Book Description
Branding has become so successful and so ubiquitous that even cultural institutions have embraced it. In this witty and trenchant social analysis, James Twitchell shows how churches, universities, and museums have learned to embrace Madison Avenue rather than risk losing market share.
Branded Nation uncovers a society where megachurches resemble shopping malls (and not by accident); where a university lives or dies on the talents of its image makers -- and its ranking in U.S. News & World Report; and where museums have turned to motorcycle exhibits and fashion shows to bolster revenue, even franchising their own institutions into brands. In short, says Twitchell, high culture is beginning to look more and more like the rest of our culture. But in perhaps his most subversive observation, he doesn't condemn this trend; on the contrary, he believes that branding may be invigorating our high culture, bringing it to new audiences and making it a more integral part of our lives.
Savvy, sharply observed, and bitingly funny, Branded Nation is sure to both enlighten and entertain.
Download Description
Branding, says James Twitchell, is nothing more than commercial storytelling; brands are the stories that are associated with products. (For example, the special taste of Evian, says Twitchell, is in the brand, not the water.) Branding has become so successful, so ubiquitous that even institutions that we thought were above branding, antithetical to branding, have succumbed. Such cultural institutions as religion, higher education, and the art world have learned to love Madison Avenue or lose market share. Of course, most ministers, university presidents, and museum directors will insist that branding has nothing to do with them, but as Twitchell brilliantly demonstrates in this witty, insightful examination of three of our most important cultural institutions, wherever supply exceeds demand branding follows.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging and informative, but not his best work.......2006-02-20
I first became aware of Jim Twitchell when I saw him speak at a conference in 2003. When he began his speech with a description of Florentine churches as one of the earliest examples of competitive branding, I was hooked, and have since read a number of his books. Branded Nation examines religion, academia, and art, and explains how these areas are just as permeated by the commercialism of our society as any other, despite the special status they've been accorded. His message resonated with me and served to explain changes I've seen in religion, education, and museums in my own lifetime. I would agree with another reviewer who mentioned that this title seems drag a bit in the museum section. Nonetheless, Twitchell's style is intellectually engaging, and takes the edge off what might be considered a cynical view.
Didn't do much for me..........2005-09-28
I don't disagree with the central ideas of this book, and the writing was simple and easy to understand. I just felt it was stretched out waaaaaay too long - the last chapter on museums, especially, just dragged. It felt like I was reading a college textbook that just trudged on and on. That's not necessarily bad, but this is a book for the masses, not a marketing class, and I just felt like it could have been edited down a lot more and still not have left anything out.
A "why do the way things work the way they do?" book.......2005-06-30
In this lively book, James Twitchell helps illuminate some of the interesting consequences when non-profits -- embodied in this book as Megachurch, College Inc, and Museumworld -- borrow branding techniques to market themselves.
I found the introduction a little long and academic (e.g., he talks about how the romanticism of Wordsorth and Keats influences modern branding). But the book gets progressively better. In my opinion, his best chapter is on the college (appropriate, since the author is a professor at the University of Florida).
Here's an illuminating analogy from the chapter (which he cites from another source): "If Consumer Reports functioned like U.S. News [in ranking colleges], it would rank cars on the amount of steel and plastic used in their construction, the opinions of competing car dealers, the driving skills of customers, the percentage of managers and sales people with MBAs, and the sticker price on the vehicle (the higher, the better)."
This book is not a polemic: it isn't trying to convince you that churches, colleges and musuems _shouldn't_ market themselves. It's just trying to explain what happens when nonprofits _do_ market themselves. I'll never look at the college admissions process or a musuem gift shop the same way again.
The writing is lively, and the book has a few well-chosen images to underscore its points. Bottom line: it's well worth a read. It's one of those books which help you understand why things are the way they are -- e.g., why modern musuems have restaurants, why universities have development offices, and why parking is crucial to the growth of mega-churches.
Ironic, but not pessimistic.......2005-04-22
Twitchell takes a very ironic look at the way churches, museums, and higher education have used branding to survive. It's ironic in that while the effects of this might seem undesirable or even embarrassing, we the public are merely getting what we ask for...we're just consumers. Then Twitchell explains why, in some cases, the effects of this branding are not undesirable after all.
The most insightful section of the book covers the branded-ness of higher education (appropriately so, since Twitchell is himself a professor). Twitchell describes American higher eduction choices as a barbell, with elite colleges such as Harvard on one end and "convenience" colleges (think Wal-Mart) on the other end, with the institutions in the middle feeling the real squeeze to differentiate themselves. Also included is an interesting look at the US News & World Report college list phenomenon as well as a look at why convenience colleges might not be as bad as you think. Twitchell even includes some practical insight on where college dollars might be best spent.
