Books about Name we from Amazon.com

“Fascinating … A compelling blend of cultural anthropology and business journalism.” — Andrea Sachs, Time Magazine

“An often startling tour of new cultural terrain.” — Laura Miller, Salon

“Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the maximum…” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

Brands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span generation has become immune to marketing. Consumers are “in control.” Or so we’re told.
In Buying In, New York Times Magazine “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker argues that this accepted wisdom misses a much more important and lasting cultural shift. As technology has created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands in unprecedented ways. Increasingly, motivated consumers are pitching in to spread the gospel virally, whether by creating Internet video ads for Converse All Stars or becoming word-of-mouth “agents” touting products to friends and family on behalf of huge corporations. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel cultural, political, and community activities through connections with brands.

Walker explores this changing cultural landscape–including a practice he calls “murketing,” blending the terms murky and marketing–by introducing us to the creative marketers, entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizers who have found a way to thrive within it. Using profiles of brands old and new, including Timberland, American Apparel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Bull, iPod, and Livestrong, Walker demonstrates the ways in which buyers adopt products, not just as consumer choices, but as conscious expressions of their identities.

Part marketing primer, part work of cultural anthropology, Buying In reveals why now, more than ever, we are what we buy–and vice versa.


Praise for Buying In
“Walker … makes a startling claim: Far from being immune to advertising, as many people think, American consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing process. … [He] leads readers through a series of lucid case studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively participate in infusing a brand with meaning. … Convincing.” — Jay Dixit, The Washington Post

“Walker lays out his theory in well-written, entertaining detail.” — Seth Stevenson, Slate

“Buying In delves into the attitudes of the global consumer in the age of plenty, and, well, we aren’t too pretty. Walker carries the reader on a frenetically paced tour of senseless consumption spanning from Viking ranges to custom high-tops.” — Robert Blinn, Core77

“Rob Walker is one smart shopper.” — Jen Trolio, ReadyMade

“The most trenchant psychoanalyst of our consumer selves is Rob Walker. This is a fresh and fascinating exploration of the places where material culture and identity intersect.”
–Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food

“This book has vast social implications, far beyond the fields of marketing and branding. It obliterates our old paradigm of companies (the bad guys) corrupting our children (the innocents) via commercials. In this new world, media-literate young people freely and willingly co-opt the brands, and most companies are clueless bystanders desperate to keep up. I really don't know if this is good news or bad news, but I can say, with certainty, that this book is a must-read.”
–Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?

“Rob Walker is a gift. He shows that in our shattered, scattered world, powerful brands are existential, insinuating themselves into the human questions ‘What am I about?’ and ‘How do I connect?’ His insight that brand influence is becoming both more pervasive and more hidden–that we are not so self-defined as we like to think–should make us disturbed, and vigilant.”
–Jim Collins, author of Good to Great

“Rob Walker is a terrific writer who understands both human nature and the business world. His book is highly entertaining, but it’s also a deeply thoughtful look at the ways in which marketing meets the modern psyche.”
–Bethany McLean, editor at large, Fortune, and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

“Are we living in an era of YouTube-empowered, brand-rejecting consumers? Rob Walker has the surprising answers, and you won’t want to miss this joyride through the front lines of consumer culture. A marketing must-read.”
–Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick

“Rob Walker brilliantly deconstructs the religion of consumption. Love his column, couldn’t put his book down.”
–Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy.
Price: $12.46 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Mesmerizing, revelatory text combines with more than two hundred photographs -- most of them taken by the author -- in a startling illustrated memoir that will both astonish and move you.

