No Logo by Naomi Klein is No Bull

No Logo by Naomi Klein is fascinating. She offers insights in to the psyche of the american consumer while also exposing the manipulation tactics and intent of the modern culture marketing machine. The first topic that stood out for me is the theory that american consumers don't buy products anymore, they buy brands. She states that by the end of the 1940's advertising agencies gradually moved away from "individual products and their attributes and toward a psychological/anthrpological examination of what brands mean to the culture and to people's lives. This was seen to be of crucial importance, since corporations may manufacture products, but what consumers buy are brands." The book discusses the strtegy employed by Nike, the largest athletic footwear company in the world. Nike discovered that they could offer athletic shoes at a huge premium if they sold their shoes in conjunction with selling a culture statement. Their strategy has been so successful that a pair of Nike athletic shoes is considered a bargain if thet are priced less than $100.00 a pair. You see Nike just doesn't sell shoes and apparel they also offer the consumer a chance to own a recognizable symbol of status and image in our culture.
The book also speaks about how successful corporations and companies no longer manufacture their products. Once the hallmark of a successful business, manufacuring is now taboo. Successful companies now use third world and chinese labor to make their products. Quality has taken a back seat to cheap production costs. This formula, needless to say, has proved enourmously profitable, and it's success has companies competing in a race toward weightlessness: whoever owns the least, has the fewest employees on the payroll and produces the most powerful images, as opposed to products, wins the race." Using Nike as an example again, their footwear and apparel is manufacured in countries such as Indonesia, where wages average $2.00 a day. They don't pay the production wages or benefits as their predecessors once did, and consequently has smashed the competition.