Advertising Books

Andrew Griffiths has written another classic. There are so many simple ideas (actually over 101!!) that will make a difference to my business.

I enjoy Griffiths writing style - he speaks with experience but doesnt talk down to you.

This book deserves a home in every small business owners library

Great for my business, these marketing ideas have helped me set up new ways of building my coaching and training business internationally! Loads of information, easy to read and great examples make this book a MUST for all small business owners!

This book is a simple, thorough, engaging manual of methods people can easily apply immediately to market their business. What I most appreciate are the many unusual ideas - and the passion Griffiths uses as he makes suggestions to the reader.

He has a very engaging, friendly style which any reader would enjoy - it is as if he is sitting beside you, cheering your efforts.

This is one of those books that belongs on the shelf of any business. Those with a limited marketing budget or a SOHO will find it especially helpful.

"101 Ways to Market Your Business" by Andrew Griffiths is a sensational tool for any small business owner. It's simple to read and the ideas are easy to implement and best of all, don't cost a great deal of money. As a marketing manager for a shopping centre, we find business owners often need inspiration - and something that will help get them back on track. We buy this book in bulk and hand it out to those who need it - and it's great to see them implement the ideas and to see their businesses ultimately improve.

If you can't get advice from this book - you are not trying! An easy to read guide to marketing - logicial, practical - a common sense guide which can be applied to any business, anywhere. THis book, along with Andrew's other guides to business are written to genuinely help you - not to dewilder you. You never feel as though you are being spoken down to - rather you feel as though these steps are so easy, logical and cost effective they have to work. Highly recommended and congratulations Andrew.

what an incredible look into the not-so-distant past! ads always show an airbrushed version of reality, and it's funny to see 60s products like polaroid cameras and nehru suits presented as if they were the cat's pyjamas. a great gift book for any graphic designers or advertising-types on your list.

This is an excellent way to take a trip back to the 60's and some of the culture of that time. Look at those cars! How about that Maidenform Bra ad! How about those fashions and hairstyles! If you want to learn or remember some of what was popular then this is an excellent, thoroughly enjoyable way to do it!

Wow! was my first reaction upon devouring these heavy, nearly one thousand, slick pages of incredibly square, hip, liberal, conservative, and completely cool advertising. Some of the fashions, hairstyles, designs, attitudes, and language that you'll encounter will make you laugh, cry, deeply ponder, and wonder how the world could have changed so much since that era.

The book begins with a couple of pages of commentary by the author explaining the power of advertising and consumer consumption in the 1960s. If someone doesn't read English, then he can read it in 4 other languages - German, French, Spanish, and an Asian language (not Chinese, but possibly Japanese or Korean).

Most of the ads are in color, though a few are in their original black-and-white design. The ads are divided into nine categories, starting with the early part of the decade, progressing to the end. There are approximately 60 pages on alcohol and tobacco, 160 pages on automobiles, 100 on business and industry, 160 pages on consumer products, 50 pages on entertainment, 150 pages on fashion and beauty, 100 pages on food and beverage, 60 pages on furniture and appliances, and 50 pages on the travel industry. Thus, the book is not geared towards men or women or any age group.

Inside, you'll find the one-and-only Groucho Marx declaring, "If you don't serve Smirnoff (vodka)....hide the label!"

For those who think that foreign imports are just little toys, an ad for the 1966 Dodge Dart proclaims, "Join the Dodge Rebellion. Stamp out cramped compacts. Up with man-sized Dodge Dart."

One of the more surprising ads was for Motorola television in 1962. About a dozen nude, smiling people (you can't see private parts) are outside in a meadow, all gathered around a tiny television set displaying the face of a little boy.

In 1965, the Hoover company shows a smiling man in a neat little shirt and tie with thick black glasses and a crewcut surrounded by a mop, dustpan, and other household goods. The ad declares, "Chances are you won't marry a guy who cooks, cleans, irons, scrubs, and sweeps." The next picture shows several vacuum cleaners and other household products and says, "We've thought about that."

"How come all non-conformists look alike?" In 1969, with a picture of a Janis Joplin look-alike, Simplicity states, "Sew your own thing."

"When your TV screen goes black for an hour, you're watching ABC," the company's ad says in 1969. "Because ABC is five major television stations that are the leaders in community-minded broadcasting. Each one, for instance, is currently involved in programming exclusively for black people. On San Francisco's KGO-TV, it's `Black Dignity,' an hour program every Sunday. Originated and produced by black people. For black people."

