The world is more branded than ever before: Americans encounter anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 ads a day, and increasingly brands vie for our attention from insidious angles that target our emotional responses (scent, taste, sound, and touch). In an ever-faster, more competitive global landscape, branding, or identity-making, has begun to replace the research and development of yore. From the fertile crescent of branding (Cincinnati) to the laboratories of sensory specialists (musicologists, and “noses”), Lucas Conley investigates the phenomenon of rampant commercialism (often backed by little substance), offering an illuminating portrait of an age of obsession.

Conley offers an investigation into our culture of obsession, and requires us to consider the grave ramifications of our branded world.

A fun and humorous introductory book, written in Stephen Brown′s entertaining and highly distinctive style, that introduces curious readers to the key components of brands and helps them to begin to make sense of them - what they are, what they do, why and how - using plenty of examples and references drawn from a wide range brands such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Gucci, Nike, Nintendo, Starbucks, Swatch and The Worst Hotel in the World. With 3,000 branding books published each year, why would you (or your students) want to read Brands & Branding? Here are seven reasons why: It’s introductory, aimed at undergraduate students or postgrads without a bachelor degree in business and assumes nothing more than readers’ awareness of high profile brands such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Chanel It’s indicative, focusing on the basics and thus being a more reliable revision aid than Lucozade It’s immersive, taking readers on a journey and, working on the assumption that they have smartphones or tablet computers to hand, the print text links to images, articles and academic publications to give emphasis and context where appropriate. It’s inclusive, considering articles and reports but also blogs, novels, newspapers, reviews, social media and other sources It’s irreverent – branding is not always a deadly serious business! It’s intimate, Stephen speaks to you directly and together you will pick your way through the sometimes weird and unfailingly wonderful world of brands and branding using examples rather than abstract ideas to illustrate points. It’s inspirational, celebrating the curious and successful stories of brands from Cillit Bang to Cacharel Suitable for first and second year marketing or advertising students, and for those new to or interested in branding and who are keen to know more.

This book is the definitive resource for understanding the phenomena and process of personal brand management as it becomes increasingly valued in a global economy. By providing a research-based, theoretical framework, the author distills the concept of personal branding as it is applicable to individuals throughout all stages of career development as well as across industries and disciplines. Extensively researched with numerous case studies, this book clearly outlines the strategic process of evaluating the economic value of a personal brand to manage and scale it accordingly. The author, an expert in the field of personal brand strategy and management, argues that a business is what a person or organization does, but the brand is what people expect from that person or organization. The two must align, and the book’s conceptual framework explains the theory and practice behind personal branding to accomplish this synergism. The consequence of the digital age is unprecedented visibility for individuals and businesses. As they engage with one another in more and more virtual spaces, the need for understanding and managing the evolving complexity of this ‘personal’ engagement is an economic reality. For this reason, the framework in this title provides insight and perspective on all phases of a brand in its recursive life cycle both on and offline. By providing clarity and structure to the topic as well as practical theory for its application, this title is the ultimate primer on personal branding in theory and practice.

Tim Phillips has been a journalist for 20 years, and during that time he has been slowly driven crazy by bad spokespeople: the jargon, the evasiveness, the inability to make a point or to answer a direct question. Now that every company has a small army dedicated to communications, the problem seems to be getting worse. That's why we should stop thinking about spin and management, and start concentrating on talking like human beings. Is this possible? Talk Normal is an attempt to find out. Based on the author's blog, www.talknormal.co.uk it's full of excruciating examples of corporate jargon, and it will help you to steer a path to better communication, whilst coping with the worst excesses of management speak at work.

Tamara R. Piety argues that increasingly expansive First Amendment protections for commercial speech imperil public health, safety, and welfare; the reliability of commercial and consumer information; the stability of financial markets; and the global environment. Using evidence from public relations and marketing, behavioral economics, psychology, and cognitive studies, she shows how overly permissive extensions of protections to commercial expression limit governmental power to address a broad range of public policy issues.

Bringing together the latest debates concerning the development of marketing theory, featuring original contributions from a selection of leading international authors, this collection aims to give greater conceptual cohesion to the field, by drawing together the many disparate perspectives and presenting them in one volume. The contributors are all leading international scholars, chosen to represent the intellectual diversity within marketing theory. Divided into six parts, the Handbook covers the historical development of marketing theory; its philosophical underpinnings; major theoretical debates; the impact of theory on representations of the consumer; the impact of theory on representations of the marketing organisation and contemporary issues in marketing theory.

Can you change the world with your wallet? You already do. In this frank, teen-friendly manifesto, Mara Rockliff reveals what you're really buying when you spend your money on a cell phone, a cheap t-shirt, or fast food -- and shows the way to better choices, both for people and the planet. Start seeing the world for real, and discover how you can make a difference. You've got buying power -- now let's see you change the world for good! GET REAL has been selected as an Honor Book in the Nonfiction category for the 2011 Green Earth Book Award.

“Simon knows more about Starbucks—and about why so many Americans find perfection in their lattes—than anyone. He connects our deepest desires to be good, smart, ethical consumers with our equally strong yearning to consume in an authentic way. Our coffee, Simon shows, is us.”—Sharon Zukin, author of Naked City

An examination of the relationship between space, place and consumption offers important insights into some of the most powerful forces constructing contemporary societies. Space and place are made and remade through consumption. Yet how do cultures of consumption discover space, and how do they construct place? This book addresses these questions by exploring the implications of conceptualizing consumption as a spatial, increasingly global, yet intensely localized activity. The work develops integrative approaches that articulate the processes involved in the production and consumption of space and place. The result is a varied, engaging, and innovative study of consumption and its role in structuring contemporary capitalist political economies.