Book Description
Since the first edition of this landmark book was published in 1962, Everett Rogers's name has become "virtually synonymous with the study of diffusion of innovations," according to Choice. The second and third editions of Diffusion of Innovations became the standard textbook and reference on diffusion studies. Now, in the fourth edition, Rogers presents the culmination of more than thirty years of research that will set a new standard for analysis and inquiry.
The fourth edition is (1) a revision of the theoretical framework and the research evidence supporting this model of diffusion, and (2) a new intellectual venture, in that new concepts and new theoretical viewpoints are introduced. This edition differs from its predecessors in that it takes a much more critical stance in its review and synthesis of 5,000 diffusion publications. During the past thirty years or so, diffusion research has grown to be widely recognized, applied and admired, but it has also been subjected to both constructive and destructive criticism. This criticism is due in large part to the stereotyped and limited ways in which many diffusion scholars have defined the scope and method of their field of study. Rogers analyzes the limitations of previous diffusion studies, showing, for example, that the convergence model, by which participants create and share information to reach a mutual understanding, more accurately describes diffusion in most cases than the linear model.
Rogers provides an entirely new set of case examples, from the Balinese Water Temple to Nintendo videogames, that beautifully illustrate his expansive research, as well as a completely revised bibliography covering all relevant diffusion scholarship in the past decade. Most important, he discusses recent research and current topics, including social marketing, forecasting the rate of adoption, technology transfer, and more. This all-inclusive work will be essential reading for scholars and students in the fields of communications, marketing, geography, economic development, political science, sociology, and other related fields for generations to come.
Download Description
"Now in its fifth edition, Diffusion of Innovations is a classic work on the spread of new ideas. It has sold 30,000 copies in each edition and will continue to reach a huge academic audience. In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who have already adopted the new idea. Thus the diffusion process consists of a few individuals who first adopt an innovation, then spread the word among their circle of acquaintances--a process which typically takes months or years. But there are exceptions: use of the Internet in the 1990s, for example, may have spread more rapidly than any other innovation in the history of humankind. Furthermore, the Internet is changing the very nature of diffusion by decreasing the importance of physical distance between people. The fifth edition addresses the spread of the Internet, and how it has transformed the way human beings communicate and adopt new ideas."
Customer Reviews:
Interesting.......2007-09-12
This book is fascinating. It discusses the spread of ideas and products through communities, how they spread and why. Rogers breaks down the process and describes different categories of people depending on when they take up the innovation. This book is very readable, and although written by an academic, not written in academese. It covers various domains of interest (agriculture, sociology, marketing) and has something for everyone.
The one thing I think Rogers has missed is subjective norm. Not only do people weigh the relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability, but they also weigh up what they believe their personal network believes what they should do.
For instance, I will do something that someone important (to me)tells me to do, even if I personally find it silly, simply because I put enough weight and consideration into what I believe is their opinion.
Rogers gets close to that with the discussion of personal networks and adoption of innovations by organisations, but still misses the point. That is why this book only gets four stars, from me.
Excellent.......2007-08-10
Very insightful. A must read for a variety of academic disciplines. I don't know that I've been in a professor's office at my university and not seen this book on the shelf!
Diffusion of Innovations--The scientific framework of lessons learned.......2007-06-12
As a physician who has had the pleasure to experience life-changing innovations in his medical career, the chance to read Dr Rogers book on Innovation has been a real delight. Technology has changed so much around us in the last half of the 20th century that we can scarcely describe what life was like before "the innovation".
To my friends who happen to be innovators, early adaptors, beta testers and entrepreneurs, I recommend the book to provide the scientific disicpline with its glossary, case reports, primary scientific citations and organization of innovation theory that ones needs if one is in an "innovation" field and wishes to communicate professionally.
To the casual reader who is fascinated by the world around him/her and wishes to explore innovation scientifically, then this should be considered the "primer".
A textbook in disquise..........2007-02-15
This is a textbook in disquise. The information is good, but could be summarized better and in a more consise manner.
Good reference material...
most excellent piece of work on diffusion of innovation.......2006-12-26
There are several well written books on innovation but this is one of the most excellent piece of work on diffusion of innovation. Though if we look at history, research on the diffusion of innovations model began with the Bryce and Gross' (1943) investigation of the diffusion of hybrid seed corn among Iowa farmers. They explained how it came to attention and which of two channels (i.e., mass communication and interpersonal communication with peers) led farmers to adopt the new innovation.
But Rogers has further discussed the five characteristics of a technology acceptance - 1) relative advantage, the extent to which it offers improvements over available tools, 2) compatibility, its consistency with social practices and norms among its users, 3) complexity, its ease of use or learning, 4) trialability, the opportunity to try an innovation before committing to use it, 5) observability, the extent to which the technology's gains are clear to see.
