Customer Reviews

Under the Influence: Tracing the Hip-Hop Generation's Impact on Brands, Sports, & Pop Culture

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I just read "Under the Influence: Tracing the Hop-Hop Generation's Impact on Brands, Sports & Pop Culture" as I'm on vacation this week so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to dice into it.

Well I wish I brought another book along with me because I finished it in 3 days! I really enjoyed the book and thought it was great how Mr. patton incorporated real case studies to further his claims (especially the Starbury movement). Although I fall into the Sub-Urban cipher, I totally agreed with all of Patton's points as I truly believe Hip-Hop is a way to tap into the Generation Y market. I think its safe to say that Hip-Hop has transcended gender, race and age which you demonstrated in the book. Even a 20 year-old white girl from the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul (that girl being me) has become a fan. I also loved how all of Patton's points in brand management and product strategy apply to not only pop culture but to the business world as a whole

Erin Patton's, "Under the Influence," is truly a one of a kind book from an insider's viewpoint. But not just any insider from Fortune 500 companies such as Nike and PR firms like Edelman Wordwide; an insider that knew how to market like no other and targeted a thriving culture: Hip-Hop. This book is not only EXTREMELY helpful for people, especially college students, pursuing a career in Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising and Business, but also a must read for Hip-hop enthusiasts. He brilliantly explains how growing up around the hip-hop, during the time it began to emerge, and how he used that info to turn it into success for Jordan Brand, the Starbury movement, and his own firm, The Mastermind Group. I believe any review would not do this book justice, it is simply a must read for anyone wanting to learn about hip-hop, trends, constructing business, success, influence and a ton of other words to say the least. This is coming from a fan of Mr. Patton/college student and not a one of the weird reviews we have all read. BUY THIS BOOK IT WILL NOT DISAPPOINT.

Being a target for Erin Patton's launch of Brand Jordan in the late 90s, this book speaks volumes to the how to and why grassroots marketing is so successful in urban communities. The seven ciphers introduced are eye popping and so true. Amazing that no one has really touched on this before now. Not only is Under the Influence informative for marketing purposes, but also extremely entertaining. The link between hip-hop, sports, and urban culture is so evident and presented in a way that can reach people of all ages and backgrounds.

Good introduction to the influence of Hip-Hop in the US and beyond to aficiondos in Asian markets. Includes valuable examples and cautionary tales of brands that have successfully, and disasterously, reacted to their associations with the Hip-Hop world: The NBA embraced it and won; Cristal champagne dissed it and lost. The author writes from his first-hand branding and sports marketing experiences at Nike and Edelman PR.

I read a lot of books, and frankly, most of them don't leave a lasting impression, including the ones I enjoy. But the books that I actually learn something from instead of just entertaining me are the ones I appreciate most. I get asked about marketing, promotions, and writing a lot, and I always tell people, "There are so many books that break down the marketing, advertising, and publishing end of any book you want to promote." But I'd never seen a book break down hip-hop culture and sales in such detail. Not only was I interested in this read because I love (thought-provoking) hip-hop but I'm also fascinated with branding. Selling a product to a random consumer is great but learning how to brand the product so they look for you instead of you looking for them is another, and it's difficult. With this read, Patton breaks down in detail how to promote to an African-American audience, the Generation X and Y audience, the hip-hop audience, and all three combined.

The only thing I disagreed with in this read was Patton's suggestion for big entertainment names to partner with big, established name brands. I say this for the same reason T-Boz from TLC said on "The Mo'Nique Show." Too many times entertainers are remembered for their product but do not get accurate monetary benefits for putting their names on products. Some hip-hop artists have gotten better with it, but more than a little bit still need help in that area. Letting the rich get richer while these artists don't own their masters or have full control over the fashion, refreshment, fragrance or whatever doesn't do them much good. Outside of that, he made great points. Those who wear hip-hop gear and grew up in this niche will go down memory lane remembering what's hot and what's not. We'll also find out why some brands continue to be successful and why some were abandoned by a hip-hop audience (prime example: Cristal).

I thoroughly enjoyed the read and would recommend this book to anyone interested in promotions.

An uninsightful, self-aggrandizing book plainly written to promote the author's own marketing consulting business. It contains virtually no data and zero testable predictions. His segmentation of the urban demographic into seven 'ciphers' reads like an essay from a perceptive high school student, with no actual evidence to support his breakdown. Unable to argue from evidence, the author asks us to accept his authority because of his involvement in selling to the urban market over the last decade. However, many of the trends he crows about were in full swing before he ever got involved and he has little new to show us. The only interesting part of the book is a few pages discussing the marketing behind the Starbury brand of super-discount store-brand basketball-inspired attire, but even there he never gives any serious consideration to the business side of the equation or even to validating the claimed success of their marketing strategy. The book is also very short (158 low text-density pages) - I'm glad I didn't have to pay for the copy I read. On the whole, this book wasted my time. I wrote this review to try to save yours. (And yes, I do wonder what book those other reviewers were reading.)