I found the megachurch section to be only so-so. Perhaps because I am very familiar with megachurches I found many of his points to be pretty boring. (Guess what - megachurches have modern sounding music!?) The section on Willow Creek finding its marketing niche (men) was interesting, however. If you are reading this book primarily to learn about megachurches I might recommend The Transformation of American Religion by Alan Wolfe instead. It is a bit more scientific and objective in its study.
Twtichell's writing style is a bit odd...not bad, but just a little different. At times he does ramble a bit but then suddenly includes a dense and insightful sentence. This style kept my interest but made the book a careful, not quick, read. Also important is the reader's willingness to buy into the definition of "brand" as STORY. This may be a mental jump for some.
In short, this is an enjoyable book. You won't look at college, church, or museums in the same way.
Marketing Where You Least Expected It.......2004-09-22
James Twitchell has written extensively on advertising and consumerism, and knows that consumers are not logical. If we were, he says, we would know that we needed, say, a laundry detergent, and would research to see what detergent was best, perhaps checking to see what the boffins at _Consumer Reports_ might recommend. Then we would take the recommendation to the grocery store, where we would see a very restricted number of possible logical choices. It doesn't work that way for detergent, nor, these days, does it work that way for churches, museums, or universities. In _Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld_ (Simon & Schuster) Twitchell has written a funny and scary evaluation of the pervasiveness of marketing in American life beyond the grocery shelves.
The problem with laundry detergents is that there are plenty of them, offered by many suppliers, and most of them are interchangeable. There is very little difference between them, so it is necessary for the manufacturers to create a story about the brand, how it is "clothesline-fresh", perhaps, or how the power-granules go to work on stains. Twitchell's thesis is that schools, museums, and churches are all supplying pretty much the same thing, and to up their market share, they are telling stories about themselves (branding) and as good consumers, we are going along with them. We think that museums have a higher calling than competing for a market share, that they don't really pay attention to the turnstiles, and that they are "... only the custodians of, shhh, please be quiet, don't touch, the deep truth." However true this may have been in the past, it is no longer. There has been a huge growth in the numbers of museums, the theme of a surplus of goods, though we don't usually view museums that way. The "modern, formal, self-conscious museum" is not what people go to as much as they go to theme exhibits, like "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the theme is the brand and holds the emotion. For decades there have been more college students than seats in the classroom, so the marketing had to begin. Harvard wouldn't admit as much, but it has a great brand. Twitchell (who is a professor of English at the University of Florida, an institution that does not avoid some withering remarks here) sniffs at the Harvard record, which he says lacks real substance. What's good about Harvard is not what comes out, but what goes in: "the best students, the most money, and the deepest faith in the brand." In churches, the product, epiphany or salvation, is undifferentiated, producing cut-throat competition for the stable forty percent of people who go to church regularly; this number does not go up, so churches are taking customers (sometimes known as parishioners) from one another. Twitchell examines the brand shifts in Protestantism that are the same as when Sam's Club comes to town: warehouse churches, of no particular denomination, on the outside of town with huge parking lots.
It is disconcerting and amusing to hear of these important spheres of life described in marketing terms, but Twitchell knows the lingo. All of them, for instance, are LBEs, or Location Based Entertainments. While his evaluations may be controversial, this is no polemic; Twitchell does not find branding bad; other marketing systems are simply antiquated. Brands have become motivators, "the basis not just of interactions but of interior actions." He thinks that identification with brands may be the way we will continue to spread common knowledge and beliefs, and that it thus may be the foundation of community. States are practicing branding (for instance, in advertising as vacation destinations), and countries are, too. Twitchell quotes a CEO who is looking at the big picture: "What makes us good at selling soap can help us sell America." Perhaps so, but even Twitchell speculates that the story of America, which could be best summarized as "complexity" may at this time be overwhelmed by the perceived story of "an arrogant rogue."
Book Description
An incisive exposŽ of the underhanded advertising initiatives that target teens-and an exploration of their disturbing consequences.
Generation Y has grown up in an age of the brand, bombarded by name products. In Branded, Alissa Quart illuminates the unsettling new reality of marketing to teenagers, as well as the quieter but no less worrisome forms of teen branding: the teen consultants who work for corporations in exchange for product; the girls obsessed with cosmetic surgery who will do anything to look like women on TV; and those teens simply obsessed with admission into a name-brand college. We also meet the pockets of kids attempting to turn the tables on the cocksure corporations that so cynically strive to manipulate them. Chilling, thought-provoking, even darkly amusing, Branded brings one of the most disturbing and least talked about results of contemporary business and culture to the fore-and ensures that we will never look at today's youth the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers.......2006-07-22
The premise of this book seemed very appealing to me. I have always been very opinionated about "Branding" teenagers, and while in high school I refused to wear well known brand-name clothes.
