Conquering Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World

by Michael R. Solomon

Once upon a time, marketers barraged customers with hard-sell tactics. Today, consumers use products to define themselves and others. People are swayed not by corporate-generated hype, but by consumer-generated buzz. That means companies must shift their focus away from marketing to people and toward marketing with them. In "consumerspace," firms partner with customers to develop brand personalities and create interactive fantasies. The winners understand that we buy products not just because of what they do, but because of what they mean. Market share is out; share of mind is in. Conquering Consumerspace reveals the accelerating blurring of traditional boundaries between branded commodities and everyday life. Solomon's timely book presents a new way of looking at recognizing them as partners in an ongoing marketing transaction rather than as passive pawns at the receiving end of a sales pitch. Conquering Consumerspace also defines the place of customer feedback in product conception, design, and production, and why customizability is no longer a luxury option but a requirement. From online "buzz communities" to theme stores and product placement to guerrilla marketing, what we consume is inextricably woven into our daily life experience, creating both challenges and opportunities for companies to accelerate and deepen their customers' relationships with their products, services, and brands.

Hardcover

First published April 14, 2003

Reviews

[Shawna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Combination of it being old and my now having work experience in marketing/branding means this book is both outdated and simplistic. Also, not written well. Used bookstore pile!

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This has been on my shelf for a long time. I think I requested it for Christmas one year in college (must have been the year it came out since I have it in hardcover) and then never got around to reading it.

Hopefully the fact that this is from 2003 won't affect it poorly, but I suspect there's going to be a lot left out in the details. I'll do my best to take the general from it.