This book details various unorthodox marketing campaigns and how/why they have succeeded in creating a consumer following. He deconstructs the wild success of brands like Red Bull, Hello Kitty, iPod and Pabst Blue Ribbon. I think most people would enjoy this book regardless of whether they're in the marketing field. It reads like a series of intriguing marketing case studies, some amusing and some fascinating.

Does what we buy define who we are? I won't tell you the punch line, you'll have to read to the last line of Walker's book to find the answer.

This is a popular study of marketing and consumers--why we buy, and how marketing affects what and how we choose to buy. Walker considers and rejects the two extremes often supposed to be true today:

--consumers (especially younger ones) are cynical and way too smart to buy the marketing hype.

--marketing is so smart and pervasive that nothing we buy is "authentic" (whatever that means; Walker spends some interesting time thinking about this) or meets an authentic need.

Consumers are smart today, no question, says Walker, and they understand marketing and hype--and buy anyway, sometimes even turning branding into an act of individualism or rebellion. In fact, Walker gives the example of Timberland boots, originally designed by manual laborers who needed tough waterproof boots, but were adopted by hip-hop artists and fans who drove sales to record levels and essentially co-opted the brand.

And marketing has gotten smarter too in the age of "clicks" (the mouse, the remote control, the DVR fast forward that bypasses marketing that doesn't hit home immediately). Walker references icons such as Apple and the iPod, stressing that the iPod was not first, cheapest, or necessarily technically superior to other MP3 players when introduced, although he misses a key point in the technical and marketing success of the iPod--iTunes, which both explains the iPods success, and adds another layer of mystery to Apple's business model for the iPod. An iPod, and any MP3 player, is really just a portable storage drive (either a rotating hard drive or a flash memory drive); people buy iPods (we own four of them in our family of five!) because of the utility value of the iTunes software, which is available for free download and is in fact of such utility that I (like many other iTunes users) had downloaded it and started using it to rip and listen to my music before I got my first iPod. I've always been fascinated by a business model that bases sales of an expensive product on a component of even higher utility--that is given away! It would be interesting to hear Walker's take on this.

Walker coined the term "Murketing" (murky + marketing) for the successful use of stealth marketing concepts that promote brands and brand loyalty without rising to the level of hard-core selling. In fact, murketing is successful only up to a level that is still under the consumer's radar--a level Walker calls the "murkiest common denominator."

But this book is not as dry or textbook as my review may be making it sound. Walker's interviews, writing style and examples are fascinating (we all are consumers and most of us enjoy doing it, after all) and his conclusion (you'll have to read to the end of the book) is interesting. I will say that along the way he considers consumer responses such as ethical consumerism (whatever THAT means, and again he has some ideas) and handcrafted production, and even references Rick Warren's immensely popular book The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? and his Saddleback Church as positive examples of why and how we relate to each other and our beliefs (or the products we buy). And its not about materialistic Christianity, quite the opposite.

Where did Red Bull come from? December 2001, Rob Walker joined a growing group of onlookers on a Miami beach to watch as a group of kite boarders set off to cross the eighty eight miles of water between Key West and Varadero, Cuba. Not only did the event highlight the emerging sport of kite boarding, its participants were sponsored by Red Bull energy drink. At the time Red Bull was not widely marketed and didn't have much of a niche in the US, though well known in its home country of Austria. The event also was a perfect example of the new type of marketing, or murketing (a combination of the words marketing and murkey that best describes the new advertising techniques) employed in the highly competitive advertising business. Relatively unknown at the time of the kite board launch, Red Bull has employed innovative and personal approaches, such as sponsoring small groups of extreme athletes, to gain a market and a brand loyalty. Now Red Bull is everywhere and has a firm hold of the top spot in the energy drink market.

In the search for the new or repeat consumer brands have begun to use anti advertising. Relying on guerrilla marketing tactics, trend spotters, and actively seeking the anti brand or new consumer niche market for its products. From finding new groups to co-op a product (Timberland boots and hip hop) while retaining its original core, tracking an unexpected growth in sales of a product and trying to catch that lightning in a bottle or marketing a new product and coolhunters or buzz marketers tout the aspects of their products. . Consultants evaluate the variables of brand identification, price, target market, market saturation and how it will present their product. A whole branch of advertising has evolved around the idea of not looking as if you are trying to market your product. "Coolness" has become a much valued trait.

