Kinetic Loop

Marketing and consumer culture commentators can be like rock-boring clams, connecting to the world through two narrow siphons. Now picture the clams in Plato’s allegorical cave (I’m grabbing the simile’s arm and yanking it around a corner). The clams see images on the wall but mistake what they see. Unlike the allegory, however, the clams agree on what they’re seeing: that “consumers are in control” and therefore unresponsive to persuasion marketing (though I can personally attest that almost none of the people I see in downtown Chicago are wearing burlap sackcloth with rope belts).

Rob Walker didn’t write ‘Buying In’ to debunk the clams — er, commentators. He wrote it because he believes that understanding the secret dialogue between what we buy and who we are is important and useful, but there is ancillary debunking along the way.

When marketing commentators aren’t discussing a new species of human, one consciously in control of their behavior and immune to the wiles of commercial persuasion, they like to talk about “authenticity.” Walker writes in his blog that authenticity is “mandatory in all stories about youth-focused marketing,” and in the book he questions who decides what’s authentic. Ecko and Ralph Lauren demonstrate that authenticity can be created adventitiously, outside of the brand itself.

In the first part of the book, Walker explains how an underground brand such as the Hundreds cracked the Desire Code by creating their own symbols, and how Sanrio cracked it by creating the simulacrum of Hello Kitty, the queen of “projectability.” Another brand with projectability is Red Bull, whose stealthy but spendy marketing had no clear message. A projectable brand lets the consumer interpret the meaning on her own terms. There are many possibilities of interpretation, and a greater sense of play, when a brand allows for interference of the message.

Considering how much interference there is between the brand and the mind of the consumer, brands may as well embrace it. Here, Walker draws on the work of human behavior researchers and explains how “rationale thinking” cracks the Desire Code on a subconscious level. As Lisa Schwarzbaum of EW magazine wrote in a review of ‘In Treatment’: “We’re erratic, contradictory, each of us an individual bundle of urges, compulsions, and rationalizations, dressed in shoes.” Rationale thinking is a significant factor in the discourse between brand and consumer, and we can better understand how our brain’s interpreter does its job.

The second part of the book deals with the interconnected relationship between consumer and brand, which makes me think of the odd symbiotic relationship of a particular type of hermit crab and sea anemone: the anemone’s stinging cells protect the hermit crab from the octopus, whereas the anemone gets mobility, and hence more food. The brand gets more revenue and fosters stronger ties to the consumer, who uses the brand to add to her identity and personal narrative.

The stories of Scion and Pabst Blue Ribbon contradict assertions of youth culture being brand-proof and demonstrates how these interconnected relationships form. The people who embraced Pabst were skeptical anti-marketing types, so how to explain the brand’s resurgence? It was a blank slate, and allowed consumers to draw their own meaning. Pabst was a brand that had been around for a long time and languished, whereas Scion was a new brand just a few years ago. As part of Toyota, selling a durable good, it had what Walker calls The Pretty Good Problem. Scion’s difference was ingrained consumer collaboration ab origine. The people who went to Scion’s graffiti block parties, raves and art events knew how Scion was involved, and were fine with it.

The Gen Y people that Scion courted weren’t resistant to Scion’s presence or sponsorship, and neither were the gamers that Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve targeted for Tylenol. Popcorn’s thinking was guided by the theory that traditional advertising is dead, and Walker was interested in how her firm applied this theory to Tylenol. The Ouch! gaming team wore non-subtle Tylenol-branded clothing, and Popcorn found that the gaming community was pleased they attracted such a big sponsor. Subcultures are more amenable to aligning with corporations because they consider the relationship co-promotion. As more examples of how traditional marketing’s fourth wall is being broken, Walker writes about BzzAgent’s successful volunteer (as opposed to “Magic People”) campaigns.

Micro-entrepreneurs create their own meaning by creating their own objects. With Barking Irons, the meaning of the brand is known only to the consumer. The shirts look cool, visually, but you don’t know the story behind an illustration unless you buy the product (or investigate it). The brand succeeds by being part of a consumer’s personal narrative. This, Walker explains, is why the broadcast status theory of consumption is especially inadequate as an explanation of the brand underground. In his recent Marketplace commentary, Walker stated “We’re now in the age of the invisible badge,” which is the subject of the third part of ‘Buying In.’

In this third section, Walker uses the ethics of consumption as a framework for changing the discourse, and describes how brands such as American Apparel and Method offer their consumers rationales beyond ethical practices. Walker talks with American Apparel execs, including Don Charney, who know that focusing on ethical practices won’t move the brand beyond niche status.

Walker also investigates shifts in the dialogue that don’t depend on brand owners “empowering” us as consumers. He find these shifts in the DIY crafting movement, in which crafters position their wares as an “overt challenge” to mass consumer culture. Then he wraps up the section by examining how ‘The Purpose-Driven Life’ and affinity groups demonstrate the murkier line between objects and beliefs.

Walker deftly guides the reader through this new landscape, where marketing borders have deliquesced and commercial persuasion has become thoroughly integrated into our daily lives. Though he incorporates outside sources, Walker’s first-hand interviews and observations compose the foundation of the book. He writes about the subtle complexity and implications of this secret discourse with insight, curiosity and personable style. ‘Buying In’ is an excellent resource for anyone interested in consumer culture, commercial persuasion and human identity.

This review is based on the advance reader’s edition of ‘Buying In.’ The book is scheduled for release on June 3, 2008. You can pre-order the book now from Amazon.