Book Description
The long–awaited reissue of the million–copy best–seller that
FORBES magazine called “A valuable primer on advertising for any businessman or investor.” With a new Foreword by Sir Alan Parker.
Customer Reviews:
Review of Confessions of an Ad Man by David Ogilvy.......2007-09-28
A classic that still rings true. Relevant not just to the ad business but to the management of any professional services firm.
Sales vs. entertainment value of an ad.......2007-08-10
Confessions of an advertising man contains advertising principles David Ogilvy has derived based on his experience and available research. In this book he shares what he has learned to be the optimal practices both for advertising agencies and for clients of advertising agencies. While some of these principles and practices may be considered timeless, others have changed under the influence of new advertising media and technologies. One standard timeless practice in advertising is to test everything and to choose the most appropriate action based on research. David emphasizes that the bottom line of advertising is sales, rather than the entertainment value of an ad, and that in the end numbers demonstrate the effectiveness of the ad.
Invaluable advice.......2007-04-15
This book is similar in content to Ogilvy's other masterpiece, "Ogilvy on Advertising", but with more emphasis on the sales aspects of the advertising business. "Confessions" is also more autobiographical. Ogilvy's stories about his background, building his agency, and dealing with clients are fascinating.
Given Ogilvy's talent as a copywriter, the book is obviously a pleasure to read. For example--
"How do you decide what kind of image to build? There is no short answer: Research cannot help you much here. You have to actually got to use judgment. (I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post, for support rather than for illumination.)"
Anyone engaged in any aspect of advertising, marketing, or top level management should get plenty out of this book. It's a how-to manual for total success.
A guide to success in advertising.......2006-09-10
Dubbed "the King of advertising" by Advertising Age, David Ogilvy shared his thoughts and stories on being successful in the adverting industry in this book. His ideas are often overflowing with self-confidence, but for a man who reached his level of success, he's definitely earned the right.
Originally published in 1963, in part as promotion of himself and his agency, this book is broken down into ten "How to" chapters plus an opening and closing commentary on the state of advertising. No example ads or illustrations in this book, just straightforward advice and colorful anecdotes on topics ranging from managing an agency to writing potent copy.
The stories are enjoyable, and Ogilvy's advice is enlightening. David Ogilvy led an amazing life, and his insights on advertising, business and human behavior are timeless. Overall, this is an inspiring book that I recommend to anyone involved in advertising.
More than just advertising.......2005-12-14
An advertising guru writes more than just advertising. One can benefit from the general management skills said in the bok. Anyway, it's an interesting book.
Book Description
The second edition features a 220-term brand glossary and a premium softcover binding.
THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a âcharismatic brandââa brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you’ll learn:
• a new definition of brand
• the five essential disciplines of brand-building
• how branding is changing the dynamics of competition
• the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand
• why collaboration is the key to brand-building
• how design determines a customer’s experience
• how to test brand concepts quickly and cheaply
• the importance of managing brands from the inside
FROM THE BACK COVER
Not since McLuhan’s THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE has a book compressed so many ideas into so few pages. Using the visual language of the boardroom, Neumeier presents the first unified theory of brandingâa set of five disciplines to help companies bridge the gap between brand strategy and customer experience. Those with a grasp of branding will be inspired by the new perspectives they find here, and those who would like to understand it better will suddenly âget it.â This deceptively simple book offers everyone in the company access to âthe most powerful business tool since the spreadsheet.â
âThe surprise book of the year!â âJohn Moore, Fast Company
âThe first book on brand that seems fresh and relevant.â âRic Grefe, executive director of AIGA, the professional association for design
âA pleasure to read.ââDavid A. Aaker, author of BRAND PORTFOLIO STRATEGY and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âCuts to the heart of what brand is all about.â âSusan Rockrise, worldwide brand director, Intel
âRead this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager, IDEO
FROM THE INSIDE FLAPS
âA pleasure to read. THE BRAND GAP consistently provides deep, practical insights in a light, visual way. Discover the power of imagery and the role of research in building a heavy-duty brandâwithout the heavy-duty reading.â âDavid Aaker, author of BRAND LEADERSHIP and BUILDING STRONG BRANDS
âFinally, a book that cuts to the heart of what brand is all aboutâconnecting the rational and the emotional, the theoretical and the practical, the logical and the magical to create a sustainable competitive advantage.â âSusan Rockrise, Worldwide Brand Director, Intel
In THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier reminds us that the ultimate moment of truth for all brands is the customer experience. Customer perceptions trump our own perceptions.â âKurt Kuehn, senior VP of worldwide marketing and sales, UPS
