Story Archives of 'marketing'

Most Americans have an idea of what it means to be Irish. That may be partially due to the fact that the Irish Government and Tourist Board have done such a fine job of branding the country overseas.

Reporter Stephanie Hughes tries to summon the wind at her back and the sun upon her face for a look at how the Irish brand scores on St. Patrick's Day, a holiday famous for its pub crawls, sentimental songs and green beer.

(Photo by pawelbak via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

We're not the first to point out that faith in economists has plummeted, along with the global economy. Economists claim to practice a kind of science that predicts the future and helps guide us accordingly. Yet the few who predicted the current economic crisis were publically pillorized, like Peter Schiff, who argued that the economic boom was not real wealth.

So what is real wealth and how did it disappear? While the democrats blame Bush and Reagan and the GOP blames Clinton for getting us into this mess, perhaps it’s more accurate to do as Alan Greenspan did - with some pomp - in front of a congressional committee in October of 2008: admit that being beholden to one’s own theories might have obscured him from reality.

One reality, suggests Raj Patel, is that our prevailing belief that price and value are the same thing gravely eclipses the true cost of what we buy. Raj Patel is an activist and academic who has worked for the World Bank and World Trade Organization before he protested them. He is author of The Value of Nothing. Patel argues that getting to the bottom of this economic crisis requires that we rethink our economic model and the very meaning of democracy. Raj Patel joined us from KQED in San Francisco.

(Photo by OUCHcharley via Flickr/Creative Commons)

As a rule, advertisers take aim at 18-49 year olds, supposedly the ones with disposable income and the desire to spend. But a new report on the "Grandparent Economy" says that baby boomers are changing everything, again.

As a consumer group, the grandparent population is larger, richer, better educated than ever before. The grandparent demographic now accounts for one-third of the nation’s overall spending and suddenly advertisers are paying attention to a population that’s dispelling old notions about the golden years. New Hampshire demographer Peter Francese prepared the report on the grandparent economy for Grandparents.com.

Report: Power of the Grandparent Economy (PDF)

The New York Times: Advertisers Target Boomers

(Photo by Jason Tester via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Consumers concerned about their impact on the environment frequently pay the extra cost for items advertised as "green," "eco-friendly" and organic, and their number is growing.

Sales of so-called "green" products and services will likely double in the next year to an expected 500 billion dollars. But what percentage of those offerings is hype, and what exactly does green mean?

Beth Daley is environmental and science reporter for The Boston Globe, and she joins Word of Mouth with more on the faux green phenomenon known as "greenwashing."

You’ve likely heard that advertising is in big trouble. Newspaper and TV ad revenue is tanking. Consumers are informed and picky, no longer hostage to TV commercials. We’re skipping ads with Tivo while the Internet offers on-demand content 24/7. But is the advertising business really on its way to extinction?

Rob Walker writes the "Consumed" column in the New York Times magazine, and he’s not finding any proof. Americans are mired in credit card debt and covered in logos, our landfills are mounting with discarded junk, and profits from consumer products are soaring. So something advertisers are doing is working. Rob Walker joins Word of Mouth to tell us about the "murketing" strategies described in his new book, "Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are," and how we grapple with our individuality and our deep wish to be part of something bigger.

The connection between our possessions and ourselves is also of great interest to "snoopologist" Dr. Sam Gosling, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. He joins the show to discuss his new book "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You," which brings the fine art of nosing around people's bedrooms, offices and iPod playlists into the realm of social science.

(Photo by Matt Miller)