Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

I've been following Rob Walker's blog, murketing for almost a year now and was incredibly excited to pick up a copy of his much anticipated book when it was released at the beginning of last month.





Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are is Walker's attempt to flesh out his coined term murketing and its implications on the future of advertising and popular culture.

Marketers and advertisers face a new challenge in our era of television-on-demand and the mainstreaming of independent subculture. It is suggested that today's target audiences are more aware of advertising and attempts on the part of corporations to create needs that don't exist.

Walker proposes that consumers today are not, as many have supposed, rejecting big brands. (Unfortunately for the highly esteemed culture-jammers at Adbusters, the consumer revolution may not be as close as you hoped.) Rather than rejecting the idea of branding, consumers today are taking brands and creating their own meaning to go along with them. This creates a challenge for the companies holding the brands, as they are losing a large measure of control over their brand positioning, and the smarter companies are learning the value of allowing these consumer sub-groups to assign whatever value to their particular product the consumer sees fit.

An interesting example was Timberland boots- the fashion phenomenon that swept the world of hip-hop in the last decade. According to Walker, Timberland's CEO was initially reluctant to market to this new audience as he saw his product as being for more serious blue-collar work needs, not as fashion statements. By finally allowing the consumer to have some control over what his product was about (and producing Timberland boots in pink, blue, green and other colors), Timberland successfully bridged the gap between a new and powerful youth culture while maintaining their reputation of quality boots for working men.

Walker's understanding of not just consumer culture, but generational differences and general human nature, makes this book a real standout in terms of shedding light on the grey area between authentic culture and manufactured meaning. The practices of murketing are likely here to stay, and we could all do well to understand it a little better. Whether these culture-blurring practices should be embraced or rejected is still an open question in my mind, but the need for leaders in the field who are asking good questions and looking towards the future is one that will never go away and Rob Walker is certainly doing his part well.

Saul Williams "Release"

Ok, I'm stalling on the Rob Walker book review, but I've been a little bit obsessed with this bit of Saul Williams from the Blackalicious album "Blazing Arrow" (Lyrics Born does another part of this same song.)

Anyway, enjoy. Its just the audio, no real video. Just a heads up.





"I can think of nothing heavier than an airplane.
I can think of no greater conglomerate of steel and metal.
I can think of nothing less likely to fly.
There are no wings more weighted.
I too have felt a heaviness."

Oh man, that kills me every time.




Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Twitter Buys "Summize" Techs

This is week-old news, but it sounds interesting, from a data/statistics nerd kind of view...

Twitter Blog: Finding A Perfect Match

This makes me think, for some reason, of some of the applications for "sensing" Mark Hansen talked about at the Technology and Journalism panel last February.

Rob Walker, Billy Collins and Saul Williams: Summer Reading in Denver

The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver was the only "must see" on my list for my recent trip to Colorado.

As far as book stores go, this place was incredible. Two floors of nothing but floor to ceiling shelves filled with new and old books of every size and subject. No cd's, no movies, just books, and lots of 'em.

My best find was a book called The Spoken Word Revolution (slam, hip hop & the poetry of a new generation), which includes a CD (ok, so I guess they do have cd's). Considering my recent fascination with all things Saul Williams and the fact that the introduction was written by Billy Collins, another recent favorite, this purchase was a no-brainer.

Purchase number two, in the same line, was a first edition paperback of Billy Collins' Nine Horses, not of any special monetary value, but I was excited to find it anyway.

Oh, and Rob Walker- I finally finished Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, on the plane ride home. This is possibly the most significant book, in terms of the current changes in media, marketing and culture, I have yet to come across. Hopefully a (slightly) more complete review will be coming soon...

Reprise: Sure it's in Norweigan, But See it Anyway

For all of you who discount all films with subtitles because its too much work to read and watch a movie at the same time- fine, its your decision, but I'm just telling you, you're missing out.