âThis is not just another book on brand. This is the ONLY book you’ll need to read in business, engineering, and design school.â âClement Mok, design entrepreneur
âA well-managed brand is the lifeblood of any successful companyâand Neumeier shows us exactly how to do it. Read this book before your competitors do!â âTom Kelley, general manager of IDEO, co-author of THE ART OF INNOVATION
âTHE BRAND GAP couldn’t be more timely. Just when we’re at our most skeptical about corporate motives, along comes a book that shows how to evaluate and develop a brand in a straightforward and honest manner.â âDavid Stuart, co-founder of The Partners, co-author of A SMILE IN THE MIND
âMust-reading for anyone who wants to understand how their business strategy will succeed or fail when put to the ultimate test: âDo customers perceive a difference that’s desirable?’â âSteve Harrington, director of strategy and operations, Hewlett-Packard
âThe book slices like a hot knife through all the turgid, pseudo-academic nonsense that surrounds branding. It’s now on the course list for my graduate students, and new members of my team at Ogilvy get a copy with their training materials.â âBrian Collins, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Customer Reviews:
The modern view of branding.......2007-09-15
if you want a quick and entertaining way of understanding what is a brand in the modern sense of the word, get this book. Even if you know already what "brand" and "branding" mean, this book will reset your brain into rethinking your business and where you are going with it. It is a must read for anyone involved in selling stuff or services out of an established franchise or license.
Simple, Straightforward, Sensational.......2007-08-23
Marty Neumeier has written two "whiteboard" style books both dealing with branding and innovation - this is the first one. By whiteboard style, Neumeier's book is light on written content, moderate on visual content and layout, and heavy on basic, important, sharp ideas.
The book covers 5 principles to help bridge the gap between strategic thinking and creative 'magic' and uses a variety of visual and written metaphors, examples, and logical knowledge to do so. If you are looking for a text-heavy, super explanatory, in-depth type of book, then this isn't the one for you. If you're looking to focus your mindset when it comes to innovative branding, this is a great, go-to book to get through in a short amount of time.
The two main things I liked about this book were the fact it actually followed a lot of its own principles in terms of how it was designed/set up etc. and it also packed a lot of universality into these generic yet focused, sensical tips.
Case in point...here is what you'll get out of the book if you are:
A Student/Novice in the Field: Students will love this book to help them review a lot of what's happening in marketing right now, and the 5 guiding principles can help them innovate at their future workplaces. The expanded edition of this book includes a 200 word glossary of advertising terms that'll also help students and novices talk the talk.
Agencies: will delight at the tests Neumeier asks you to go through when developing a brand, particularly graphically in the "icon/avatar" section. The real-life examples of successful businesses identify the longevity of the brands and how it is obtained, giving hints to marketing/advertising agencies how to get that same magic formula.
Businesses: whether small or large, this is a great book to have. If you have an internal promotions/marketing department, this book should be distributed to the head of your branding staff to help them focus your company's direction in the market. If you are the owner of a small business without an internal marketing department, this book can help introduce you to the fundamental principles of branding that you can then discuss with an external agency.
Overall a great quick read that kept me hooked, never bored, and always thinking. The summative list of the main topics discussed throughout the book at the end was extremely helpful, although the glossary was kind of out of place as half the words in the glossary aren't used in the text. Probably helpful for beginners in the ad industry though.
Considerations for Brand-Building.......2007-08-19
Fantastic, a quick-read with deep insights, packed with timeless, necessary wisdom anyone who sells anything will benefit from reading. The Take-Home lessons in the back are a bonus (bullet points from the book), and the pages I'll review over time.
perfect.......2007-05-24
This book is entertaining and packed with wisdom! The book arrived quickly, was in perfect shape and at a good price.
Must have for Corporate/InHouse designers.......2007-03-10
This is a great resources for communicating clearly the importance of brand consistency. Read it. Then do it. Good luck my fellow corporate designers. We are a rare and lonely breed.
Book Description
Thirty years ago, Henry Gadsden, the head of Merck, one of the world's largest drug companies, told Fortune magazine that he wanted Merck to be more like chewing gum maker Wrigley's. It had long been his dream to make drugs for healthy people so that Merck could "sell to everyone." Gadsden's dream now drives the marketing machinery of the most profitable industry on earth.
Drug companies are systematically working to widen the very boundaries that define illness, and the markets for medication grow ever larger. Mild problems are redefined as serious illness and common complaints are labeled as medical conditions requiring drug treatments. Runny noses are now allergic rhinitis, PMS has become a psychiatric disorder, and hyperactive children have ADD. When it comes to conditions like high cholesterol or low bone density, being "at risk" is sold as a disease.
