Brand.New (Hardcover)

by Jane Pavitt (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Now that all the world's a mall, virtual or otherwise, consumption as disease takes on a new meaning. Branding used to happen only to cattle and convicts. Now it dictates values of personal identity, reliability, quality, and service, as well as inspiring sinister conspiracy theories of brainwashing by the multinationals. So thank goodness for the superb catalog of the Victoria and Albert Museum's "brand.new" exhibition. It examines in considerable--even consuming--depth the role of the brand in retail history and its continuing relevance. Amid scattered, glossy selections of the best of photographic advertisement, as well as emblematic historical and sociological images, are several longer essays on background, brand philosophy, and labeling; a consideration of the impact of e-commerce through the "death of distance"; and a broader history of the shopping center. In fact, the book justifies the cover value alone for pointing out that the world's first supermarket opened its doors in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1916, under the peerless (brand) name Piggly Wiggly. Ironically, its regressive, kitsch ring would most likely see it succeed today. There is also a clutch of two-page meditations on matters such as counterfeiting, the dubious notion of multinationals like McDonald's helping to reinforce local culture, second-hand goods, and Japanese school-girl wares.

Perhaps the most interesting section, though, is the final one, on "subvertising," the political backlash against global marketing, and the movement to champion environmental concerns. Anti-capitalist demonstrations in Seattle, global market concerns, Death cigarettes, and the Adbusters campaigns have seen people fighting back and expressing themselves through the courts or the media. At the same time, the growing demand for organic goods and farmers' markets shows how shopping trends are becoming at least "light green," and more ethically informed. Whether one "does the shopping," "goes shopping," or just "shops around," this attractively expressed forum of ideas generally steers clear of pseudo-scientific semiotic jargon (excepting the occasional "brandscape" or "brand DNA"), and is lavishly produced to the V&A's customary high standards--something that bears out the credo of its subject matter and helps it metamorphose from product to "brand." --David Vincent, Amazon.co.uk

Review
Brand.New is a sourcebook for consumer culture. -- Glen Helfand, San Francisco Bay Guardian

A coffee table book sprinkled with substantive essays. . . . -- Thomas Hine, Wilson Quarterly

A collection of smart essays on how and why our culture is obsessed by brand-name goods. The surprise is that it's also a coffee-table book, whose essays are accompanied by 200 color plates of brands, stores, signs, and other examples of commercialism that look good enough to eat . . . Brand.New is a sourcebook for consumer culture. -- Review

Brand.New is a sourcebook for consumer culture. -- San Francisco Bay Guardian

Brand.New … will give the reader a much greater insight into why shopping has become the new religion. -- John Fanning, Irish Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 069107061X
• ISBN-13: 978-0691070612
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,935,902 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed by the International Corporate Branding Centre, May 27, 2001

By	Dr Jessica Backlund (MA, PhD) and Shaun Powel... (UK) - See all my reviews

Short review: Star rating 3.5 (out of 5) - A book covering a wide range of issues relating to brands and consumerism. It contains more than 200 colour illustrations and five rather general chapters with short snap shots looking at specific issues relating to the main chapters.

Full review: This book was published to coincide with an exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The book looks at a wide range of issues, such as the development of branding, different shopping environments, and resistance to brands and advertising. The authors come from a range of various disciplines, such as architecture and design, management and marketing, business, fashion and sociology.

The book has five parts, consisting of a longer main chapter and shorter snap shots covering issues relating to the main chapter. The book also has more than 200 colour illustrations, often quite large.

Chapter 1 looks at the general issues relating to brands, for example brand strength and value, and the development of branding. It contains snap shots on issues such as the branding of Britain, the clothing company Diesels branding strategy, and how brands adopt to local circumstances.

Chapter 2 looks at definitions of branding and the differences between brands and trademarks. It also looks at brands from a consumers point of view, and points out how brands can be helpful to consumers in simplifying their lives. Snap shots in this chapter cover issues such as why people buy counterfeits and customer proactivity.

Chapter 3 deals with the architecture of shopping malls as it has developed over time, and also looks at catalogue shopping, TV shopping channels and the internet. The snap shots cover petrol station architecture and holiday resorts and theme parks as products.

Chapter 4 looks at the consumer, and how personal identity can be expressed through consumption. The snap shots in this chapter look at Hello Kitty merchandise and what may happen to branded goods in the second hand market.

Chapter 5 looks at the issues surrounding consumer protests against certain brands, and how consumers have begun to take companies; green and social issues in to account. There are no snap shots in this chapter.

Summary

The main characteristic of this book is its 'designed' feel. The cover is bright blue, and the high quality colour illustrations are everywhere, sometimes stretching over two pages. It is in stark contrast to the average student textbook, usually printed on cheap paper and with only black and white diagrams as illustrations. But what about the content? It is a pretty general book, and academics working with these issues will probably not find anything new in it. However, the illustrations, and some of the snap shots, may be useful to university lecturers, wishing to back up arguments with real life examples. This book may also be of interest to students, as it explains branding, and issues relating to it, in an interesting and easy way. In short, this book is useful to those without much knowledge of branding and consumerism who wish to read up on the topic in an enjoyable way.

Reviewed by Dr Jessica Backlund (MA, PhD) and Shaun Powell (Btech, AIMgt, BAHons) from the International Corporate Branding and Identity Centre.

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, April 12, 2001

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This visually stunning, insightful and clever book was published to coincide with a major exhibition of the same name at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. The exhibit's curator, Jane Pavitt, is also the book's editor. She has selected essays on branding and its impact on consumers and culture that take a challenging look at the phenomenon of international consumerism and how it came to be. Because of the wonderful illustrations, including photos of products, advertisements and retail outlets spanning the entire 20th century, this richly detailed book has an impact second only to seeing the exhibition in person. So we [...] say buy a ticket to Great Britain, or read this informative, well-written and often irreverent set of essays by critics, historians, scholars, designers and business experts. If seeing is believing, this innovative exhibit packed between hard covers is an innovative way to see - and truly understand - the power of branding.

3.0 out of 5 stars Label Slaves Unite..., October 1, 2000

By A Customer

people talk about market share, time-to-market, competitive advantage. blah blah blah. why do 19 of 22 brands from 1925 still exist today, after 75 years? 'cause we identify with them. Sprin't needle drop is far more important to its success as a business than the lackluster coverage of it's PCS network. This book is a nice bedside read for the folks who're tired of FastCompany and B2.0 and wonder what the cultural aspect of brand making enatils. While you may want to think that Esther Dyson has something interesting to say about branding today, this book is The Real Thing(TM) for delivering interesting comments on how brands have become so much part of our cultural identity.