Rob Walker has written the weekly "Consumed" column for The New York Times Magazine as well as contributing to Slate and various print publications. Buying In is an incredibly readable account of the ever evolving dialog between what we buy, what we own, and who we are or what we may want our purchases to say we are. I was completely enthralled and often was nodding my head with recognition or reading something to my coworkers that was too cool to keep to myself. A very readable look into how our consumer habits have changed and the forces that compete constantly to sway our choices.

I thought this book would give me insights into why people like me buy the stuff we do. After all, the title says "the secret dialog between what WE buy and who WE are." Instead, it was a murky examination of mostly oddball marketing campaigns that successfully launched some products into commercial success. If I got the point - not sure I did; and I couldn't finish the book - it is that the methods discussed are going to be the successful marketing methods of the FUTURE. I think you can get an idea about the focus of the book from some of the chapter subtitles: "pink boots," "rickety bridges," "cool guys," "sexy t-shirts for young people." There may be some great stuff here, but it went over my head.

Presumably, I'm of the generation that shuns brands, that sees through marketing hype, that dismisses contrived cool, that celebrates and embraces the Authentic and Good. And yet, reading through Buying In, I realized (like Walker), that my cynicism was, itself, a somewhat contrived and manipulated reaction to most modern branding, that I have bought in to marketing messages myself. The brands I'm into might be subtler, or "cooler," or "more underground," but when it comes down to it, my consumption is shaped -- more than I'm often willing to admit -- by marketers and "community liaisons" and others who are ultimately more concerned with persuading me to spend money on their product than they are with celebrating the Authentic and Good.

Walker does a good job of showing various agents at work, and various methods they employ, in order to convince the masses that something is worth buying, worth wearing, and worth identifying with their own personal brand. And that's the ultimate paradox about branding, isn't it?: that by associating with a brand, that we'll become "more valuable" (cooler, more attractive, funnier, etc.) ... but its only in our collective consumption that the brand maintains its vaunted position in society. Bah ... I'm rambling.

I'm a big fan of books about society and consumption ... The Tipping Point, Consumed, The Corporation, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I'm really glad to have Buying In in my library.

You should not buy Buying In if you're looking for a step-by-step how-to on building your own brand. It's not written to serve that function. But as an introduction to how large corporations are spending lots of money on niche properties and subtle methods of persuading people to part with their cash while remaining skeptical of brands, it's great.

The great thing about this book is that unlike most marketing and business related reads--this one is actually enjoyable. I didn't want to put it down. Rob has a way of capturing his points in a personal, conversational manner that draws your interest and keeps it.

As a designer, I typically disregard books related to marketing because I believe that things have changed so much that most of them are missing the mark. Traditional marketing is a dinosaur. Buying In goes beyond Communication 101 and points out how little control companies have over the marketplace now. Consumers play a large part in defining a brand and therefore build the relationships that Marketer's could only dream of and don't fully understand themselves.

A few of the examples used could be considered cliche, but they are used because their stories are so powerful that it would be blasphemous to leave them out of a book like this. Most of them were insightful and many were new to me.

This isn't an instruction book on how to make money and doesn't give you the answers to any great business problems, but it creates an important conversation that should be held by anyone looking to continue building relationships with their customers. This book serves as great inspiration to those who are willing to change the way they do business and think about other avenues of communicating who they are to potential audiences. But most of all I think the book benefits the consumer in ways that draw better insight into why they buy what they do, and how it represents who they are.

Great read, very enjoyable and inspiring.

The social sciences are replete with innumerable declarations of recent research insights that later prove to achieve nothing - why else would we have legions of economists that disagree with each other, decades of school "reform" that have brought little/no improvement in pupil achievement, findings that those treated by psychologists show little/no improvement over those not treated, and management theorists that split hairs over irrelevant topics while millions of jobs migrate to Asia for lower labor costs. "Buying In" follows this inglorious tradition.