To appeal to the teenage mod community, who apparently were threatening to consume mass quantities of diet colas, the sugar industry began telling us that we need more sugar in our lives. In 1966, we see a girl with a slightly thick midriff in a bikini on a surfboard with the caption, "Lisa needs a sugarless, energy-less soft drink like a kangaroo needs a baby buggy. Lisa's strictly the go-go type. After sunning, shopping, afternoon tennis date, and discothèquing into the wee hours, she's up first thing to catch the early morning surf. What keeps Lisa from washing out? Energy...And sugar's got it. That's right, sugar. Everything in it is go. Note to people on the go: Exhaustion may be dangerous. It can even rob you of your resistance to illness. But sugar helps offset exhaustion - puts back energy fast. Synthetic sweeteners put back nothing. So play safe - make sure you get sugar every day. People need what sugar's got.....18 calories per teaspoon....and it's all energy."

That's all I needed to hear. I'm off to energize my life with some Krispy Kreme donuts. For my health, you know.

being a car fan, I know about car ads from the 1960s. I have two major gripes:

1) They did not get the cars right. For example, often they would call a car a '66 when it was a '67, no doubt because the ad probably appeared in October 1966. Still, it would help to get it right.

2) One of the most interesting aspect of the 1960s was the psychedelication of American popular culture, and automobiles reflected this, exemplified best by the musclecars of the late 1960s. What about Dodge's "Scat Pack - the cars with the bumblebee stripes!"? Or Plymouth's Road Runner and the ad where the car looks like it's breathing? AMC's Big Bad colors? Pontiac's "The Judge can be bought"?

So some of you may be thinking, "Oh, what a geek!" but I wonder what else they could have gotten "more" right if they had actually did more research since they, I presume, aren't American.

These books are a great resource and provide hours of enjoyable reading. My graphic designer keeps borrowing them for reference. When I was a kid, I used to love going through the old copies of TIME and NEWSWEEK...just to read the ads! I think they provide more insight into popular culture than articles.

There are some limitations. The source of materials seems to be from particular magazines, and perhaps some manufacturers did not consent to some ads. For example, in the Consumer Products section, there are ads galore for the SEARS bicycles, but NONE for the Schwinn "Sting Ray" - certainly the icon of mid-60's bicycling. Similarly, the car ads appear to favor big Cadilliacs and some offbeat marques. Perhaps the Euro-centric view of things colors (colours?) this.

Also, there is a certain amount of mockery in the book. Each section features a "winner" advertisment, which is often derided for its naievity or for its promotion of racial stereotypes, overconsumption, etc.

But, while our European friends may be laughing at us, it is clear that they lavish attention upon our degenerate culture - four volume's worth!

My only other suggestion is get a magnifying glass. Many ads are reproduced in quarter-page size and are hard to read. Many more are oddly cropped at the edges. While all four books are great, the 50's and 60's may be the best nostalga trip for many - and an interesting commentary on the evolution of popular culture during that time.

This book has a lot of creative marketing ideas. But throughout most of the book, Karen Post confuses marketing with branding. That is, she treats all of marketing as though it were branding.

In Post's view of the world, everything is branding and branding is everything. You brand your product or service, you brand your organization, and you brand yourself. The latter, your personal brand, she memorably calls "brand moi." You brand yourself not only to advance in your career or to promote your product or service, but to let everyone know (when you introduce yourself at parties, for example) who you are and what you're about.

Good Marketing Tips
If you look at this book as a trove of clever marketing ideas, you'll gain valuable insights and ideas from it. Post offers tips on how to tap into your creativity, conduct market research, promote customer loyalty, brainstorm a product or company name, design a logo, plan sales promotion and publicity events, build a more effective website, and more.

If you really want to learn about branding in the narrow sense, however, this book will only confuse you. The main problem is the lack of a clear definition. In the Introduction she explains (or tries to) that a "brand is a mental imprint." Then she leaps to this definition: "A Brain Tattoo is a stronger brand than the norm, rich with promise, bold with purpose, distinct and prominently inked onto your buyer's cranium." Two paragraphs later she says, "A Brain Tattoo is reality branding," though she never explains what she means by reality branding. Now we get the impression that a brain tattoo is a certain kind of branding, not synonymous with normal branding.