Selling Sickness reveals how widening the boundaries of illness and lowering the threshold for treatments is creating millions of new patients and billions in new profits, in turn threatening to bankrupt health-care systems all over the world. As more and more of ordinary life becomes medicalized, the industry moves ever closer to Gadsden's dream: "selling to everyone."
Customer Reviews:
ver compelling.......2007-06-12
This book was a real eye-opener. The authors write very clearly, and it is well referenced. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an introduction to just how crooked the relationship can be between 'Big pharma' and the medical profession.
Buying into SICKNESS.......2007-04-20
Ray Moynihan is a legend, and more importantly he appears to have some integrity and intelligence. While other so-called journalists unquestioningly accept what is spoon-fed to them from big Pharma, Moynihan bothers to look beneath the veneer created by PR and spin-doctoring. The book has been written so that non-medical people can understand it, but is referenced in order that health professionals can check the veracity of his claims - and he really doesn't claim anything he can't back up by referenced literature. I applaud Dr Pelton for reading the book at all, but feel a little sad that he doesn't go a little further and discover for himself that most modern theory of disease is based on little more than wishful thinking, huge profits and massive disinformation campaigns.
Think for Yourself.......2007-03-13
This book does an excellent job exposing where some companies have done wrong. I can write the same book about almost any industry in the country. Now how many of them have developed a life-changing drug like Enbrel? As others have pointed out, this book (and most others like it) do a miserable job of providing context. Our life expectancies are lower than other industrialized nations because we are the fatest people on the planet, I can only imagine what it would be like if we didn't take the drugs that keep us alive. Can people exercise and take care of themselves and avoid a lot of these issues? Sure they can-but they don't and then they go to the doctor expecting a miracle cure. Can they not feed their little kids pounds of high frucotse corn syrup and avoid turming them into 20 year old diabetics, sure they can-but they don't. Every doctor I've ever been to or talked to says they tell every patient to exercise and watch their diet first (before ever prescribing anything). When the patient fails to comply then the doctor does what they think is the best thing to keep their patient alive. Pharmas certainly do wrong things, like any other business, and they need to be policed, but they should not be the scapegoat for sensationalist journalists (who are, guess what, selling the news/books) and short-sighted politicians are are unwilling or unable to deal with the larger healthcare issues our nation now faces.
Read this book, but please read others as well (that ought to make Amazon happy!)-try some that don't agree with what the media has programmed you to think about big pharma-if you can find any.
Disappointed.......2007-03-08
The book presents ten examples of unethical conduct by pharmaceutical compnies in order to promote their products. The tactics include misrepresenting statistical facts, overstating health risks, influencing medical authorities, creating new medical conditions in order to sell drugs for them and so on.
All the facts in the book are true. But the impression the book creates is skewed. Modern medicine cannot exist without pharmaceutical industry, and the relationship between it and medical professionals is more complex than portrayed in this text. I also believe that most doctors deserve more credit when it comes to choosing treatments for their patients.
But opinions aside, the book actually is getting boring as it progresses, probably because it is clear how each chapter will end soon after the beginning. I also expected less political and more medical information. I also think the authors should have touched on other reasons of proliferation of drug culture in modern society.
Overall I was disappointed.
Should be required reading for ALL women and girls!!!.......2007-02-23
As a single woman writer with a very modest income, I have struggled and struggled for years to pay ever increasing health insurance premiums. Health costs are going through the ROOF and much of this is explained in "Selling Sickness."
And the coup de grace is Governor Perry's recent mandate that all 11 and 12-year-old girls be vaccinated against cervical cancer. In February 2007, USA Today reported that Perry *bypassed* the state legislature to force this law on the books. Three shots of this nice, new chemical will cost $360 and prevent only 70% of cervical cancers. Yet Perty is comparing this to the Polio vaccine?
"Selling Sickness" pulls back the curtain on the politically-charged (and financially inspired) machinations of the pharmaceutical industry and explains the mass manipulation. It's a very disturbing book, but also well documented, well researched and utterly fascinating.
Read it and weep - for America's health care system.
Average customer rating:
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Goods for Sale: Products And Advertising in the Massachusetts Industrial Age
Chaim M. Rosenberg
Manufacturer: University of Massachusetts Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| State & Local
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ASIN: 1558495800 |
Book Description
During the nineteenth century, Massachusetts was transformed from a fishing and farming economy into a highly urbanized industrial state. This book presents an appealing portrait of the diverse manufacturing enterprises that flourished from 1865 through the 1920s and the colorful trade cards they used to market their goods.