When Dominick Dunne lived and worked in Hollywood, he had it all: a beautiful family, a glamorous career, and the friendship of the talented and powerful. He also had a camera and loved to take pictures. These photographs, which Dunne carefully preserved in more than a dozen leatherbound scrapbooks -- along with invitations, telegrams, personal notes, and other memorabilia -- record the parties, the glittering receptions, the society weddings, and scenes from the everyday lives of the Dunnes and those they knew, including Jane Fonda, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Roddy McDowall, Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Brooke Hayward, Jennifer Jones, and David Selznick. You'll meet them all in this fascinating book -- captured in snapshots as these celebrities relax at poolside barbecues, gossip at cozy get-togethers and dance at the Dunnes' dazzling black-and-white ball. And you will meet Dominick Dunne's beautiful wife, Lenny, and his children, Griffin, Alex, and Dominique, as they celebrate Christmases, birthdays, and graduations.  But, most of all, you will meet Dominick Dunne and learn about the peaks and valleys of his years in Hollywood, the disastrous turn his life took, and the long road back that led to his triumphant career as a writer. With its engaging photographs and candid text, The Way We Lived Then is a riveting and unvarnished account of a life among the stars and a life almost lost..
Price: $9.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Anti-American feeling is at an all-time high. Other nations and cultures have singled out our businesses, government, and way of life for harsh scorn, widespread resentment, even violence. This book is an exploration of this phenomenon, from its causes and earliest manifestations to current efforts by businesses and other organizations to mitigate it. Based on a deep understanding of anti-Americanism's roots, "Rebuilding Brand America" is a call to action that will help U.S.-based companies prosper in global markets..
Price: $1.93 [Notify me when price goes down.]

For centuries, African American women have been remaking the world, giving testament to the power of hope, courage, and resilience But it took the inspired generosity of Oprah Winfrey to honor fully the many gifts of sisterhood. For three amazing days–from May 13 to 15, 2005–a distinguished group of women was invited to celebrate the enduring achievements of twenty-five of their mentors and role models–and in the process pay tribute to the long, glorious tradition of African American accomplishment.

The brilliant centerpiece of the weekend was the reading aloud of Pearl Cleage’s poem “We Speak Your Names,” written especially for the occasion and appearing here for the first time in this beautiful keepsake book. As deeply moving in print as it was during that weekend of love and praise, the poem names each of the women honored: Dr. Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Diahann Carroll, Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Parks, Katherine Dunham, and other legends of the brightest magnitude. With heartfelt eloquence, Pearl Cleage (herself a luminary of the younger generation) celebrates her distinguished elders’ strength, their magic, their sensuality, their loving kindness, their faith in themselves, and the priceless example of their lives. In her introduction, the poet shares: “My sisters, here, there, and everywhere, this poem is for you. Use it, adapt it, pass it on. . . .”


Destined to become a classic, We Speak Your Names is a treasure to keep forever and a precious, inspiring gift for the ones you love..
Price: $5.21 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Five Steps to an Unforgettable Brand

Today's customers face a dizzying array of choices, whether they're buying a car, choosing a school, or contributing to a charity. As a result, brand is often the critical differentiating factor in a customer's decision-making process. Yet for most companies, there is a yawning gap between how the brand is viewed within the company-and how it is perceived out in the world.

Marketing veteran Mike Moser argues that the problem isn't that executives don't "get" their brand. It's that they don't know how to funnel that knowledge into a form that is easily communicated and understood by every person-whether employee, partner, customer, or investor-who comes in contact with it.

In United We Brand, Moser unveils a hands-on tool he has developed over the course of two decades of branding experience with organizations ranging from brand giants like Reebok and Dell Computers to fledgling startups to nonprofit firms. The "Brand Roadmap" puts insights and strategies once available only through top flight consulting and advertising agencies in the hands of every executive, small business owner, and entrepreneur.

Step-by-step, Moser shows readers how to map out the four key components of brand strategy: identifying core values, creating a focused brand message, developing a distinctive brand personality, and choosing a consistent set of brand icons. He then provides a template for unifying these components into a customized Brand Roadmap that ensures:

" The same values and brand message are echoed in every interaction-both in and outside the company

" A consistent brand statement and identity drive all strategic activities and determine the allocation of marketing dollars

" Management and design experts have a common language with which to talk about brand execution

" Marketing materials and communications accurately reflect the core values and brand message

Filled with vivid case examples and practical worksheets, United We Brand offers a compass for guiding day-to-day branding decisions-and a roadmap for charting a company's path to long-term success.