But then, throughout much of the book she uses the two terms synonymously. At the beginning of Chapter One, for example, she says, "A brand, or what I refer to as Brain Tattoo, is a psychological impression of value-based emotions, lodged in the mind of a buyer or prospect."

GREAT BOOK!!!!
LET ME JUST START BY SAYING YOU HAVE TO GET THIS BOOK!!!
THIS BOOK IS AMAZING IT GIVES YOU THE INFORMATION YOU NEEN TO START BRANDING YOUR COMPANYS NAME FROM A-Z.
THIS BOOK HELPED ME IN A BIG WAY ,IT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT MANY IDEAS FOR THE BRANDING OF MY COMPANY.
I'VE READ ALOT OF BOOKS ABOUT MARKETING AND BUSINESS AND BRAIN TATTOOS IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK OUT THERE ,IT IS WELL WORTH YOUR MONEY .BEFORE YOU START YOU COMPANY I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU READ THIS BOOK. GOOD LUCK PAUL S.

There are so many books on branding out there that try to explain the concept of branding. Most fail to do so, but instead, baffle the reader with jargon, theorems and charts. This book creates an easy to understand definition of branding. It also provides exercises to help build your brand and great real world examples to prime your branding ideas.

This book is very well written and very readable! Make sure you have a pen and paper to take notes and work on the exercises! This book will be a staple in your business book collection. I still refer to it months after reading it.

This book really gave me the courage to think outside of the box from the start and really helped me understand how vital branding is to a marketing campaign. Being a fairly recent college grad with a degree in marketing, I discovered concepts and ideas that are definitely helpful in the world of advertising today and it also was a great addition to my college education.

It was fun to read, and it was interactive... allowing you to apply your own marketing and advertising scenarios to help you succeed.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I read this book. The ideas and examples made complete sense. It seems like such a simple concept, but it's amazing how many large corporations miss the point. I plan on implementing many of these concepts into my own company. I have no doubt that the ideas will only benefit my company and myself personally. Thanks for sharing, you have great in-sight.

A must-have guidebook for retail-based businesses! O'Leary and Sheehan will teach you how to find out who your customers are, then teach you how to not only keep them as satisfied customers, but turn them into "evangelists" for your brand/business -- and they do it in an easy-to-understand, entertaining manner. A great read!

What do you get when you combine an experienced retail advertising expert and a journalism professor? One of the best "how to"s on successful business building ideas for retail businesses of all sizes. They have written a comprehensive guide, filled with a virtual plethora of proven marketing programs and ideas for retailers. This is a book that a successful retailer will keep on hand, and refer back to on a regular basis - if they want to succeed!

This is 21st Century marketing; a must read for all small business owners who are battling the Big Boys - that's all of us. Steve O'Leary and Kim Sheehan walk you through the process of identifying your customers, and establishing, growing and supporting your virtual customer community.

For store owners who are tired of paying for coupons that just discount your price to your regular customers, who are sick of the high cost and low results of radio, television and newspapers, and who want to understand and implement a marketing concept that will yield tangible results, this is where you start.

This book takes you step by step through the stages of building, implementing and measuring the results of a marketing plan that leverages the strengths that a small business has. It is full of real world advice to overcome the resources that large companies have and get the customers in YOUR door. This book does an excellent job of describing where the future of marketing for a small business is going. Read it and get ahead of everyone else!

There are tons of great ideas for any sized business in this book. If you use just one idea, it will be well worth the price. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to grow their business.

At the moment the only real game worth playing is Google. No, I'm not a spokesperson for them but it is clear that if you're going to play you ought to play with the guys that own the ball. There is power in "Building Your Business with Google for Dummies". The best thing is that when you meet the Google criteria and succeed with them you can use the exact same business building blocks with any other resource. Brad Hill understands this and does a great job relaying his knowledge via the "Dummies" format. I'm beginning my second read-through. Thanks Brad.

Larry J. Frieders, RPh
[...]
340 Marshall, Unit 100 ~ Aurora, IL 60506
Tel 630-859-0333

This book took my business, AUDIN Web Design, to new heights. Now anyone can just type in AUDIN Web Design in Google (or Yahoo and MSN, for that matter) and find me. This book allowed me to master Google, the juggernaut of search engines. If you cannot tame that tiger, you will not survive in the market place. My company, AUDIN Web Design, has helped many small business get ranked on Google. This is my bible. I carry it around wherever I go. I advise everyone to read this book before consulting a professional about your online search needs. You could get ripped off if you are not wise about your choice of Company. This book has given me such confidence with the Google juggernaut, that my company now offers a 100% money back guarantee policy. A lot of companies can't offer that because they don't know what they are doing. Read this book and get informed. It could save you lots of money, yes money, the stuff you work so hard for. The stuff makes the world go round.