More than thirty years after the Revolutionary War, the United States remained dependent on Europe for most manufactured goods. The War of 1812 persuaded a number of Boston merchants to invest in industries at home. Using waterpower, cotton from the South, and locally built machinery, they established textile mills at Waltham and later at Lowell and Lawrence. Following the decline of whaling, Fall River and New Bedford also became textile towns. With the help of protective tariffs, Massachusetts mills could compete against textile imports.
Mass-production methods of manufacture were soon applied to shoes, organs and pianos, parlor stoves and kitchen ranges, and sewing machines, among many other products. As steam power replaced water power, factories were built close to railroad tracks and near town centers. Lynn, Brockton, and Haverhill developed as shoe-towns. Boston grew rapidly as the financial and cultural hub and became a world-class center for the raw wool, cotton, and leather markets, as well as the port of export for manufactured goods. Springfield and Worcester built the machinery for the factories and became centers for precision tool making.
With fierce competition, new methods were needed to sell the goods. Massachusetts-made products were extensively displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, as well as at shows in Europe. Attractive trade cards were widely distributed to introduce these goods to customers across the United States and abroad.
During the Gilded Age of Massachusetts industry, most everything people needed was locally made and sold in locally owned stores. Patent medicines, bicycles, motorcycles, and even automobiles were added to the list of products made in Massachusetts. Over time, the old red-brick industry has been replaced by a service economy based on higher education, financial services, biomedical research, and healthcare. Goods for Sale pays tribute to the state's manufacturing enterprises during their period of greatest prominence.
Book Description
This savvy resource helps artists and art professionals generate the publicity that keeps their artwork and business in the public spotlight. Provided are practical tools for attracting the media's attention and building bridges between artists, their galleries, and collectors, and between museums and their audiences. This new edition provides the latest word on new art markets; how to research the Internet, build a Website, and launch e-mail publicity campaigns.
Customer Reviews:
Very Helpful.......2007-08-23
Fine Art Publicity has some very good ideas about marketing and publicity. We just opened an art gallery, and have already had a few articles published in local newspapers thanks to the suggestions in this book.
Book will be a great help.......2005-09-16
I am writing a business plan to open an art gallery.
Even though I already know how to market service businesses,
I need to learn a lot about marketing an art gallery. I
found a trove of very good advice in this book. I appreciate
the easy layout and readability also. I expect anyone
with an art business can find ideas here.
A 'must' for aspiring artists and gallery owners alike.......2005-06-10
The majority of art career guides come from either career counselors or artists themselves, so it's refreshing to note that Fine Art Publicity: The Complete Guide For Galleries And Artists, appearing in its second updated edition, is written by an industry publicist backed by the knowledge of her profession. Galleries and artists receive the basics of marketing to the art community; from researching a media list for both local and national contacts to locating businesses connected to the arts, and gathering a library of samples for targeted publicity contacts. Simply an outstanding reference; a 'must' for aspiring artists and gallery owners alike.
This book is great.......2003-09-06
I dont usually write reviews, but I completely disagree with the bad review on here. This is an incredibly useful book for art galleries. I can't express how helpful this book has been to me. This is a guide for galleries not artists, so maybe that's why the last reader had issues.
Search Elsewhere.......2002-12-12
I buy alot of books but I have never before seen a book written for an adult audience spread so thinly over so many pages. I suppose this was done to try to create the illusion of there being more information here than there really is. What little useful information this book contians seems to be repeated over and over. I would guess again to fill pages. I feel there is virtually no practical information here for an artist and very little for a gallery. I usually don't have an interest in writing book reviews but I was so disappointed in this book that I wanted to alert others to search elsewhere for useful information.
Book Description
A New York Times bestseller, Absolut Book is the behind-the-scenes account of the birth and growth of this award-winning campaign and provides a definitive illustrated history of one of the most successful ad campaigns ever. It is a collector's delight with nearly five hundred ads.
Customer Reviews:
Best coffee table book!.......2007-08-27
I love Absolut ad's and have always wanted to get one. They are expensive new , so I got an used copy from an amazon seller. It came quickly and I flipped through the book for about 20 min when it arrived 2 days later. I love all the ads and they are all so clever. I might not get some of the modern art ones, but I love the city ones in particular. Anyway, I got this book for my new house and new coffee table book, I think it is one of the best hardcover coffee table book (marketing story book) ever.
As advertised - a great buy.......2007-01-11
If you like the Absolut ads, this is a good book for you. It's what you'd expect - big pictures of the Absolut ads with explanations from the ad agency guys who made it happen. A fun coffeetable book.
shaken not stirred.......2006-09-03
Compulsory addition to the coffee table library. An excellent example of a clever, consistent, cutting edge branding campaign helping to position a generic product at the top of consumer mind. Absolut genius.