Yes, Coke has a very valuable brand name that has boosted its profits; so do a few others - hardly news. "Buying In" also tries, but never credibly succeeds, to explain TiVO and i-Pod's successes, tries to make a phenomena ("Ooh - high margins," but very low volume) out of the occasional do-it-yourselfer that ekes out a living rebelling against Wal-Mart by creating hand-made-clothing, and a few surfers that have become brand names.

Save your money and instead read and think about declining real incomes, sales of brand-name stores (eg. The Limited), value of the dollar, and the importance of marketing in such an environment.

Rob Walker's main point in this book is that for most Americans brand choices have become a way to express individuality while still feeling connected to others. Why? Most people don't really do anything creative, but they want to feel better about themselves. They pick brands that reflect an appealing self-image.

This tendency to designer identity carries as far as choosing brands that reflect lifestyles that are symbolic of what you like, but aren't you. In some cases, brands develop such weak images that people flock to the same brand for widely different reasons.

The examples are what make the book fascinating. Mr. Walker has a keen eye for change in fashion and a good ear for listening to what people say about their choices. I've never seen such a simple thesis so thoroughly and interestingly illustrated.

Many brand marketing books avoid the whole realm of using nonadvertising methods to create images and awareness. Mr. Walker dives headlong into that subject and treats it pretty well.

The book's main weakness is that he doesn't get into the various segments that people tend to associate with in any detail. That leaves his examples better reflective of human psychology than marketing.

This book ultimately will provide more insight to consumers than to marketers. If you are a marketer, you'll probably grade this as a two-star book.

Mr. Walker is a talented writer as well. I don't recall having the opportunity to read too many books on marketing that display which a good writing style.

If you're interested in how certain brands take on personalities of their own beyond their framers' intent--or in the self-conscious denial of any intent at all--this book deserves your attention. Walker examines how certain brands come to embody what we say to ourselves about ourselves, but with no apparent acknowledgement of a surrounding brand community of any sort. In other words, individuals embrace many of these brands with no conscious pretension to belonging, seemingly because the brand has individual meaning for them alone. Or so they think.

All this may seem to run counter to the proposition that brand contagion is fueled by social networks. But the examples Walker presents don't diverge all that much from this model. And while he's a little snarky about notions like co-creation, that turns out to be pretty much the phenomenon he's examining. Many of his keystone cases--Converse sneakers, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, and Timberland boots among hip-hop devotees--are brands that have prospered through diffusion force fields that are, at least initially, invisible to the "commercial persuaders" behind the brand.

And all of them, paradoxically, seem to emerge from a distinctive peer-to-peer energy that is militantly brand-averse, a kind of anti-matter in the branding universe detectable only through its effects. Clearly we're not in the realm of mass market brands here. Still, Walker's thoughts on brand contagion--not to mention his vivid coverage of the individual entrepreneurs and early adopters behind the brands--make this a most valuable read for anyone, and most especially for "commercial persuaders."

I am a small business person and chose this book because it was recommended by amazon. I want to learn as much as I can about marketing or attracting more customers to my business. I have read about half the book so far and I have been asking myself why I bought it? When will the author mention something that a small business person can use in his/her business. This book has been a real waste of time. It consists of stories of companies doing new types of marketing. I really do not think it will help a small business person at all. The author does not identify with them.

the author uses ample research to back his insights...an amazing look at the changing landscape of marketing

Contrary to all the good reviews, I find this book very dry. Since 1996, Internet E-Commerce is the new marketing distribution. Everyone knows that. People are creating contents on MySpace, YouTube and many other social networking blogs and sites every minute. Consumers are taking control of the content of these websites. Web 2.0 is another name for it.
Many books covered these issues.

This book cited all types of research, using a term "murketing". It is a cliche. Marketing research is only as good as the customers that paid for them. Many times, it does not work in the real world. I would not recommend this book.

Fascinating -- accessible to non-academics yet rich with anecdotes and an in-depth analysis of the state of flux which typifies marketing today. A must read for anyone interested in marketing or branding. I am a young fashion designer who reads Rob's blog regularly and have corresponded with him on a couple occasions. I enjoy his work because his angle is intellectual yet relevant, and he really breaks down the nuances and subtleties of what's happening in "murketing" today.