However, once I got into actually reading the book, I was very dissapointed. Quart seemed, at least to me, to merely skim the surface of the problem, filling the pages with statistics and endless lists of numbers but not really pulling much meaning out of any of it.
It also seemed to me that she focused most of her attention on the "rich" kids. I feel that a comparison between priviledged and average teenagers, even severely underpriviledged teens, would have made the book much more interesting. It got especially frustration for me when I reached the chapter titled "Logo U" because (my being fresh out of highschool) I felt that she was exaggerating, or else obviously not expanding her interviews for children NOT from wealthy families. I never took an SAT course, never bought an expensive SAT book but still did perfectly well on my SATs, and got into several excellent colleges.
I understand that the point she was trying to make was about teens getting the "Logo U"s in their minds and refusing to be denied access to them, but I feel the endless droning about SATs offered nothing to feed that point and just made me try to compare the information to my own experience, with little, if any, success.
I apologize for my review being so unorganized. I am no professional writer myself.
Okay, but lacking..........2006-05-25
"Branded" definitely supplies a great deal of information, but Quart seems to fail in synthesizing this information for the reader. Granted, it is fairly easy to understand the points she is trying to make, but she fails to coherently state these points in a memorable fashion. The book is filled with endless examples and statistics, but it is lacking in overal argumentation. She seems to allow the facts and the stats to speak for themselves, without using them to prove specific points. The book is an endless supply of premises, with very few conclusions.
However, I did learn much from this book, and the chapter on teenage plastic surgery was quite shocking and disturbing to me.
Overall, I do recommend this book, if you are able to draw your own conclusions from the facts provided.
Brand This!.......2005-07-07
Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart is a quick and fascinating read on the current and constructed intersections between young people, the media and popular culture, corporate agencies, and consumer culture.
What struck me most about Quart's analysis is how RELEVANT it is. Unlike many books published today, the research, reference, and anecdotal material in Branded (published in 2003) is very recent and does not rely too much, or at all really, on the 1990s.
Two shortcomings of the book were the chapter on Self-Branding (I felt Quart could have done more with body piercing, for example) and the last few pages (her final analysis could have been stronger). Despite these weak spots, Quart clearly did her research.
Branded is an interesting and even fun read suitable for parents, teenagers, and educators alike. As a teacher myself, I will definitely refer to it in the future.
Good concept, but not totally engaging.......2005-01-18
Alissa Quart tackles an admirable and potentially fascinating subject in Branded, yet I was left feeling a bit disappointed after finishing the book. I personally found her writing style a bit stilted, and it seems like there is a lot of information and many observations, yet not so much in-depth analysis. The book itself is not extremely long, so there is definitely room for more expansion. There are countless examples of teen branding in movies, fashion, magazines, advertisements, etc., and the author touches on all of these and more, but somehow the book felt more like a bombardment of information than a nuanced analysis. I had pretty high expectations when I read this book (especially from the many positive editorial reviews available), but it was ultimately not as satisfying an experience as I would have hoped.
Fresh and Disturbing Take on a Rather Tired Argument.......2004-09-23
I found it to be an excellent read, and I'm considering using some excerpts from it to spark writing and discussion in a basic writing class that I teach--a class where I'm always concerned that the readings I use are immediate, accessable and read well.
Although the book's subject is the way that companies market to teenagers, in a sense this is only a subset of the author's larger concern with capitalism and consumer culture. She obviously has a left wing take on this subject, although I disagree with earlier reviewers that her presentation is manipulative or unfair. The issue isn't whether or not companies fill a demand (obviously, they do), but about the lengths to which they go to create that demand. How you feel about this obviously depends on your politics, but Quart's viewpoint seems to me to be reasonable and valid.
My problem is that this argument is just sort of tired. I'm just bored of hearing the same critique of "consumer culture" over and over again. What sets this book apart, though is its focus on marketing to children, and, in particular, the passages where Quart presents the kids' lives through their own words. It's pretty disturbing to hear how closely they identify their own self-worth with the products that they use. I'm not just talking about the idea that they have to conform to a certain image in order to be beautiful--again, this is old news. But about how the almost BECOME the brand that they use. When a teenager named Carrie, a fan of MTV's "Total Request Live" describes her loyalty to that show and to the marketing she does for The Backstreet Boys by saying, "I like the Boys as much as my friends and family"--well, there's something really disturbing about that.