Since Google is currently master of the universe you need to understand what Google is looking for when it ranks web pages. This book not only does that but goes into detail of other Google services like froogle, adsense and adwords. I highly recommend this book to anybody trying to build a presence on the web.

"Building Your Business with Google For Dummies" by Brad Hill is one of many options for learning Google's tools. This one is focused on using it to promote business websites.

You might not need this book. To find out, go to Google's website, and create an account. Look at the FAQs, testimonials and the help areas. Much of what's in Hill's book is logical, but is organized in as sensibly as any I have seen. I need this book for that reason. It saved me time from having to learn this information in a too slow trial-and-error way.

You'll learn a few important things about Google, and how to help them help you attract traffic, sell products, or create interest in your website.

AdWords
I have an online e-commerce site, and need to know Google. As a smaller business, I can't compete with the major companies in being listed in categories I feel are important. That's where Google AdWords comes in. It allows me, for a fee per click, to compete.

Hill's explanation of strategies and process is solid. There are ways to lose money, and he helps show how to test keywords, use ad groups, edit ads, and how to bid intelligently. He also looks at the premium service that allows big businesses to use oogle with less worry about click-through rates.

AdSense
AdSense, the tool that places Google ads on websites based on the page's content. While I only make a few cents when a vistor clicks through an ad, it helps me provide a service to my customers who do not feel my site met their needs.

Hill explains how AdSense makes money, and warns against cheating.

Increasing Your Page Rank
No one knows Google's formula for ranking pages. The most important factor is having useful information, being linked on other like-minded sites, not abusing the process.

Hill tells you what page rank means, and how to avoid mistakes many webmasters make. This includes tips on design, domain choice, keyword use.

Using Froogle and Google Catalogs
These are two features I have never used. Hill gives a good overview of this Google tool, which provides exposure to those websites selling products in a catalog-style, or through AOL and Yahoo shops.

I fully recommend "Building Your Business with Google For Dummies" by Brad Hill.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This book was very helpful in teaching novices how Google works with online businesses in order to make the businesses more profitable and also make Google move valuable. The techniques were easy to apply.

Ed
http://www.imonitsoftware.com

This is a great book even if you are not a Generation Xer. This book will help you understand the cuurrent generation of paretnts. If you happen to be a Generation Xer and a parent, you will love this book. It will help you understand yourself (Oh, that's why I do that.) It will even help you understand why those from other generations don't understand you. Sitting down with this book is like sitting down and talking with a close freind.

If you can name the members of the "Brat Pack", wore leg warmers, or can still recite the lyrics to a Cyndi Lauper song, then this book is for you. Children of the 1980s are fondly referred to as Generation X. Tricia Goyer's book Generation NeXt Parenting explores the parenting styles of this generation. Tricia's insight from her own childhood lead her to change her parenting style to separate her from her baby boomer parents. This book is easy to pick up and start reading from where you left off. She has a style of writing, which incorporates original text, Biblical reference, quotes from other parents, and 156 other cited authors. She is able to bring each chapter together with an 80's song lyric which brought back a lot of my teen memories. In this day and age we are inundated with an overwhelming amount of how-to books. However, this book offers a practical approach to parenting with a study guide to develop your parenting skills. I would recommend it to fellow Gen X'ers.
~Heidi of Chadron MOPS

Okay, I admit it--I'm not a Generation X mom; I'm a boomer mom, but the mom of several in the next generation and now the grandma of one and one-to-be. However, I found Tricia Goyer's book engaging, immensely helpful, understanding and just plain fun. I'm giving it to my daughter--who often feels the older parenting books just don't "fit." The author has done extensive research on parenting, has lived the ups and downs of being a mom to several kids (one from her teens), and has studied and incorporated the wisdom of scripture. I highly recommend this book.

"Generation NeXt" turned out to be an intriguing read for me. I am on the line between Boomers and GenXers. Different sources have placed me in each camp, so if I'm a GenXer, I'm an old one.

My review will be from the perspective of an old GenXer with a teenager and young adult children. At times, as I read "Generation NeXt" I felt exactly that, old, but then I'd turn a few pages and identify with exactly what Tricia had penned.

