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OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion Audiobook
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(3.02) - 112 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A successful brand creates a positive association in a customer’s mind, sells a promise, and tells a story about who we are. The virtues of creating brand identity to attract product sales have been acknowledged for decades. But branding—once considered a helpful, rather than necessary flourish—has assumed status in today’s world as a key ingredient to winning business. America pours upwards of $300 billion dollars into branding every year. On any given day, each of us is bombarded by between 3,000 and 5,000 ads. In myriad ways, we are subtly branded through every chapter of our lives: by the clothes whose logos we complacently sport, by the music we listen to, by the beverages we drink and the food we eat, by the books we read, even by the neighborhoods in which we choose to live. With hundreds of new products arriving on retail shelves every day, and the rise of cheaper foreign brands and the house brands of mega-stores like Target and Wal-Mart, American companies are increasingly resorting to image overhauls to attract customers in lieu of improvements to product quality or functionality. Identity, in a sea of nearly indistinguishable items, is more important than ever before. Yet while innovative packaging commands attention, it often does so at considerable cost to the businesses and consumers responsible for fueling an industry of shape-shifting. In this trenchant analysis of a business stratagem gone wrong, Lucas Conley offers us a long overdue investigation into our culture of obsession. From sensory specialists to word-of-mouth marketers and executives keen to leave their mark, we are introduced to the unforgettable cast of characters responsible for getting our attention from often insidious, emotionally charged angles. In a landscape punctuated by brand-churches and tribes, Conley lifts the veil on an unchecked phenomenon and requires us to consider the grave ramifications of our branded world. As hilarious as it is frightening, OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder skillfully reexamines our buying habits to illustrate the chilling impact of the industry masterminds responsible for capturing our attention and seducing us to buy—at any cost.
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"#1.Fact : 94% of Japanese women in their twenties own a product made by the French luxury brand Louis-Vuitton.#2.Fact : LV charges more than 20% more for its products in Japan than in France, some 51 million of Japan's 127 million citizens- 40% of the entire nation-own one of its products. "
— Prince (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Tartly written…[Obsessive Branding Disorder] is instructive, even entertaining…Conley is a keen observer and a trenchant critic…[A] timely call to arms.”
— Boston Globe -
“Conley's perspective on branding's encroachment into social areas is as alarming as it is stimulating.”
— Publishers Weekly
OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder Listener Reviews
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" Redundant, and quite boring despite the subject matter. Yes, branding is overrated. Yet it is incredibly compelling for businesses. "
— Cheri, 8/8/2013 -
" It is a very straight forward book, offering up plenty of examples. In truth, branding is all about the "illusion of business and the business of illusion." It's somewhat disturbing and yet very much our reality. "
— Synthia, 7/22/2013 -
" The author points out all the different ways brands have tried to "infiltrate" our minds. While he seems opposed to this phenomenon, the book also showcases some ingenious ways marketers have done so. It raised my awareness, but failed to show what life would be like as an alternative. "
— Joe, 2/15/2012 -
" The book talks about a great subject, America's obsession with brands. But it speaks from an anti-brand slant, so some of the facts seem skewed. "
— Jeff, 1/1/2012 -
" The only reason I actually finished this was that it was a very quick, easy read (or should I say "skim"?). Really not well-written, and the only chapter that had anything of value to say was the last one. "
— Andrea, 10/24/2011 -
" An interesting book that gives you a sense of what is behind "New and Improved" and helps you better understand branding, whether you think of it in a commercial or personal context. "
— Whitney, 10/24/2011 -
" fairly trite, but you can't fault him for trying. "
— jmck, 10/5/2011 -
" I felt like this book was written based on my own skepticism over the past 2 years of my marketing career. Lucas brings insight and important questions to the table on whether we should be investing more time, money and energy in brands than in products or people. "
— Marti, 6/17/2011 -
" "The world is cheapened when everyone sees it with a marketers eye." "
— Terry, 10/9/2010 -
" The book talks about a great subject, America's obsession with brands. But it speaks from an anti-brand slant, so some of the facts seem skewed. "
— Jeff, 8/31/2009 -
" The author points out all the different ways brands have tried to "infiltrate" our minds. While he seems opposed to this phenomenon, the book also showcases some ingenious ways marketers have done so. It raised my awareness, but failed to show what life would be like as an alternative. "
— Joe, 5/6/2009 -
" "The world is cheapened when everyone sees it with a marketers eye." "
— Terry, 2/7/2009 -
" fairly trite, but you can't fault him for trying. "
— jmck, 1/19/2009 -
" Redundant, and quite boring despite the subject matter. Yes, branding is overrated. Yet it is incredibly compelling for businesses. "
— Cheri, 11/29/2008 -
" An interesting book that gives you a sense of what is behind "New and Improved" and helps you better understand branding, whether you think of it in a commercial or personal context. "
— Whitney, 9/12/2008 -
" I felt like this book was written based on my own skepticism over the past 2 years of my marketing career. Lucas brings insight and important questions to the table on whether we should be investing more time, money and energy in brands than in products or people. "
— Marti, 8/6/2008 -
" The only reason I actually finished this was that it was a very quick, easy read (or should I say "skim"?). Really not well-written, and the only chapter that had anything of value to say was the last one. "
— Andrea, 8/6/2008
About Lucas Conley
Lucas Conley is an experienced journalist with an eye for stories that change how we see the world. Widely published in a number of fields, his work has appeared in the Boston Globe, SPIN, and ESPN: The Magazine, among other publications.
About Walter Dixon
Walter Dixon is a broadcast media veteran of more than twenty years’ experience with a background in theater and performing arts and voice work for commercials. After a career in public radio, he is now a full-time narrator with more than fifty audiobooks recorded in genres ranging from religion and politics to children’s stories.