Book Description
Branded Customer Service breaks new ground with an assertion that brand equity is built not just through advertising and public relations, but also through the human exchange of customer service. Customer relations experts Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart have a passion for branding and explain in practical terms how to take a defined, recognizable brand position and then make it live through delivery of service. Challenges to consistency are discussed, as well as the internal promotion of brands, the reinforcement of brands through staff and customer interactions, and how to link brands to selling styles and messages.
Customer Reviews:
The authors got it right.......2007-05-16
Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart got it right. Having spent my entire 30 year professional career in the services industry it was clear the book was based not only on comprehensive research but also on practical experience. Their theories and advice can and should be applied in organizations of all sizes.
The book is entertaining and convincing. The reader will be able to relate to the real life examples the authors describe. They explain in easy to understand detail how to brand your organization from the inside out, effectively defining your organizational DNA. In addition, I have seen their advice work in numerous organizations. Implementing their processes is the equivalent of a Super Bowl ad.
Branded Customer Service is not only the best brand development book I have read, it is also the best business book I have read.
A "must-read" especially for business executives.......2007-01-06
Written by chief executives Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart, Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge is a no-nonsense guide filled with strategies, exercises, and real-world examples to teach the reader how to harness the power of branded customer service. Unbranded customer service can potentially harm one's business, even when it is of good quality; branded customer service helps foster repeat business and word-of-mouth referral, among its many other advantages. Chapters discuss how to link the world of branding to one's customer service, how to embed on-brand service into the DNA of one's organization, tips, tricks, and techniques for supporting one's brand from within, and much more. Accessible to readers of all backgrounds, Branded Customer Service is a "must-read" especially for business executives, marketers, and even small business owners with the power and need to foster lasting improvements in this dimension of their chosen enterprise.
Clear and useful!.......2006-02-07
The authors are really clear on the differences between "generic customer service" and "branded customer service". You still get the impression that it would be difficult to apply in certain areas / industries, but it is important to take a look at what should everyone do in order to continuously support your brand promise. Worth a read!
Four Words: Go Buy This Book!.......2005-03-16
I have been working on a branded customer service project for a few years now, and was looking for some research or reference material when I came across this book - it was like I found my "tribe"!
The authors do a brilliant job defining the concept of branded service, and offer great tools and ideas that you can use to start getting your organization "on-brand." It's easy and fun to read with real-life examples of what it's like to experience on-brand and off-brand service.
If you believe that branding only belongs in the advertising or marking department - think again. It's the job of the entire organization to not only represent your brand, but to also make it come alive!
Once you read this book you will never be able to look at an organization or service experience again without thinking... hmmm...was that off/on brand or what!
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is working in this field, or thinking about how to gain a real competitive advantage for their organization.
The missing link.......2005-03-08
Branding has been inside the marketing thinking pattern for so long that this refreshing look, coming from an innovative perspective, gives the reader an insight on the true meaning of a brand. Like every other dimension of your company, it's your people who will make it or breake it. Barlow and Stewart guide us through new models for (re)thinking and developing a brand. Having employees with "on-brand" behavior should be the main concern of every company. Read this book to learn how you can achieve it.
Product Description
Seawolf 28 Summary An exciting action filled novel of one of the top decorated naval aviators of the Vietnam era brings the reader a dramatic story of a twenty-two year career of a Navy helicopter pilot. By the end of the Vietnam War he was a four tour veteran with well over 600 missions and the recipient of more than thirty-nine citations, including the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. Throughout his career he qualified in over 20 different types of aircraft and rose from the enlisted ranks to squadron Commanding Officer. This is not just another Vietnam combat action story. Seawolf 28 is a timeless, powerful, honest and uncompromising first hand account of a man that knew no limits when it came to standing up for his men and what he believed in. What makes this novel stand out is the unparalleled successes they enjoyed while others stood by and watched to see if they would fail. They took on every challenge including the military bureaucracy and could not be defeated. Driven as a young man to find the person he truly was, he risked everything to complete that journey. Even though it took years, he learned to honor himself for what he accomplished in an environment where he was overmatched and out of his league when it came to politics and manipulation. Through it all he was able to maintain his integrity, and loyalty to his men. These actual accounts are a testament of the determination of one individual to meet life head-on and challenge those intrusions and aggression of others. He was labeled a Maverick by the Navy because he would not compromise his beliefs or the men he served with. Even with his directness and at times boldness they were unable to stop him as long as he had the support of his men. The story spans the gamut from a young cadet full of exuberance and high ideals to nine engine failures and dozens of life threatening incidents and hair raising combat stories, to his biggest battles challenging senior officers to do the right thing, at the risk of his own career. As his distinguished career comes to the end he finds himself battling the crippling results of medical mismanagement from the doctors at Balboa Naval Hospital. Even then he refuses to accept the inevitable and fights back to restore his dignity and physical well-being. The story ends with the Naval Hospital doing everything they can to cover up their incompetence and total disregard for the men who served. Through his internal strength and undefeatable character he never loses faith in the Navy and the men who served so gallantly. Out of shear determination and on his own he was able to overcome the debilitating affects at the hands of the Navy doctors. It is a compelling story that will cause young people to think about what lies ahead and let them see the sacrifices that are needed to serve their country and bring back the memories both good and bad for those who were there.