Absolut Book: The Absolut Vodka Advertising Story.......2005-03-19
Absolut is one of the best selling vodkas in the world and the advertsing for it is second to none. In this fabulous book were are told the inside story behind the marketing and selling of this tasty treat. The paper is first grade and the pictures are outstanding to say the least. Absolut original with a bottle looking like a Roman ruin is probably my favorite one but there are so many nice advertising ideas that have become stupendous posters. Absolute Enivironment is also a nice one. This is a good coffee table book and a nice gift for the person that likes vodka and to read.
WOW!!.......2003-06-19
This is a wonderful, informative, and beautiful book.
This book is about the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. How it began, and what it is about. There are many beautiful, and breath taking images which makes you see the entire light of the campaign which looks so simple from the outside. Now, you get the inside looks and it isn't simple at all but an amazing experience.
WOW!!
Book Description
In this fascinating excursion through popular culture and marketing history, design critic Thomas Hine decodes the secret language of packaging -- and explains the many subtle ways that boxes, bottles, and cans persuade us to spend our hard-earned money. Tracing the art and science of package design from its emergence late last century to today's most instantly recognizable brand images -- the Campbell's soup can, the Coca-Cola bottle, the Marlboro box, and many others -- Hine has written an essential book for students of popular culture, designers, marketers ... and anyone who goes shopping.
Customer Reviews:
What a fantastic surprise!.......2007-07-23
I was actually interested in the history of the cigar box when Amazon suggested The Total Package to me. I bought the book as an impulse purchase (despite the cheap yellow cover that the book itself criticises) and I have been very happy that I did. I have not been able to put this book down. This book far surpassed my expectations and has been a wealth of historical facts and connections between the technology of packaging and our civilization.
I have read one strong critique of Hine's book in that it does not go very deep into the psychology of packaging and how it shapes the choices that consumers make. I think that is beyond the point here. Hine's work does an outstanding job of making an interesting historical narrative about packaging. Hine sees the world through the eye of the consumer from the epoch of the proto-package, through the world of boxes and tin cans, and on through cellophane and plastics. That perspective in this book has opened the world up to me.
I cannot recommend this book enough!
You buy, therefore you must read this book........2005-04-11
My community college graphic design students read this book for a class, so I've read it six or seven times now. Every year I look forward to it. It is a wonderful way to get my (mostly) American students to think their role in an economy they've rarely questioned. They learn about how products have been adorned and contained over the centuries and they also learn why great cities thrived with the advancements in packaging, why suburbs keep growing and why cars and groceries are an intertwined pair.
There plenty of insights here for the consumer who wonders why there are so many kinds of toothpaste and why there will always be a battle between Coke and Pepsi. You eat a lot of tuna? Did you know it was canned for the first time because a cannery ran out of sardines? Did you know that canning itself was developed for Napoleon's military campaigns? You know yellow makes products look cheap? You do, but you didn't know you did.
For designers it is an indispensible history that will help you locate your place in the world of business and the American economy.Thomas Hine discusses how research dominates design and how brand managers can wipe out your precious work with a single "Natural!" violator.
Packaging Is What We Are.......2005-01-02
I fell in love with Thomas Hine's The Total Package: The Secret History and Hidden Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Other Persuasive Container from page 1 for this book pulls you into a world that on the one hand is so familiar to you, but on the other hand yet also so unknown, namely the world of package - design and the world of stores.
In his book, Mr. Hine writes about the development of things that I had never even given a thought like the invention of the shopping cart and how it should not take up too much space or the design of the grocery store as a maze, but the book also tells so much more like what colors on the packages say about the products and so on. Mr. Hine even argues that "packaging is what we are" for "packaging mirrors its expected customers, and thus it provides an unfamiliar and provocative perspective about who we are and what we want."
Well, I consider this book to be a true eye-opener and I experience just walking down the aisles in a store as a truly unique experience now for I came to realize that there is a whole theory behind everything I see around me or every aspect of the store.
Excellent Book!.......2004-05-21
A wonderfully interesting book about the history of product packaging. Very thorough and engaging -- I had no idea how important the paper bag was! Rich with insights about consumer behavior in marketplaces and the geographic evolution of the American shopping experience. I go it from the library and wound up buying it as a reference book for years to come!
What's up with the icky cover?.......2001-09-30
What can I say? As a book about packaging, it should take a lesson from itself. Sheesh...!
Book Description
A "highly illuminating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) book that fundamentally transforms the whole debate about the cultural significance of advertising.
