Cool isn't just a state of mind, a celebrity fad, or an American obsession -- it's a business. In boardrooms across America, product managers are examining vodka bottles and candy bars, tissue boxes and hamburgers, wondering how do we make this thing cool? How do we make this gadget into the iPod of our industry? How do we do what Nike did? How do we get what Target got? How do we infuse this product with that very desirable, nearly unattainable it factor? In this wide-ranging exploration the authors Noah Kerner, a celebrated marketing maverick, and Gene Pressman, legendary creative visionary and former co-CEO of Barneys New York, have uncovered surprising and universal patterns and trends. They systematically parse the successes and failures of the last few decades -- in music and fashion, magazines and food, spirits and hip-hop culture. Their discoveries are pulled together in this definitive book on the commerce of cool. Nike and Target endure as relevant brands not because of a shortsighted and gimmicky campaign. A dash of bling and a viral website don't amass long-term value. Brands are effectively developed when companies take substantial risk -- and face the possibility of real failure -- in order to open up the opportunity for real success. Chasing Cool includes interviews with more than seventy of today's most respected innovators from Tom Ford and Russell Simmons to Ian Schrager and Christina Aguilera. And through this accomplished assemblage, Pressman and Kerner dig beneath the surface and reveal how emphasizing long-lasting relevance trumps a fleeting preoccupation with what's hot and what's not. In a multidimensional, entertaining, and eminently readable book that redefines how to appeal to today's savvy consumer, Kerner and Pressman explore the lessons to be learned by America's ongoing search for the ever-changing concept of cool. Readers will learn how to apply these lessons to their own businesses and creative projects in order to stand out in today's cluttered marketplace. "Simply chasing cool is really a bad idea; inspired by cool is a great idea. Walk the street, see what's going on, and spit it out in your own way. Don't do it because you research it, do it because you breathe it." -- Russell Simmons, chairman and CEO of Rush Communications "I can't imagine having to hire a so-called Cool Hunter. If I had to go to someone else to be cool, I'd just pack up my bags and find a new profession." -- Tony Hawk, professional skateboarder "It's possible to be both mainstream and edgy. You can be the Goliath but you always have to think and behave like the David." -- Scott Bedbury, former Nike and Starbucks marketing executive "I love looking at trend reports because then I know exactly what I shouldn't be doing." -- John Demsey, group president, Estée Lauder, MAC Cosmetics, Prescriptives, Sean John, and Tom Ford Beauty "I don't believe in creation by committee. I think it's impossible." -- Bonnie Fuller, chief editorial director and executive vice president of American Media Inc. "We had to make a big decision at MTV when I was there. Do we grow old with our audience or are we going to be the voice of young America? We made the decision to be the voice of young America, which meant we had to let people grow out of MTV." -- Bob Pittman, cofounder of MTV, former president of AOL

By the time Keith was 17 years old, his rap sheet included DUI, possession of narcotics and intent to distribute (that’s drug dealing). He was emaciated from drug use, dirty and rumpled, and under house arrest awaiting trial. That’s when a stranger paid him a visit, sitting down in his filthy room to touch his gaunt shoulder and pray. Maybe you are facing circumstances even worse than Keith’s. Maybe you’ve made choices that have hurt you and the people around you. Maybe your family has failed or damaged you, leaving scars you’re sure will never heal. Or maybe you just can’t bring yourself to care anymore, because you’ve forgotten how to dream big. How ever lost you are, you have not been abandoned—a relentless God is pursuing you. You Found Me is Keith’s story of a tragic life redeemed, but it’s more than that: It’s the story of anyone willing to be found.

This volume was first published by Inter-Disciplinary Press in 2013. Fashion-Wise offers an interdisciplinary and transcultural approach to the phenomenon of fashion, investigating its historical, socio-political and artistic aspects. The chapters collected in the volume discuss fashion in the contexts of personal and national identity, gender politics, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, history, consumer culture, ethics, education, performance studies, authenticity, disability studies, sport and celebrity culture. The authors included in this seven-part volume not only comment on the ways in which we have been ‘consuming’ fashion across centuries and cultures but also explore its relevance as a critical subject in cultural studies.

Originating from the 2nd Global Fashion Conference hosted by Inter-Disciplinary.Net in Oxford, UK 2010.

Marketing and consumer research has traditionally conceptualized consumers as individuals- who exercise choice in the marketplace as individuals not as a class or a group. However an important new perspective is now emerging that rejects the individualistic view and focuses on the reality that human life is essentially social, and that who we are is an inherently social phenomenon. It is the tribus, the many little groups we belong to, that are fundamental to our experience of life. Tribal Marketing shows that it is not individual consumption of products that defines our lives but rather that this activity actually facilitates meaningful social relationships. The social ‘links’ (social relationships) are more important than the things (brands etc.) The aim of this book is therefore to offer a systematic overview of the area that has been defined as “cultures of consumption”- consumption microcultures, brand cultures, brand tribes, and brand communities. It is though these that students of marketing and marketing practitioners can begin to genuinely understand the real drivers of consumer behaviour. It will be essential to everyone who needs to understand the new paradigm in consumer research, brand management and communications management.

High school students today are no longer insulated from the vicissitudes of messaging/counter messaging in today’s always available, always blaring media (coming into their cars, homes, and ears through ever-more personal devices), including the cross-accusations of “fake news” that leave true seekers of information spinning in circles. Young people are no longer “future consumers,” as products they are not even old enough to buy are pitched to them, while groups with political agendas seek to make future voters already on their “team” before they first step into a voting booth. Fortunately, there is now a call for empowering teens with the knowledge and skills to decode such messaging so that they are no longer passive receptacles of messaging, but active participants in their own media processing. This is the field of media literacy.

The twentieth volume of Research in Consumer Behavior presents twelve chapters, selected from the best papers submitted at the 13th annual Consumer Culture Theory Conference 2018. The book explores three narrative lines that were prevalent during the conference: 'Objects and their doings', 'Glocalization', and 'Constituting Markets'.