Customer Reviews:
Amusing if only for the poor spelling and grammatical errors........2007-08-27
The Seawolves have a great story that needs to be told. Unfortunately, this is a poorly written, poorly edited book that does a great disservice to men who made that story great. If you can endure the abundant spelling and grammatical errors, you are certain to be turned of by what boils down to be one long, pointless and self promoting sea story. One look at the picture on the back cover told me all I needed to know: cheesy mustache, choker whites unbuttoned down to his chest hair, awkwardly posing on a wicker chair with a San Miguel in his hand. The entire book is an embarrassment to Navy Pilots.
Perfect Veteran-very PROUD!!.......2006-12-26
This book, in my view, is a one-of-a-kind! This author has served his country to the utmost, and then some. He was an outstanding pilot that went where his beliefs took him; being it doing the honorable thing by rescuing servicemen in need, or fighting the politics because of what he did.
This is such a great book! Not only for the "war stories-which are NOT war stories", but for the way he stands his ground ; not only for himself, but especially for his fellow military servicemen.
Bill McDonald - President of the MWSA .......2006-04-13
A Navy Maverick With True Grit!
Seldom do I ever read a military aviation book where I come away thinking that I would have really loved to have flown with the author of that memoir. Author Al Billings is a veteran's veteran! He is a man among men. It was men like Al that made flying in Hueys the heroic aviation adventure it was. His book "Seawolf 28" explodes with energy and action and much more. His personality certainly comes shinning through and shows him for whom he was.
Billings was awarded over 40 medals and citations including the Silver Star and The Distinguished Flying Cross. He was a member of the Navy's most decorated helicopter attack squadron in the Vietnam War. I have met several members of the Seawolfs when filming the documentary film "In the Shadow of the Blade." You could not find any better group of honorable men for sure. It is not surprising to read how well they did in combat. This book not only honors the role of the author but also adds to the almost myth like tales of those fine young men.
The book is well written and is a great read. I admit that the last chapters in the book were not the way I would have liked to see it end for the author, but Billings is true to himself all the way to the end and shows a lot of class. When you finish reading his book you will be left with many emotions about the war, the men, leadership in the military and what it means to stand up and be counted when someone has to be accountable and honest. Al Billings is a true leader in the real sense. I think most veterans will agree that he would be the guy that you would like to have had in the pilot's seat on your flight!
This is a must read book and receives the MWSA's HIGHEST RATING - FIVE STARS!
Book Description
The head of a celebrity public relations firm offers expert advice on the art of PR and branding
In A Branded World, renowned celebrity publicist and bestselling author Michael Levine explores the fascinating and complex world of branding. He explores the many facets of PR in the branding process, including packaging, damage control, and e-branding. By actually creating a fictional product and using it as a branding template throughout the book, this definitive work offers extraordinary advice for PR executives and marketing managers on how to build their brands and use the appropriate media to effectively promote those brands. With examples of successful and unsuccessful branding campaigns and an exploration of the idea of personalities as product, this is the definitive guide to branding.
Michael Levine (Los Angeles, CA) has represented hundreds of major-name celebrities as head of a prominent public relations firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and London. His client list includes Janet Jackson, Fleetwood Mac, and Reebok, among others. His essays have appeared in USA Today, the National Review, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.
Customer Reviews:
Lessons in Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising.......2007-05-13
I found this book in looking for sources for my public relations case study on Apple Computer (now just Apple, Inc.). This book only has a few mentions of Apple, but it also cites so many other examples from Nike, Charlton Heston, Madonna, and the Got Milk? campaign, and many others. The author also outlines different steps in a fictional company to illustrate the points that he makes in the book. I didn't use the book very much for my Apple case study, but I did read the entire book afterward and found it to be a very valuable resource for myself, since public relations is my area of study. This book is applicable to anyone who studies public relations, marketing, or advertising, as well as people who have a business or anyone who wants to know more about the "science" behind the actions that many companies take to try to get your attention in a favorable way.
Good But Maybe Not for What You Think .......2006-12-24
I have been a publicist for over a dozen years and have read many books on the subject, and been impressed with few. One of my gripes has always been the lack of "real world" accounts from various authors. I have a respect for Michael because he is a fellow colleague with real world experience and he offers up that information here in laymens terms.