Had I read this book when my children were younger, I think I would have gained insight leading to freedom from some guilt baggage I lugged around for far too many years.

Tricia's "Generation NeXt Parenting" is an encouraging pat on the back with plenty of spiritual and practical challenges tossed in. She doesn't take traditional problems and toss out advice on how to handle it as much as she covers the holistic issues of parenting and Christlikeness.

If you are looking for another parenting book that has an index and multiple tips on how to handle potty training, you won't find much in "Generation NeXt." However, if you desire to dig to underlying motivations on your part and your children's behaviors, there is help offered here. Of course, a lot of the advice is what we who call ourselves "Christian" know because it's preached from the pulpit, radio and other books. But it bears repeating until we "get" it. Tricia gives practical ideas for how to get on track or back on track spiritually so that you can be the parent God calls you to be.

I learned far more from "Generation NeXt" than I thought I would. Tricia peppers her thoughts with those from other struggling parents and facts regarding the unique building blocks GenXer's have been given.

I thought of several friends who have younger children who could benefit from this book and intend to get a copy to them.

For a few years now I've been a fan of Goyer's novels, with their realistic details, believable characters, and fast pacing. "Generation Next Parenting" is my first introduction to her non-fiction skills, and I'm suitably impressed. Here, too, Goyer deals with believable scenarios and honest struggles that Christian parents face.

I am the father of two daughters, ages 12 and 14. My wife and I have parented from the onset with the belief that we want to prepare our kids for life, not just protect them from it. Goyer finds that balance in this easy-to-read book, offering encouragement and philosophical angles to raising children. The pages are rich with spiritual insight, Scriptural foundations, and bits of humor. The quotes from Gen-X bands (Chicago, Gloria Estefan, Talking Heads, etc) add a light touch to these sometimes serious issues.

If you're struggling with your own generational parenting style, if you're wondering how well you are doing in God's eyes, or if you're just interested in a wise, yet never pompous, guide to "getting it right," then Tricia Goyer's book is for you. (And don't forget to check out here great fiction titles!)

Cool Book, Beautiful pictures. Lots Of Cars I have not seen before, Some I have. Worth The Price.

Great book, well done. It answered some questions i had.
Great job. Transaction was great.
Larry Sherrill

Very nice book loads of pix and info. Bought as gift. Guys who are into old GMC iron will be ingrossed for hours!

This book is an important, stylish look at a halcyon time in U.S. automotive history, when dreams became real and art and style were as significant as horsepower and torque. If you're an afficianado of the big cruisers Detroit cranked out in the late fifties and early sixties, this book shows you the wildest styles possible from the designers and how they were translated into what you drove into your driveway. It's a well put together compilation, and the book itself is heavy and durable. Any car collector or petroliana devotee will love it!

The General Motors company hit upon showcasing their new cars every year in a presentation that included automobiles from each of their various divisions (Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet, GMC), as well as experimental or 'Dream' cars created to test public reaction to new ideas in automotive engineering and design. "GM's Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars Of A Cultural Phenomenon" by David W. Temple (a freelance automotive photojournalist specializing in vintage cars) is a profusely illustrated history of these events and those 'Dream Cars' of the 1950s. Featuring both color and black/white historical photographs, the text is informed and informative. The result is a masterpiece of automotive history and an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American Automobile History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

A few years ago, as a college student, I had the opportunity of hearing a speaker who got his start as a copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather. While speaking, and in private group sessions, he disclosed that before going into advertising, he had just gotten his degree in Political Science, a subject totally unrelated to the fast-paced, crazy-creative, lucrative world of advertising. He bought this book, followed it to a T, built his portfolio, and was able to bluff his way into his first job in NYC. He impressed me so much, that I've been looking for this book ever since. I'm so glad that I was able to find it, (still in print, thank goodness) and am anxiously waiting for its delivery. As of December 2000, I have my degree in advertising, but I wasn't prepared for the angst of breaking into the business, and I was given so little guidance in preparing a 'book'. I think this book is really going to help.

I bought this book in the mid-80s when I was a fledgling copywriter in New York City.

It was helpful in focusing on what was important in putting my book together. But not everything in this book is a hard-and-fast fact. For example, in the author's opinion, it is okay to simply have stick figures for your visuals. But every ad person I talked with said this thinking was completely wrong. The truth is, you need to have as professional-looking a book as possible, which means you need to hire, at the very least, a professional art director to draw your visual for you. Better yet, get some photos for your ad if that is what is meant to be there.