"Buying In" is: a) a fresh analysis of consumer behavior, b) a perfect marketing textbook, c) a new view of post-millennium branding for businesses to chew on, d) a new perspective on societal behavior, or e) all of the above. Answer: "Buying In" is e) all of the above.

I can't agree more with editorial and customer reviews. I can only amplify the comments that conclude that Rob Walker has opened a timely and important discussion about how and why our society "consumes" - and what the implications are for all of us. "Buying In" inverts the paradigm that people are what they are labeled. Instead, we create our own labels - and consume to reinforce them.

Just as importantly, "Buying In" is a fun read. A gifted journalist and writer, Rob is a storyteller in the spirit of John McPhee. Rob's uncanny ability to find and interview the outliers of business - the extremes - provides a framework for the book that is both fascinating and illustrative at the same time. Simultaneously, he weaves in the pertinent analysis and research as well as the historical context. And, always the journalist, Rob's observations and ability to connect the dots leads to the questions he asked the reader to ponder and the conclusions that result. So start at the "Introduction" and let "Buying In" carry you away.

Rob Walker's book is excellent. Since the dawn of the internet age, just over a decade ago, the classic marketing paradigm (brands, 4Ps, advertising etc) have been on a slippery slope, and the only trouble is nobody has been quite sure which way it would all tilt. I have a raft of books talking about the "new marketing" (there was a boom in these after 1998 and the new millennium) but in my view Rob Walker is the first author to really nail the subject. He gets it so right.

I've spent since 1996 doing market research amongst youth brands (mostly amongst energy drinks as it happens, so I feel Rob's discussion of Red Bull and other players is absolutely right on the mark.) In this past decade I've been conscious that the changes we've been seeing are part of a mich bigger pattern. But Walker is the first writer and critic to stand back and really put it all in perspective. His thinking here - wide-eyed, holistic, detailed and entertainingly pertinent - puts you in the right place to see everything and how it all fits. He kind of grabs you by the sleeve to take you there, such is the energy of his writing.

One is left with the interesting question: are brands what the manufacturers make of them? Or are they appropriated by the consumer to reflect what we want of them? The subtle cover art, with the title floating between a bar-code and a thumb print, kind of sums things up. (One of the most subtle covers I've seen since Rita carter's excellent Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self)

Rob Walker presents us with an excellent book for marketers, market researchers, tired media buyers, marketing graduates who think they know everything and anyone who is just plain fascinated by how our society ticks. This is great reading.

This book is the perfect textbook for a college-level course on marketing.

Actually, it's the perfect book for the layperson who is interested in how marketing is carried out nowadays.

No - it's really a stinging inditement of modern youth, with their assurances that they are "immune to marketing" going hand-in-hand with their craven embracing of "buzz marketing" - essentially doing the work for the marketers.

Well, it's really a look at how modern youth have subverted the marketing paradigm and, like our culture, broken it into countless little pieces.

...Okay. It's all of the above. And I'm writing the review this way to illustrate another point Walker makes - the point of how megaselling items/brands like the iPod, like "Hello Kitty," like American Apparel, are hugely popular because they represent whatever each individual consumer wants them to represent. Walker's book is very well researched, and examines marketing from multiple viewpoints, with all kinds of examples that readers will recognize - Nike, Walmart, companies billing themselves as "green", the rise in popularity of DIY products and marketing, Etsy.com, and so on. There doesn't seem to be any strident agenda here, except for readers to consider the effects marketing has on them - more self-awareness. Not a great deal of ranting about the deleterious effects of marketing on the wellness of society, nor conservative chest thumping about free-markets, etc. Just a great read about how marketing has moved forward in the age of TiVo and the "informed consumer." Highly recommended.

I second what Po Bronson says about "Buying In." This book is much more than a simple, cocktail party business book -- it's an attentive, subtle and entertaining meditation that not only uncovers the latest trends in buying, selling and marketing but also pushes us to consider larger questions beyond these subjects. Personally, since finishing the book, I've taken a harder look at my purchases and what they mean to my larger sense of identity. Not that this is some kind of Chicken Soup for the Marketing Soul, but Walker isn't afraid to follow his many case studies and pieces of hard evidence to wherever they lead, and sometimes that means not only a critique of consumer culture but a look at contemporary American culture as a whole. And that's what I love most about this book -- that Walker dives into consumer culture with such wide, bemused eyes. The reporting reminds me of Studs Terkel -- when a journalist can turn a subject into something wonderful, literally into something "full of wonder." I was happy to follow marketing detective Walker on his tour of energy drink kitesurfing, dive bars, chicken sausage cookouts, underground dance parties, and Lower East Side sneaker boutiques. (As someone who almost got kicked out of an "underground" New York sneaker boutique for merely trying to, um, shop, I was pleased to have Walker pull my coat on this corner of underground brand culture.) And where his tour leaves us, at the end of the gripping final chapter, is in a place that is somewhat contradictory and unexpected and completely fascinating.

Rob Walker has earned a reputation as not only a solid journalist, but also a keen social commentator through his New York Times Magazine column, Consumed, and his Murketing blog. In this book, Walker deftly works his way through the social, cultural and psychological underpinnings of today's consumer.

Through well detailed stories of brands like Red Bull, Pabst Blue Ribbon and American Apparel he paints the marketing landscape of the 21st century with the deft touch of a European Master. But the book also looks inside the underground brands that have arisen as consumer empowerment through technology has taken hold.

I recommend this book to anyone curious about the state of marketing in America today.

I second what Po Bronson says about "Buying In." This book is much more than a simple, cocktail party business book -- it's an attentive, subtle and entertaining meditation that not only uncovers the latest trends in buying, selling and marketing but also pushes us to consider a lot of larger questions beyond these subjects. Personally, since finishing the book, I've taken a harder look at my purchases and what they mean to my larger sense of identity. Not that this is some kind of Chicken Soup for the Marketing Soul, but Walker isn't afraid to follow his many case studies and pieces of hard evidence to wherever they lead, and sometimes that means not only a critique of consumer culture but a look at contemporary American culture as a whole. And that's what I love most about this book -- that Walker dives into consumer culture with such wide, bemused eyes. The reporting reminds me of a Studs Terkel -- when a journalist can turn a subject into something wonderful, literally into something "full of wonder." I was happy to follow marketing detective Walker on his tour of energy drink kitesurfing, dive bars, chicken sausage cookouts, underground dance parties, and Lower East Side sneaker boutiques. (As someone who almost got kicked out of an "underground" New York sneaker boutique for merely trying to, um, shop, I was pleased to have Walker pull my coat on this corner of underground brand culture.) And where his tour leaves us, at the end of the gripping final chapter, is in a place that is somewhat contradictory and unexpected and completely fascinating.

Smart enough for the academic set, and approachable enough for the casual observer, Walker's style is as engaging as the many cases he draws from.

This month, you should read this one.

I'm a huge fan of Rob Walker's style and regularly read his 'Consumed' column and mourn his recently departed 'Murketing' newsletter. Heck, I even read his yearly 'zine on departed public figures. That said, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when reading 'Buying In.'

Unlike typical industry commentators and critics, Walker tends not to add hype to the mix, but rather breaks down products, trends and marketing techniques to almost a scientific level. More text book than hyped book du jour.

If you're looking for a quick easy read with sound bites that will make you sound cooler to your colleagues- this is not the book for you. If you're looking to dig into a book that will make you rethink the branding of your favorite companies while offering insights into the industry in general, you should probably stop reading this review and just order the book--just don't expect to finish it in one sitting.

Walker doesn't have schtick, no funny hair or pretentious wording, just an extremely meaty read that makes me think I should reread it in case I missed anything.

Commercials trick us into buying stuff we don't need! (Well, that's not quiet true.) The consumer is in control! (Um, not exactly.)

This book deconstructs how individuals shape and interact with branding and how marketers are blurring the line between selling and everything else.

It's a thought-provoking and entertaining read - whether you love or hate advertising.