You cant expect to read a book about branding or public relations and have the author offer up all their secrets unless him/her no longer practice in the field and could care less about the information they offer. Frankly I would offer commen sense information that would help the average person but certaintly not all as I am a firm believer that you have to protect your bread and butter.
If your new to branding and public relations principles this book will be a great supplement to any public relations textbook. The reader might come away with some helpful hints.
This book will probably not work for small business folks who do not have the budget many of the companies and celebrities mentioned in this book have at their disposal and contrary to popular belief good PR from a professional or firm cost money. Not as much as advertising, but PR is not cheap and why should it be. Kudos to Michael for sharing info about our business which can only help the business.
Simple but informative .......2005-08-07
The book explains why do we need a brand, what can it do and how to maintain it. If you are looking for deep branding tactics then you are in the wrong place.
Not What I Was Hoping For.......2004-07-15
The majority of this book reads more like speculation by the author rather than solid fact. The impression this gives the reader is the the author has not dealt with many big brand names on a publicity level. The problem with this is that dealing with smaller entities is quite a far cry from dealing with a major brand such as Nike or Toyota.
I kept reading hoping for some interesting inside scoops into the world of big name brands, but was let down. If you are new to the world of branding you might gain a few nuggets of information from this, but I found it all to be common sense.
Ultimately Disappointing.......2004-05-05
This book is not without its good points, particularly the author's ability to address the audience equally regardless of PR background. However, the downsides cannot be ignored. The central theme of the book is credibility and how PR is the surest route to building it. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are a number of arguments based on correlation, rather than cause-effect. Even more irritating are the armchair assessments of what other companies/countries should have done when building their campaigns with no real supporting evidence that the recommended strategies would have been effective. In addition, even though the author asserts that PR is the best way to build a brand, it doesn't appear that the professional PR organizations (which are few and far between) even mention this fact in their charters. So, what it really comes down to is a very specific view of PR, using a very specific PR strategy which, as luck would have it, can't be found at a local PR firm.
Book Description
Written by a senior marketing and media executive, Branded for Life makes sense of a world where Wal-Mart is richer than 85% of the nations on earth; where well-informed, obese consumers continue to drink Coke and eat at McDonalds; where rabbis discuss market segmentation strategies to counteract declining market share; and where naming rights to newborns may be sold to the highest corporate bidder.
Branded for Life explains who we really are as consumers, and how large corporations and political leaders exploit our trust. The book also provides sane, actionable advice for people who want to make a difference.
Average customer rating:
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Branded Entertainment: Product Placement & Brand Strategy in the Entertainment Business
Jean-Marc Lehu
Manufacturer: Kogan Page
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0749449403 |
Book Description
Branded Entertainment explains how product placement, a long-time phenomenon in films, has gone beyond this to now embrace all media. Citing examples from film, music videos, and computer games, the author explains the history and development of product placement, advantages of this form of brand advertising, and methods employed by different brands. Most importantly, Branded Entertainment discusses the future possibilities for using this form of promotion to recreate an emotional connection with customers and to spread the message across multimedia channels.
Book Description
Key Benefit- Entertainment Marketing &Communication is the first textbook to focus specifically on entertainment marketing, offering clear and up-to-date framework that allows you to adapt marketing principles and communication theory to the entertainment world.
Key Topics- Theoretical or principles perspective: Theories underlie the study of communication, and marketing principles serve as models for developing new and interactive techniques.
Behavioral perspective: Principles of consumer behavior and audience motivation provide real understanding of why and how people use entertainment. Implementation perspective: Planning and strategy development are tools of marketing and communication that enable students to directly apply their knowledge.
Evaluative perspective: The message becomes profound through real-life examples. Five case studies provide great opportunities to analyze and critique what is really happening today in entertainment marketing. Market
- For undergraduate and graduate level Marketing and Communication courses or practitioners in the entertainment industry.
Average customer rating:
- Tedious and branded
- Vintage tough lady noir written with timeless elegance and grit
- Okay, but somewhat pedestrian writing
- No cardboard cutouts - real characters and real plot twists
- No cardboard cutouts - real characters and real plot twists
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Branded Woman (Hard Case Crime)
Wade Miller
Manufacturer: Hard Case Crime
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0843953594 |
Customer Reviews:
Tedious and branded.......2007-08-12
Maybe my least favorite of the HARD CASE CRIME series.
Not to say it's not fun or anything, far from it. I enjoyed the action (when it was happening) and the style of writing was alright.
My major reason for the mediocre rating was just how long it seemed to take to finish. I mean how many times can you describe the same place we've been reading about for the past 150 pages? The twists and turns seemed forced and the ending didn't really make the anti-heroine seem very credible at all.