Reprise, released in Norway in 1996 and now, two years later, here in the U.S. is nothing new in terms of plot. 20-somethings struggle with artistic ideals and difficult relationships and the slow (sometimes excruciatingly so) realization of dreams unfulfilled.

What this movie lacks in originality of story it makes up for with its commitment to authentic moments of quiet and stillness. The soundtrack is winning, consisting primarily of Joy Division and New Order songs as well as what I assume are Norwegian bands that try to sound like Joy Division and New Order and one great song from Le Tigre. Between all these driving base lines are scenes of pure silence. Sometimes people are talking, with no volume. Sometimes people are just living and not saying a word.

(our protagonists)

The story centers on Erik and Philip, aspiring writers at the beginning of the film, both submitting their first novels to a publisher. An unknown narrator walks us through their dreamed outcome, involving just the right amount of ironic failure and underground success and mixing in some scandalous romances and trips to Paris. Flash back to reality. The real story is set when Philip's novel is published, pushing him into a psychotic break and Erik's is rejected, pushing him to write something worthy of his aspirations.

Somehow the movie retains a kind of dry humor and charm, despite the dark themes and watching these men suffer the slings and arrows of not-so-outrageous fortune, one can't help but respect the director's honesty and ability to portray real human drama without overly manipulating his audience with the usual tear-jerking soundtracks or hackneyed scenes of relationships gone bad.

If you have a chance to see this film, I recommend that you do, and if you really can't handle subtitles, well, that's an argument for another time.

Coincidence? Maybe

(the new trivia mascot)

Mr. Show Interlude

Ok, I really wanted to play the bit about the Marilyn Monster restaurant chain from the "Patriotism, Pepper and Professionalism" episode, but I couldn't find it. Watch this one instead.

hooray for america?

15 Seconds from Today

(starting line of the Peachtree Road Race)

Everything's Going to Be Ok- The Good People At Converse Told me So

Converse, owned by Nike since 2003, commissioned professional and amateur video geeks to make some ads that would appeal to the savvy, ad-immune consumers of today. The short commercials can all be seen online at this point and they range from stupid, to creepy to irritating- for the most part.

Maybe Converse has gotten way too comfortable with selling out. Maybe they are just trying to keep their image of recent decades as the shoe of choice for rebels and artists. Rob Walker calls this murketing. (More on this to come)

Regardles- I kind of liked this one:

www.iseverythinggoingtobeok.com

Islands: The Unicorns Really are Dead

Ah negativity. Its rough, but it is the only response possible when something unique and delightful becomes something bland and irritating. Case in point:


The Unicorns, made up of Nick Thorburn (no, I will NOT call you Nick Diamonds, you twit), Alden Ginger and Jamie Thompson, released the entirely wonderful, weird, singable, danceable, creepy, nerdy and morbid Who Will Cut our Hair When We're Gone? in 2003.

(audio of "Tuff Luff" from The Unicorns)

I didn't just love this album- I was borderline evangelical about it. Almost anyone riding in my car in the summer of 2004 was subjected not only to listening to the CD, but also listening to me explaining what I liked about each track. (Yeah, I know. I'm a work in progress.)

In 2005 The Unicorns broke up. In 2006 Thorburn and Thompson formed Islands. Also in 2006, Thompson left Islands.

Islands performed at the Masquerade in Atlanta and while the music was well played with a rich, layered sound and featured an interesting mix of violins (2), keyboard, synth, bass, guitar and drums, Thorburn turns out to be an incredibly irritating kid to watch live.

(Islands at the Masquerade)

The best thing about Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? was the weird humor of the whole album. Arm's Way, recently released from Islands is a decent listen, but the sounds lacks all the playful irony of the former band and Thorburn's awkward and completely earnest attempts at convincing his audience of his "indie" rock star cool almost ruined what was an otherwise enjoyable, if unremarkable show.

15 Seconds from Yesterday