Customer Reviews:
Does American History End in 1900?.......2001-07-04
Advertising has become ubiquitous, on television, in the subway, on web pages, even on clothing. Even our ideas and opinions, religions and romances, have become commodified, slanted, and marketed. And most of the flood of commodification is the product of the postwar communications boom. Before 1950, one had newspapers, magazines, radio, and the occasional newsreel. Before 1900, one had placards and fliers.
So why is this book exclusively about the 19th century? The 19th century deserves 1 chapter, not all 400 pages. I am only vaguely interested in P.T. Barnum, but fascinated by how Tony the Tiger recreated American breakfasts during the Baby Boom. Or if Lear wanted to aim his book at historians, why the audacity to title it "a cultural history of American advertising"? It omits the most interesting eras of American advertising.
Excellent, and counterintuitive.......2000-11-18
Most people find advertising very irritating. This is not only understandable, but necessary and just. But what is it about advertising that should put one's teeth on edge? It is easy to believe that advertising encourages a world of greed and gaudy consumerism, a life of sterile self-indulgence. This was the view of the great American critic Thorstein Veblen. But one should avoid this temptation. In this book Jackson Lears provides a book that is not only revelatory about advertising but will help the reader about culture, nostalgia, memory, even life itself.
Lears, a historian who is not afraid to quote Marxists, agrees with Adorno that Veblen's attack on consumerism was an "attack against culture." Veblen represented a puritanical producerism that did not recognize the aesthetic and imaginative elements of consumption. Lears throughout this subtle and evocative book argues that advertising did not present the triumph of hedonism, but in fact the regulation of consumption to a strict regime of productivity, a trade-off between "routinized labor and zestful consumption." The book does not follow a simple narrative. But it does provide a fascinating account with many pregant apercus about the cold presence of an inhumane positivism, as well as the flaws of both the jargon of authenticity and the New York Intellectuals conflation of politics and style. Starting with the image of the breast and the cornocopia, and going on to the illusions of the Plain speech tradition, Lears looks not only at advertisements, but also cites much literature and theory to help him along. Melville, Dreiser, James and Proust are all invoked, Little Nemo and Krazy Kat are properly praised, coming to a benediction looking at the special achievement of Joseph Cornell and his boxes. Some readers of this review may find this summary pretentious, but those who go on to read Lears will find much that is truly revelatory.
Intellectual bricolage?.......2000-01-26
ONLY BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVE TO. The only reason I bought this "door stop" was because it was a required reading for one of my university cources. It's a monolith. It's large and no one can make sense of it. You need a dictionary by your side when you tackle this beast; however, many of the words used in the book are not even listed. Lears' entire perspective is based on a word I've never heard of..."bricolage". Try looking it up! The only way to find out what it means is to go ask Claude Levi-Straus himself. I think Lears should have based his perspective on clarity not bricolage.
wordy but gratifying.......1999-03-16
Fables of Abundance is not an easy book to read. Lears sometimes takes relatively simple ideas and complicates them with wordy rhetoric. If you can get through it, however, Fables of Abundance offers a novel approach to looking at the history of advertising. It does not discuss particular ad campaigns or products like many books of its type. It instead focusses on advertising's reoccuring themes (i.e. the carnivalesque) and images (i.e. woman as symbol of abundance). The author also provides biographies of important figures in the history of advertising. Overall, if you have patience and a dictionary, Fables of Abundance is for you.
Amazon.com
So-called radical marketers stand out from the corporate crowd because they view the marketplace much differently from their more traditional peers. Not coincidentally, marketing consultant Sam Hill and business journalist Glenn Rifkin argue that the most advanced of these unorthodox companies--represented by diverse business ventures like Virgin Atlantic Airways, Iams pet food, Snap-on tools, and Samuel Adams beer--also tend to be wildly successful. In Radical Marketing, Hill and Rifkin examine these businesses and a half-dozen others with an eye toward the practices leading to their prosperity that could be adapted elsewhere. Some choices may raise eyebrows, such as the National Basketball Association (which lost half its 1998 to 1999 season to a contentious labor dispute) and the Grateful Dead rock band (long criticized for glorifying recreational drug use), but all nonetheless support the authors' hypotheses and reveal through detailed profiles and careful analyses precisely what their experiences offer other firms. Thankfully the authors end by explaining how such practices can be used also by mature companies in less freewheeling fields. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
How did the Grateful Dead use its fanatical following to build a $100 millionbrand that still thrives today? How did upstart Boston Beer Company--makers of Sam Adams--prevail over rival Anheuser-Busch without an advertising budget? And how did lams create the premium pet food market and leap from $16 million to $600 million in sales in just fifteen years, while charging twice the price of competitor Ralston-Purina? The answer: radical marketing.
