Brand Hijack: Marketing Without Marketing

by Alex Wipperfürth

brand hi·jack (br?and h? ¯-j?ak’): consumer takeover (synonym).The consumer’s act of commandeering a brand from the marketing professionals and driving its evolution.

Out of nowhere, a brand like Red Bull, The Blair Witch Project, or even the Howard Dean campaign takes off with little or no conventional marketing. How do these “accidents” really happen, and why do they ultimately succeed or fail?

Welcome to marketing without marketing: the emergence of the hijacked brand. Don’t let the all- too-clever subtitle fool you. Far from representing the absence of marketing, this book describes the most complex sort of marketing possible, as well as the least understood.

Brand Hijack offers a practical how-to guide to marketing that finally engages the marketplace. It presents an alternative to conventional marketing wisdom, one that addresses such industry crises as media saturation, consumer evolution, and the erosion of image marketing. BACKCOVER: “Alex Wipperfürth comes from the same zone that trend-starters and iconoclasts come from: the (slightly lunatic) fringe.The ideas in Brand Hijack are stern stuff and not for the fainthearted. But they work, which is more than you can say for perhaps 90 percent of marketing communications.”
—John Grant

“Mr Wipperfu¨rth makes an intriguing case for abandoning traditional techniques.”
—Stefan Stern, Financial Times

“This is not your ordinary marketing manual. With casual humor and a laid-back tone, Wipperfürth . . . offers a glimpse into America’s consumer- and ad-driven culture.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Brand Hijack is a smart…argument for letting customers define a brand.”
—Fast Company

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concepts were solid, but I was kind of distracted by the case study references since they were so old. Not the book's fault ... should have read this years ago! Maybe an update is in order? For so much material I did find this book really digestible as far as how the content was put together.

[Gusti Putra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it in 2018, therefore it maybe a bit irrelevant with the current media. However, most of the idea in the book is based more on the psychological side of the target audience, some might still be able to find correlation for the today's target market.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gave a pretty good overview on non-traditional marketing tools. I liked some of the case studies and how it put into perspective some of the ideas written about. One thing about the book is that it is fairly old now (back when it was written, the topics talked about were probably more relevant), nowadays things have changed a little bit. But still an interesting book.

[Shawn Buckle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wipperfurth is in touch with his audience. Most would say he "gets it" when it comes to brand identity in the marketplace. He writes about the need to view media sequentially, using a different tactic for each phase of a go-to-market plan. He focuses primarily on the beginning stages of launching a brand to the fringe and allowing them to create its identity. He uses various case studies like Doc Maartens, PBR, Napster and Blair Witch to illustrate how this plays out in the market. Once the fringe has created what the brand means, mass may pick it up and more traditional media tactics should be used.

The Blair Witch movie is most illustrating. Years before the movie was shot, the creators used horror message boards to seed ideas of the Blair Witch myth. Instead of doing the typical film circuit, they hit college campuses with advanced screenings and placed "missing" flyers of the cast. They even shot a "documentary" about the Blair Witch that was shown on TV. This story helped create a pulling mythology about the Blair With within the horror and college segments that eventually spilled out into mass. The two segments were required to spread the story; to own the story or brand as if they were "in the know" so it could spread to mass.

My one slag on the book is the Wipperfurth gets too academic on comparing religious cults to brand allegiance and the Seth Godin-owned theme of tribal marketing. They're both relevant to his book and topic, but it gets too heavy and disconnects the beginning and end.

All and all, the book is worth the read since most of the case studies have played out in the market and we can see how they exist today (PBR being working-class beer, now co-opted by urban hipsters) and how their models were replicated (Paranormal Activity & the Fourth Kind copying Blair Witch).

[Rico · Rating 3 out of 5]

A marketing book that can more or less be understood by non-marketers like myself -- in fact some of it is quite entertaining, as the author describes the fascinating history of how certain "brands" (everything from Doc Martens to the Linux operating system) managed to take off without any traditional marketing.

The book is intended as a primer for a new generation of marketers. But I'd suggest it for countercultural types, because it outlines the methods by which countercultures are increasingly marketed to. Most fascinating (and disturbing) is the chapter in which the author charts similarities between the methods of "brand hijack" marketers... and those of religious cults.

[Rick Zhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A marketing book that can more or less be understood by non-marketers like myself -- in fact some of it is quite entertaining, as the author describes the fascinating history of how certain "brands" (everything from Doc Martens to the Linux operating system) managed to take off without any traditional marketing.

The book is intended as a primer for a new generation of marketers. But I'd suggest it for countercultural types, because it outlines the methods by which countercultures are increasingly marketed to. Most fascinating (and disturbing) is the chapter in which the author charts similarities between the methods of "brand hijack" marketers... and those of religious cults.

[Leader Summaries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro El marketing sin marketing, de Alex Wipperfürth.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: marketing y ventas, gestionar marcas y posicionamiento, publicidad y relaciones públicas.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro El marketing sin marketing, Cómo los consumidores �secuestran� las marcas y dirigen su evolución: El marketing sin marketing

[Mysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most interesting part about reading Brand Hijack was thinking of what an updated version would be like. A lot has changed since 2005. The doubts of texting catching on in America, the parallel between Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders, websites becoming brands of themselves yet not turning profit, YouTuber sponsorship controversies overtaking blogging scandals, etc. You'd think there'd be a sequel to this.

[Lesley Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly skimmed this book for using in a marketing class research paper. It has some good insights on allowing your brand to belong to the customer. The book was written in 05 and though that seems current, when it talks about how SMS texting just isn't catching on in the U.S., you realize how quickly technology changes.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

best marketing book I ever read. period.

[Phil Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wipperfurth explains how marketing can be a dialog between company and consumer and how that can really allow a consumer to make a brand their own.

[Nicole LaFave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great marketing insight for anyone starting a company or trying to sell a new product.

[Malaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's cool, it's cool...

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite books that talked about real consumer interaction with brands. not bullshit.
talked about redbull growing many years ago.
converse all stars, blair witch, etc. original viral

[Lori Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

An optional-read book on branding for the knowledge worker, manager, executive, or entrepreneur.

[Vader · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish