Branded - Softcover

Quart, Alissa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099458063 ISBN 13: 9780099458067

Publisher: Random House Business, 2003

Synopsis

Corporations spend billions of dollars annually to woo teen and pre-teen consumers. Over the last 5-10 years, the research of these groups and their behaviour has become very focused on exactly how best to part them (or their parents) with their money. Alissa Quart takes the reader into the disturbing world of teen marketing, showing how they are taught to market to each other and where adults build careers out of insinuating their way into 'friendships' with teens in order to monitor what they wear, eat, listen to and talk about with each other. This compelling book looks into the way teens succumb to peer pressure and the constant commercial battering and the young people who fight back, who turn the tables on the cock-sure mega-corporations who so cynically strive to crack the codes of teen cool. These kids prove it isn't necessary to give in to branding, but it is a drop in the water when an entire generation is being raised to consume.

About this title

Review:

Alissa Quart's Branded highlights the corporate marketing strategies aimed at teenagers and pre-teen (tween) consumers. It's no surprise to hear that most teenagers have mobile phones and a voracious appetite for designer labels or that, in the US, corporations spend billions of dollars to woo them.

Indeed, US schools have long since been sponsored by corporations but what Quart fears is that the current growth of corporate sponsorship in UK schools, if continued at the present rate, makes it increasingly likely that in a few years time there will be little difference between them. Despite the fact that, as recently as 1996, parents and politicians fiercely resisted the idea of advertising in schools, corporations have taken advantage of a recent initiative that saw businesses partnering-up with "under performing" schools. Since then, according to Quart, the doors have opened for branded school supplies and--given the ingenuity and determination of corporate strategists and the naïveté of the educational authorities--the corporate insinuation into our children's minds begins as soon as they leave mother's apron strings.

The heart of the book is very interesting indeed, describing as it does the actual tactics employed by the youth marketing industry and the required mindset necessary to be among the best employees. For instance, at the 2003 Kid Power event in London, conference organisers instructed attendees in how to harness "the power of word of mouth", how to ensure their products are "the talk of the playground", how to get past the "gatekeeper" (Mum and Dad), and to be aware of the influence of "pester power". The marketers wear the clothes of youth, befriend the kids as part of their job, milk them for information on what's hot and what's not and generally get the jump on their competitors by encouraging brand loyalty from as early an age as possible. The book is laced with the views of the teens and 'tweens' themselves as well as personal recollections of Quart's own tween years to add historical perspective.

On the whole Branded is earnest, well written and a little depressing--despite the final section focusing on examples of anti-corporate attitudes and activities among the kids. Readers of Naomi Klein's No Logo will find nothing surprising here, but it's a useful weapon (or rebuke) for parents afflicted with savvy, brand-afflicted teens. --Larry Brown

Review:

"Deserves to command wide attention among millions of families...Quart makes a brilliant case...[and] her book is a necessary warning for parents" (New York Times)

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Business
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0099458063
• ISBN 13: 9780099458067
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336