Competition for jobs is just so fierce, you need to do whatever you can to package yourself ahead of the next guy. Great ideas are not enough anymore; they need to look great, too.

In the end, I was always given the "great book, no jobs" refrain. After three years of pounding the streets of NYC, I never got a job. There was even an ringing endorsement from a New York creative director on the back cover which read "I will give anyone who follows this book's advice an automatic interview!" I never even got a return phone call from the guy.

I would recommend this book to a beginner, but with the caveat that the ideas inside are just one person's opinion, and should not be considered gospel.

Many people ask me which book they should read to help them get a job as a copywriter. My usual answer? Get Maxine's book. It is absolutely "must" reading and the first and last word on the subject!

This is one of those books that even the laziest of readers will finish in one sitting. Alright, maybe two, but I'm pioneering a higher kind of lazy.

Many people ask me which book they should read to help them get a job as a copywriter. My usual answer? Get Maxine's book. It is absolutely "must" reading and the first and last word on the subject!

Hub Culture is a book in Marketing that describes the 21st century young urban professionals. They are much more globalized than their previous generation in the eighties. They travel the world either for work or for fun. As a result, large cities, such as New York, London, Bangkok, and Hong Kong, etc. have become the hubs of the world. This book describes the characteristics of this consumer group. Detailed topics include various aspects of their lives: travel, relationships, work, leisure, and their mobile nature with all kinds of electronic gadgets. Then the book talks about the most effective technique for marketing to them, which is mainly word-of-mouth.

This book gives a good description of this consumer group and it is well-written.

This book is a few years old so there are many changes that have taken place, but I still found it useful as I had not read much about this culture. One can use it as the next 'installment' in tracking a particular generation and others who will be adopting this lifestyle. It shows where this culture emerged and the direction in which it is moving through expounding upon different aspects of these peoples' lives. I am relatively new to reading up on random subcultures and this book has prompted me to further my knowledge in this area.

I adopted this book in an undergrad class I taught on cultural globalization. Stalnaker kindly offered to upload my students' comments on his website, but I didn't get the minimal number of reviews I had set. Nonetheless, I edited below some of their comments about "Hub Culture" - with their permission. They are bright students, with a critical look on the hub. All I am going to say is that, even if we do not like aspects of this mobile lifestyle, this book deserves five stars for providing an introduction to this emerging yet largely unknown phenomenon of upscale cultural globalization. AD'

R.C.:
One of the reasons I took this class was because the book was on the reading list. As someone who has spent a good part of his formative years studying at an international school in Manila and traveling around Asia, Europe and the US, Hub Culture immediately grabbed my interest as it spoke of an experience I could only talk about with people who had grown up in a similar environment. While Mr. Stalnaker focuses mainly on today's globetrotting yuppies, people are already experiencing this new culture at a younger age (...).

C.K.:
Some of the problems with Hub Culture will prove to be major issues. It seems that the majority of these people are unable to create and maintain successful and healthy relationships. Although Stalnaker argues that some members become married and live happy lives, this is not true for a majority of this population. In reality, as Stalnaker describes it, Hub Culture leaves little or no room for substantial relationships, let alone having a family. Perhaps it is through these issues that the new spiritual element of Hub Culture will emerge.

L.P:
Hub culture may seem very alluring and it is. Jetting around the world, meeting exciting and attractive people, buying trendy, expensive things seems so fascinating and fresh. This seems to be a fulfilling existence and experience, one that is laudably supported by those who are less nomadic because of the allure of the unknown. Most people leave their familiar surrounding to find something that fulfills them, not realizing that a permanent passport in the world of hub is not a solution but rather just a pretty cover-up in the form of the newest line of Louis Vuitton luggage en route to Hong Kong. While hub culture is not disapproved off by the majority of the world because it seemingly has no consequences on the people, it can almost be compared to a drug addiction. It has very similar traits, but not the same reactions. (...) With all this traveling, one loses contact with reality of life, abandons former friends and habits, doesn't establish deep connections with other people and prefers impersonal ways of communication. One is essentially never there to have some kind of natural interaction. (...) But with hub culture you get praised for this glamorous life, not realizing that in the process one is being fooled by the quickness and fake closeness that is exhibited by their peers. But even if one doesn't see this as a problem, one question remains: What happens when one is not physically or financially capable to keep up with this lifestyle, what happens when the Hotel Costes soundtracks just don't do it for you anymore and you realize that you missed doing some gardening now and then? At this point, if you settle down permanently in one place, will your needs still be met by the hub culture or will you be kicked out, regarded just as one of those who couldn't handle it any more while laughing at your last season Gucci shoes?

C.E.:
The question I ask about "hub culture" is simple: is it really a culture unto itself? Perhaps "hub people" are a distinct group, but are the systems of meaning defined within this group really all that unique? Over and over again, in the book, Mr. Stalnaker refers to them as consumers: of fashion, music, art, the things we associate with "culture." Indeed, they are the consumers, not the creators, of this culture. (...) I would say that hub "culture" is simply the set of people who live the work-hard/play-hard lives that have become available through technological innovations and marketing strategies which have made them believe that they can afford it. This leads, then, to another question: is there any difference between "culture" and "marketing demographic?"

I found this book very useful in understanding the role a special kind of transnational elite is playing in early 21st century globalization. As shallow and superficial as their lives may seem, these young globetrotters are in fact important players in quietly, in the shadows, building a new planetary civilization and monoculture.

I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 only because I would have liked to have seen a more detailed and impartial sociological treatment. Stalnaker is clearly writing for a marketing audience, probably as a hub player himself, rather than for a more general readership. This is currently the only such book I am aware of that deals with the hub elite, but I hope more studies (with a few more pages) follow this work.

Interesting for students of globalization, this is also a useful book for people considering going expatriate, and developing an overseas life and work strategy.

I enjoyed this book a lot - Stan Stalnaker has written a great profile of some of the most influential yet difficult-to-reach consumers on the planet. His pace and style are good and chatty - with plenty of anecdotes and real-life examples.
While it rather runs out of steam towards the end, it is (as far as I know) the first and only book to examine this interesting and growing group of people - a group that Stalnaker neither over-romaticises nor patronises.

When I read the blurb I thought that maybe Stalnaker had just rediscoverd cultural imerialism - but his knowledge and understanding soon convinced me that it really is is much more complex than that. These people are the conduits of cool, they know more than anyone about what is happening around the planet in terms lifestyle and fashion.

If I have one criticism it is that he skips over the less glamourous side of this culture - drugs and alcoholism are not mentioned very much nor are the rootless sometimes lonely aspects of being a foreigner in a strange city. He doen't do much to investigate the parallel group of younger, less well educated "Hub Culturists" from Eastern Europe as well as Latin America and Asia that work in service industries in the "Hub Cities" while learning languages and developing international work skills and outlook - they too are very much world citizens and I suspect just as influential in their own way as the North Americans and Western Europeans mostly covered in the book.

I'll be looking out for his next book. Stan is a good thinker, an entertaining writer and certainly "one to watch".

Jessica is so sick and tired of Aaron,because he wears Donald Duck t-shirts,and Slurps his soda and calls Jessica Jess-Wess. Jessica Askes Elizabeth to put in a dating ad in the Sixers. Janet's guy Danny saves her Brownies at lunch. She wants to be put in the paper as well as do other Unicorns.

Jessica is so sick of her boyfriend Aaron.He is so immature.He wears Donald Duck t shirts,and calls her weird little names like Jess-Wess.He slurps his ice cream.He EMBARASSES her!!!!Soon she breaks up with him and then places a personal ad in the school's newspaper.A totally cool guy answers it.Even though a reader can guess exactly who the guy is,it is still a coool book.

Another great Sweet Valley Twins book!Jessica gets so angry and fed up with her"immature"boyfriend Aaron that she puts out a personal ad,only to come full circle..

I loved this book it was cute and fun to read. I admit sixth graders dating that intesly is a little hard to grasp, but still this is my favorite SV twins book!

I wish there had been a dating service when I was in 6th grade! As the other reviewers have pointed out, it's very unlikely a school would sponsor a dating service, or that 6th graders would have such meaningful relationships. But hey, use your imagination. In Sweet Valley, everything is perfect, and all 6th graders are mature enough to handle dating. The story is pretty fun to read. Jessica "meets" someone through the dating service, and falls madly in love with him. However, she finds out the person she "met" was not who she expected. While it is very predictable who that "someone" is, it's still a fun and romantic book. You should go ahead and give it a try!