In this fresh, provocative book, Sam Hill and Glenn Rifkin identify the mar-keting strategies that have enabled ten innovative companies to emerge asindustry leaders. What do these organizations have in common? Each is intune emotionally with its customer base, allowing them to glean superior marketing insight without spending millions of dollars. Each is more focused on the big picture--growth and expansion--rather than short-term profits. And,despite their current success, each started out with little more than a passion for their product. Engrossing, informative, and invaluable, Radical Marketing demonstrates how any company, large or small, can achieve unprecedented success through inventive and revolutionary tactics.
Customer Reviews:
Not as Radical as they'd like to lhink.......2003-01-24
Divided into two parts - the first defining "radical" as an approach to marketing, and the second a series of ten case studies analyzing companies that 'got radical' - this book os an interesting analysis of traditional vs. new marketing. Defining traditional marketing as big, complex, aimed at the center of a mass market, separated from the consumer, and formulaic, the authors assert that newer more radical marketing methods are paying bigger dividends than old traditional advertising.
Citing organizations such as Snap-on Tools, Harvard Biz School, Boston Beer Company, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and the NBA, the authors build a solid case for anew breed of marketers with more intuition and vision than marketing education. The case studies are insightful and always entertaining. In fact, the chapter on Harley Davison's recovery from near bankruptcy in 1985 to $1.8 billion revenue and record profits in 1997 might just be worth the price of the book. Similarly, Jerry Garcia fans will love the well argued discussion of the Grateful Dead as radical marketers.
The books main weakness is its lack of concrete `next steps' for the aspiring radical marketer. It also has little to offer (outside of the case studies) for the already radical. If you read just one marketing book a year - skip this one. But, if you enjoy well-researched and entertaining case studies, `Radical Marketing' is definitely worth a look.
Marketing = Advertising = consumes huge amount of money ?.......2002-03-26
It is always said that Marketing always consumes huge amount of money. It is because most of the marketer used the traditional marketing strategies, such as advertising, which need large amount of money.
However, after you read this book, you will disagree with the above statement. It is because you will find that there are lots of other marketing strategies which are also very useful but do not cost so much money. This book gave you lots of ideas and examples about ¡§radical marketing¡¨ which would help you to build relationship with customers through different kind of strategies.
And I particularly agree with one of the rules mentioned by the author. That is the marketer should go out the office and interactive with the customers. Since customer is one of the most important ¡§assets¡¨ for the company. And the customers nowadays change rapidly. So it is very important for the marketer to interactive with the customers so as to understand the customer need or any changes of the customer needs. And actually, I think that this concept should not be only applied to ¡§radical marketing¡¨. Instead, all marketers should pay attention to this point and consider taking action.
Shorter will be better.......2001-10-27
Actually, it is quite interesting and attractive that author use ten successful companies as an example to promote radical marketing. And we can learn that to run a business successfully, it is not only spend a lot of money on advertising, but also keep a good relationship with the customers and provide a good quality product. As most of the company just promote its products and company on advertising, I think it is a good way for others company to follow.
However, although there are ten case studies, after reading half, I¡¦m not really want to continue as all of the cases are similar. These ten companies stay at a similar situation, just face a difficulty and then using similar tactics that is radical marketing to tackle the problem. Therefore, it will be better if the author come up the points in fewer cases.
Shorter will be better.......2001-10-21
Actually, it is quite interesting and attractive that author use ten successful companies as an example to promote radical marketing. And we can learn that to run a business successfully, it is not only spend a lot of money on advertising, but also keep a good relationship with the customers and provide a good quality product. As most of the company just promote its products and company on advertising, I think it is a good way for others company to follow.
However, although there are ten case studies, after reading half, I¡¦m not really want to continue as all of the cases are similar. These ten companies stay at a similar situation, just face a difficulty and then using similar tactics that is radical marketing to tackle the problem. Therefore, it will be better if the author come up the points in fewer cases.
helped me get business.......2001-02-08
This book really helped us to position our agency (The Ad Store Amsterdam) against other agencies. Since we not only read this book but also used it (we even positioned ourselves as being a Radical Marketing Agency), our work improved and our client list grew beyond expectations. In short: this is a great book!
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- Dreamland (reissue)
- East of Eden
- Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your Soul
- Exceptional Learners: Introduction to Special Education (10th Edition)
- Financial Statements: A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports
- Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, Book 4)
- From Fear to Freedom: Living as Sons and Daughters of God
- Fundamentals of Power Electronics (Second Edition)
- Geography Club
- God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Living History Library)
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