OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder : The Business of Illusion and the Illusion of Business - Softcover

Conley, Lucas

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9781586487041: OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder : The Business of Illusion and the Illusion of Business

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586487043 ISBN 13: 9781586487041

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2009

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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.

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About the Author:

Lucas Conley, who began his career at The Atlantic Monthly, is a contributing writer for Fast Company. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe and ESPN: The Magazine, among other publications. Obsessive Branding Disorder is his first book. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From Publishers Weekly:

Journalist Conley examines the implications of brand-centric marketing in an incisive investigation that illustrates how defenseless consumers are against advertising—on any given day, they are assaulted by 3,000 to 5,000 ads and branding stratagems that subtly dictate every aspect of their lives. Harnessing scientific innovations, branding has become increasing insidious—whether it is the Xbox audio logo or Southwest Airlines' incorporation of the fasten seatbelt sound in their marketing campaign—consumers are being conditioned to think in brands. Beyond ad creep and product placement in entertainment programming, viral and word of mouth (WOM) marketing now make even personal recommendations suspect. According to Conley, 1% of American children and 7% of mothers are compensated for participating in WOM marketing. Even social policy is being corrupted—the author asserts that public branding initiatives such as post-Katrina New Orleans' allocation of public funds toward refurbishing its Mardi Gras City image rather than addressing its safety issues shifts resources away from problem-solving in favor of perception. Conley's perspective on branding's encroachment into social areas is as alarming as it is stimulating. (June)
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