Give it a read, but I'm not really sure how much you'll want to return to it.
Vintage tough lady noir written with timeless elegance and grit.......2007-05-06
BRANDED WOMAN was a 1952 Gold Medal PBO by the dynamic writing tandem of Robert Wade and Robert Miller. Now the title has been reprinted by Hard Case Crime. Cay Morgan, a gorgeous jewel smuggler, has been "branded" on the forehead ("T") by her enigmatic competitor, the Trader, as a vicious warning. Of course Cay vows to take him down. The setting is steamy Mazatlán in Mexico. As with all Wade Miller projects, the writing is first-rate. The chase sequence through a street celebration is a classic. The attitudes toward ladies aren't dated and Cay emerges from the fray beat up but tougher and wiser.
Okay, but somewhat pedestrian writing.......2007-01-19
I have enjoyed a number of Hard Case Crime books. Other than THE COLORADO KID by Stephen King, I have pretty much confined myself to reading the "old" books. Some have been very good(I really enjoyed Ed McBain's THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE) and others have suffered due to what I can only describe as "old-fashioned" writing.
To me, reading Dashiell Hammet or James Cain shows instantly that even in 1920, writers could produce blistering, fast-moving, fascinating hard-boiled fiction. RED HARVEST is a true potboiler yet it continues to inspire writers and filmmakers today.
BRANDED WOMAN falls into the group of books that once probably got away with somewhat sloppy writing because the subject matter and plot twists were shocking enough to keep the reader turning pages. The main character of the book is a "hard-boiled" woman...something pretty rare. She's not a femme fatale, she's a tough woman who moves in mens circles and isn't afraid to go toe to toe with them. This would have been very unusual in the 1950s. She is hell-bent for revenge against "The Trader," the crimelord who branded at "T" onto her head some years past. In 2007, it is simply hard to muster up the level of outrage at this act which the book obviously thinks will come.
True, if someone branded my head, I'd be pretty ticked off. But for me to be horrified and to think of this as torture in a piece of fiction...sorry, it doesn't work. After the things we see everyday on TV (just think of what Jack Bauer has endured and dished out on "24"), the violence in BRANDED WOMAN is just flat out tame.
Beyond this, the book offers some modest plot twists, and after a slow-paced start, it does pick up speed in its final 50 pages or so. But if you don't see the twists coming a mile away, you haven't been reading much in your life. I called the identity of the trader almost immediately.
Most of the characters were pretty stock as well. I did like the relationship between Cay and her private detective George Hodd, but surprisingly (well, I guess there was a surprise afterall) that was quickly dispensed with.
So I guess the upshot is that this is not the best example of noir or hard-boiled fiction you can find...but it is far from the worst. I can't exactly recommend it...but I wouldn't tell anyone it was a mistake to read it either. Hence, 3 stars.
No cardboard cutouts - real characters and real plot twists.......2006-08-17
Tough, jaded, and smart, Cay Morgan is like any other jewel smugger except for one thing: she's a female. And a remarkably attractive female at that. In fact, her only physical flaw is a brand on her forehead, which left a permanent scar in the shape of the letter T. A brand inflicted as a permanent warning by "The Trader," a criminal kingpin standing at the top of the smuggling pyramid.
Five years later, Morgan is determined to exact vengeance for the painful imprint. She is in Mazatlan, shadowing a man called Valdes, a known associate of the Trader. A private detective has accompanied her, ostensibly to watch her back and perform some legwork while she hunts for her nemesis. Things go bad, though, when Valdes turns up dead, cutting off her last link to the Trader. And then things go from bad to worse when she stumbles across the body of her private detective.
Stunning plot twists and an utterly unpredictable conclusion are hallmarks of Branded Woman. Further, Morgan is fleshed out as a full-fledged person, not a cardboard cutout the way that many female protagonists are portrayed. All in all, while it's not the finest in the Hard Case Series ("Touch of Death" and "Bust" are two I consider superior), it's certainly high quality work that's helping to resurrect the Pulp genre.
No cardboard cutouts - real characters and real plot twists.......2006-08-11
Tough, jaded, and smart, Cay Morgan is like any other jewel smugger except for one thing: she's a female. And a remarkably attractive female at that. In fact, her only physical flaw is a brand on her forehead, which left a permanent scar in the shape of the letter T. A brand inflicted as a permanent warning by "The Trader," a criminal kingpin standing at the top of the smuggling pyramid.
