in-hand with their craven embracing of "buzz marketing" - essentially doing the work for the marketers.

Well, it's really a look at how modern youth have subverted the marketing paradigm and, like our culture, broken it into countless little pieces.

...Okay. It's all of the above. And I'm writing the review this way to illustrate another point Walker makes - the point of how megaselling items/brands like the iPod, like "Hello Kitty," like American Apparel, are hugely popular because they represent whatever each individual consumer wants them to represent. Walker's book is very well researched, and examines marketing from multiple viewpoints, with all kinds of examples that readers will recognize - Nike, Walmart, companies billing themselves as "green", the rise in popularity of DIY products and marketing, Etsy.com, and so on. There doesn't seem to be any strident agenda here, except for readers to consider the effects marketing has on them - more self-awareness. Not a great deal of ranting about the deleterious effects of marketing on the wellness of society, nor conservative chest thumping about free-markets, etc. Just a great read about how marketing has moved forward in the age of TiVo and the "informed consumer." Highly recommended.

Rob Walker has earned a reputation as not only a solid journalist, but also a keen social commentator through his New York Times Magazine column, Consumed, and his Murketing blog. In this book, Walker deftly works his way through the social, cultural and psychological underpinnings of today's consumer.

Through well detailed stories of brands like Red Bull, Pabst Blue Ribbon and American Apparel he paints the marketing landscape of the 21st century with the deft touch of a European Master. But the book also looks inside the underground brands that have arisen as consumer empowerment through technology has taken hold.

I recommend this book to anyone curious about the state of marketing in America today.

This book focuses on what the author calls "murketing", which is where marketing blends into real life. Examples include the way people are invited to become "product advocates" (my term not his) to promote products for corporations, and how brands have become a part of self-identification. Walker is a journalist and it shows from his writing which is clear and not overwrought or stilted.

I found the book to be interesting, although the author was a bit too enamored of the new. Everyone who writes one of these books talks about how the world is changing and has never been this way before. Walker isn't quite that gullible and he even points to the past sometimes, but I found still that he seems to believe that his insights are unique a bit too often. They're not, but that doesn't make the book less worthwhile and it doesn't mean you shouldn't consider it.

Fascinating -- accessible to non-academics yet rich with anecdotes and an in-depth analysis of the state of flux which typifies marketing today. A must read for anyone interested in marketing or branding. I am a young fashion designer who reads Rob's blog regularly and have corresponded with him on a couple occasions. I enjoy his work because his angle is intellectual yet relevant, and he really breaks down the nuances and subtleties of what's happening in "murketing" today.

Rob Walker's main point in this book is that for most Americans brand choices have become a way to express individuality while still feeling connected to others. Why? Most people don't really do anything creative, but they want to feel better about themselves. They pick brands that reflect an appealing self-image.

This tendency to designer identity carries as far as choosing brands that reflect lifestyles that are symbolic of what you like, but aren't you. In some cases, brands develop such weak images that people flock to the same brand for widely different reasons.

The examples are what make the book fascinating. Mr. Walker has a keen eye for change in fashion and a good ear for listening to what people say about their choices. I've never seen such a simple thesis so thoroughly and interestingly illustrated.

Many brand marketing books avoid the whole realm of using nonadvertising methods to create images and awareness. Mr. Walker dives headlong into that subject and treats it pretty well.

The book's main weakness is that he doesn't get into the various segments that people tend to associate with in any detail. That leaves his examples better reflective of human psychology than marketing.

This book ultimately will provide more insight to consumers than to marketers. If you are a marketer, you'll probably grade this as a two-star book.

Mr. Walker is a talented writer as well. I don't recall having the opportunity to read too many books on marketing that display which a good writing style.

Commercials trick us into buying stuff we don't need! (Well, that's not quiet true.) The consumer is in control! (Um, not exactly.)

This book deconstructs how individuals shape and interact with branding and how marketers are blurring the line between selling and everything else.

It's a thought-provoking and entertaining read - whether you love or hate advertising.