BACK JACKET: "Mike Moser has written a highly informative and engaging guide to creating powerful brands. He has successfully distilled his years of experience helping build brands for a number of leading organizations into a practical step-by-step process that should be must reading for marketing leaders."

-Michael George, Chief Marketing Officer, Dell Computer Corporation

"Mike Moser's United We Brand demystifies the world of marketing, unlocking its secrets so that community groups, schools, and other groups without multi-million dollar advertising budgets can follow a step by step guide to create their own brand roadmap-rooted in their core values and imbued with their organizational personality."

-Carla Javits, President and CEO of the Corporation for Supportive Housing

"To be a good creative director, you must often be a teacher. That's exactly the approach Mike Moser takes in this 'textbook' on how to understand, manage, and articulate a company's image and reputation. Simply and clearly, he teaches you how to create a brand."

-Lee Clow, Chairman and Worldwide Creative Director, TBWA\Chiat\Day

"The simple steps outlined in United We Brand help define what a company has accomplished, what it does well, and how others perceive it in order to begin articulating where it wants to go in the future. The book defines a set of steps which allows an organization to articulate-and thus control-something as seemingly mysterious and elusive as a brand."

-Jeanie Kortum, Executive Director, A Home Away From Homelessness .
Price: $2.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How do brand names differ from other names, and what goes into making a good name great and a bad name ghastly? Knowing this can spell the difference between bankruptcy and marketplace triumph.
In this indispensable guide, the authors share the secrets of successful brand names--how they've indelibly stamped cultures around the world; who makes them; why they're made; and how they're compiled, bought, sold, and protected. The book outlines what kind of names exist--the initialized, descriptive, allusive, and coined. How namers surf on brainwaves. The do's, don'ts, and nevers of naming, how the structure of names is built from the ground up and how their sounds are engineered. Why names symbolize benefits. Where in the world brands may be found, and what will become of them.
Fast-paced, illustration-packed, gazing at the past and probing into the future, this is the definitive book on naming. The Making of A Name is the one book anyone interested in "owned words" must have..
Price: $7.35 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A madcap menagerie of animal group names.

They say that birds of a feather flock together But who knew that bears in a group are called a sleuth? Eagle-eyed author Diane Swanson knew. In a book that's both funny and fascinating, Swanson explores 11 animals and the collective nouns that describe them.

Many terms are a perfect fit. A leap of leopards certainly evokes images of these acrobatic cats. And you can't help but look up to a tower of giraffes. But would you have guessed that many pheasants make up a bouquet? Other animal groupings include: - An army of caterpillars - A pride of lions - A bed of clams - A raft of ducks - A gang of elk

Each playful profile reveals a term's origins and describes the behavior and characteristics of the animal. Meanwhile, delightful illustrations capture the literal connection to each intriguing name. A Crash of Rhinos, A Party of Jays is sure to intrigue young animal enthusiasts and budding language lovers alike..
Price: $8.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $11.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Names We Call Home is a ground-breaking collection of essays which articulate the dynamics of racial identity in contemporary society. The first volume of its kind, Names We Call Home offers autobiographical essays, poetry, and interviews to highlight the historical, social, and cultural influences that inform racial identity and make possible resistance to myriad forms of injustice..
Price: $29.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

As delightful and playful as it is profound and serious, The Language of Names is an absolute original -- a fascinating book that reveals us to ourselves, that demonstrates the endless variety of ways in which names shape our daily lives. Drawing on social and literary history, psychology and anthropology, anecdotes, and life stories, biographer Justin Kaplan and novelist Anne Bernays have written a fascinating account of names and naming in contemporary society that touches on class structure, ethnic and religious practices, manners, and everyday life.

Graceful, eloquent, and richly informed, The Language of Names explores and illuminates our favorite subject -- ourselves..
Price: $4.79 [Notify me when price goes down.]