Five years later, Morgan is determined to exact vengeance for the painful imprint. She is in Mazatlan, shadowing a man called Valdes, a known associate of the Trader. A private detective has accompanied her, ostensibly to watch her back and perform some legwork while she hunts for her nemesis. Things go bad, though, when Valdes turns up dead, cutting off her last link to the Trader. And then things go from bad to worse when she stumbles across the body of her private detective.
Stunning plot twists and an utterly unpredictable conclusion are hallmarks of Branded Woman. Further, Morgan is fleshed out as a full-fledged person, not a cardboard cutout the way that many female protagonists are portrayed. All in all, while it's not the finest in the Hard Case Series ("Touch of Death" and "Bust" are two I consider superior), it's certainly high quality work that's helping to resurrect the Pulp genre.
Book Description
This is a true story about a teenage runaway, her contact with suicide, gender identity issues, drug addiction, and the sex industry.
This is also the anecdote of how recovery opens the door to a healing process and alters the subjugators, one day at a time.
350pp with 70pp of expertly integrated historical graphic design interwoven with explicit, thought provoking, progressive text
Customer Reviews:
WOW!!.......2007-10-24
An extremely powerful and moving story told with charm and wry humor. My only quibble is with the the rather truncated ending. I can understand why she ends as she does but would rather have a little bit more.
Almost a hero..........2005-07-04
Credit must be given to the author for exposing major parts of her life as it takes great courage to tell the world of our secrets, our past and our dark sides.
Experiencing a life on the street as a prostitute, a peep-show girl and a drug user yet working hard to be loved and to advance in life through college and education. The author had a life of constant struggle and at the same time lived a life that was guided by her own sexual desires and fantasies. Some things have changed over the years but her promiscuity is still well engrained in her life style - I know!
I highly recommend the book as the author has done us all a great service and we should all learn from this incredible passage.
Unflinching bravery.......2005-05-02
Transsexual autobiographies often tend to recount events and experiences, but rarely do they delve deeply into the underlying issues. Such is not the case with this fine book, which gives a glimpse of what it was like to transition on the urban streets in the bad old days (which sadly hasn't changed much in the ensuing decades).
The reason I recommend this book so highly is not just the style or the thoughtfulness Rosalyne has put into this, but also because it shows that there is a way out of even terribly hopeless situations. We can stop the downward spiral of despair and self-medication, of anger and self-hatred, but it requires introspection, support, and most of all perseverance. I wish every drop-in house and shelter that services young trans clients living on the street and/or engaged in survival sex had this book available. Rosalyne is a survivor, and her example can give others strength in moments of weakness or times of great adversity.
Inspirationaltransition story.......2004-09-02
Here is an unusual book. In simple terms, it is a personal transsexual experience. But it is so much more. It is the story of the transsexual experience on the streets of New York from the early 1970s through the beginning of the new millennium. It is the story of the sleazy side of New York during the same period, seen through the eyes and experiences of a transsexual. And, it is an inspirational story of a courageous transsexual person surviving the streets to become a highly-respected professional social worker and political activist.
Rosalyne Blumenstein was identified male at birth. She was introduced to shame by five years old when she dressed female with dress-up clothes provided in kindergarten. She left school and home at age 13, and spent the majority of her next 18 years working in New York's famous (infamous?) sex industry. She experienced life on the street as a prostitute, drug user, and peep-show girl.
Then she overcame her drug addiction. She returned to the peep show business clean for another seven years, supporting herself through college and graduate school with her earnings and scholarships. She was an early participant in the Gender Identity Project within Mental Health and Social Services at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center of New York. By March 1996, she became the first ever Director of the project.
The book is somewhat disjointed, making it difficult to read straight through. It is best read in segments, and is organized in a way to facilitate reading in that fashion. Life on the streets and in the clubs is related in great and intimate detail. Some will find both the language and discussions offensive, but it reflects the environment where Ms. Blumenstein spent much of her life. No one without this experience can really understand what it was like or what strength and courage it required to survive and overcome it.
As a volunteer at the Center, Ms. Blumenstein realized how out of touch she was without a formal education. She also realized that most of those she worked with were truly out of touch without her informal (street) education. Her collegiate success built on her transsexual experience to make her uniquely-qualified for her varied mental health and social services, especially for the marginalized members of our gender communities.
"This book is about pain, it's about celebration, it's about taking risks, its about going crazy, and it's about being fabulous and adventurous" It is an inspirational success story of a young woman originally designated male overcoming this incorrect designation, overcoming drug and alcohol abuse, and overcoming her life on the streets of New York to become a leader in HIV/AIDS prevention, education and outreach to all LGBT, and many other services to various marginalized communities.
Take us out of ignorance!!!.......2004-07-22
A total page turner. took me way out of my own narrow thinking. Bravo!!!! a must read. Thank you Rosalyn.
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