University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications --

Commodity branding did not emerge with contemporary global capitalism. In fact, the authors of this volume show that the cultural history of branding stretches back to the beginnings of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, and can be found in various permutations in places as diverse as the Bronze Age Mediterranean and Early Modern Europe. What the contributions in this volume also vividly document, both in past social contexts and recent ones as diverse as the kingdoms of Cameroon, Socialist Hungary or online eBay auctions, is the need to understand branded commodities as part of a broader continuum with techniques of gift-giving, ritual, and sacrifice. Bringing together the work of cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, this volume obliges specialists in marketing and economics to reassess the relationship between branding and capitalism, as well as adding an important new concept to the work of economic anthropologists and archaeologists.

Buying (RED) products—from Gap T-shirts to Apple—to fight AIDS. Drinking a “Caring Cup” of coffee at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to support fair trade. Driving a Toyota Prius to fight global warming. All these commonplace activities point to a central feature of contemporary culture: the most common way we participate in social activism is by buying something. Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser have gathered an exemplary group of scholars to explore this new landscape through a series of case studies of “commodity activism.” Drawing from television, film, consumer activist campaigns, and cultures of celebrity and corporate patronage, the essays take up examples such as the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign, sex positive retail activism, ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, and Angelina Jolie as multinational celebrity missionary. Exploring the complexities embedded in contemporary political activism, Commodity Activism reveals the workings of power and resistance as well as citizenship and subjectivity in the neoliberal era. Refusing to simply position politics in opposition to consumerism, this collection teases out the relationships between material cultures and political subjectivities, arguing that activism may itself be transforming into a branded commodity.

When it comes to branding the energy space, an exciting and largely unexplored field of research emerges. Energy companies are under the spotlight as consumers press for positive action on sustainability, CSR, and environmental issues. In light of this, this book has two objectives. First, the author explores the challenges and opportunities that experts within the field face when deciding on strategic brand direction. The results indicate that practitioners in recently liberalised markets have met the emerging branding challenges, such as differentiating commodities, meeting new consumer demands, and building strong brands. Second, the book examines, from an expert-practitioner point of view, whether branding and building brands are activities relevant to this type of market. This book, therefore, attempts to fill a literature gap, as it examines the applicability of theoretical and practical methods of branding and brand strategies in a commodity market, in this case the energy market.

A stimulating, smart book on what it means to live in a brand culture Brands are everywhere. Branding is central to political campaigns and political protest movements; the alchemy of social media and self-branding creates overnight celebrities; the self-proclaimed “greening” of institutions and merchant goods is nearly universal. But while the practice of branding is typically understood as a tool of marketing, a method of attaching social meaning to a commodity as a way to make it more personally resonant with consumers, Sarah Banet-Weiser argues that in the contemporary era, brands are about culture as much as they are about economics. That, in fact, we live in a brand culture. AuthenticTM maintains that branding has extended beyond a business model to become both reliant on, and reflective of, our most basic social and cultural relations. Further, these types of brand relationships have become cultural contexts for everyday living, individual identity, and personal relationships—what Banet-Weiser refers to as “brand cultures.” Distinct brand cultures, that at times overlap and compete with each other, are taken up in each chapter: the normalization of a feminized “self-brand” in social media, the brand culture of street art in urban spaces, religious brand cultures such as “New Age Spirituality” and “Prosperity Christianity,”and the culture of green branding and “shopping for change.” In a culture where graffiti artists loan their visions to both subway walls and department stores, buying a cup of “fair-trade” coffee is a political statement, and religion is mass-marketed on t-shirts, Banet-Weiser questions the distinction between what we understand as the “authentic” and branding practices. But brand cultures are also contradictory and potentially rife with unexpected possibilities, leading AuthenticTM to articulate a politics of ambivalence, creating a lens through which we can see potential political possibilities within the new consumerism.

Historians of consumption have perpetuated a specific reading and interpretation of early modern commodity branding, in which the relationship between proprietary interest and final consumer has been privileged. In addition, its primary goal has been portrayed as a means of differentiation in a market of homogenous goods. As such, 'branding'™ has been established as a nineteenth-century phenomenon, which resulted from the advances in industrial technology that enabled mass production to take hold. Similarly, historians have been content to adopt the view promoted by present-day marketing agencies and scholars, that 'branding'™ was fairly simplistic in purpose and function until after the Second World War. In contrast, this thesis uses an interdisciplinary approach to combine a plethora of non-textual material culture and documentary evidence to demonstrate that commodity marking practices were of a more diverse nature than has been acknowledged, both prior to, and throughout, the industrial revolution. Multiple identities marked, read and appropriated these symbols upon products. In so doing, this thesis complicates the established historiography of consumption. It also integrates commodity branding into wider histories, including the construction and display of personal identity, as well as contributing towards interpretations of state formation, 'nationhood'€™ and governmentality.

“Iconic brands” (ie: Coca-Cola, Volkswagon, Corona) have social lives and cultural significance that go well beyond product benefits and features This book distills the strategies used to create the world’s most enduring brands into a new approach called “cultural branding". Brand identity is more critical than ever today, as more and more products compete for attention across an ever-increasing array of channels. This book offers marketers and managers an alternative to conventional branding strategies, which often backfire when companies attempt to create identity brands.

The Rise and Spread of Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing and Branding.

Commoditization is a major challenge for companies in a wide range of industries, and commodity marketing has become a priority for many top managers. This book tackles the key issues associated with the marketing of commodities and the processes of commoditization and de-commoditization. It summarizes the state of the art on commodity marketing, providing an overview of current debates. It also offers managerial insights, case studies, and guidance to help manage and market commodity goods and services.

Leading brand designer Marc Gobé builds on his highly successful Emotional Branding strategy with Citizen Brand, a powerful new concept designed to help companies earn the trust of today's consumers. Gobé argues that corporations need a new vision to survive in the present "emotional economy," challenging them to develop more passionate, human, and socially responsible brand strategies. He shows how to transform Consumers to People, Products to Experiences, Honesty to Trust, Quality to Preference, Identity to Personality, and Service to Relationship.