Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell of Guerrilla Marketing (Postmillennial Pop)
"It is a truism that, in media, everyone knows they are being sold something all the time. It is exactly because of this that we become blind to the subtle seductions of contemporary commercial culture—and Michael Serazio is here to open our eyes."-Mark Deuze,author ofMedia LifeandMedia Work"Michael Serazio has produced an extremely important and engaging book: well researched and highly readable, it provides a detailed and compelling account of the mechanisms of consumer governance at work in the digital age. It deserves a wide readership among scholars and students alike."-Liz Moor,Goldsmiths, University of London"The relationship between brands and consumers is one of great conflict, according to Serazio. This former journalist and assistant professor in the department of communication at Fairfield University uses the term “guerilla” as a war metaphor to describe marketing’s new attempt at virtual invisibility. Serazio boldly tosses around phrases like “appearing to abdicate a traditional position of more didactic authority when negotiating consumer behavior” or “thus emerges a regime of governance that accommodates yet structures participatory agency; self-effaces its own authority and intent through disinterested spaces and anti-establishment formats...” In other words, this is a fairly scholarly treatise. Serazio enlists Che Guevara, Michel Foucault, the Frankfurt School, and a variety of media studies theorists to fight for his cause. Underneath its dissertation language, the book attempts to resolve the mystery of whether power really has shifted from brands to consumers in the new media, word-of-mouth, consumer-generated, self-publishing promotional environment. Are new audience members “empowered” to choose their brand exposure? Or are marketers using us? The book ends on a cautionary note, with a warning that, despite the concerns of the ad men and women, they still have the upper hand in this newest fight for hearts and minds."  -Publishers Weekly,"Serazio gets as much value out of the [McLuhan's ideas] as seems humanly possible by adapting it to the contrast between the old-school 'hot' ad campaign – with its clear, strong message that you should buy Acme brand whatchamacallits, and here’s why – and a variety of newer, 'cooler' approaches that are more seductive, self-effacing, or canny about dealing with widespread cynicism about corporate hype."-Inside Higher Ed,Guerrilla advertising is the use of nontraditional channels, such as product placement, alternative outdoor advertising, word-of-mouth, and social media. These stealthy promotional practices--as reflective of public relations as conventional advertising--covertly influence purchase desire by communicating product information predominantly to young consumers, the early adopters and trendsetters, in a seemingly authentic manner. Serazio (Fairfield Univ.) provides a well-written, extensively referenced and footnoted book that is reminiscent of, yet more ethically neutral than, texts by Stuart Ewen, Michael Schudson, Thomas Frank, and James Twitchell. In addition to scholarly sources, Serazio's broad reliance on trade and the popular press supports many detailed examples that emphasize his arguments and enhance readability. The numerous insightful and extended quotes sprinkled throughout the text were drawn from 46 semistructured, in-depth telephone interviews with prominent practitioners, creatives, executives, trade journalists, and other relevant professionals who are knowledgeable about guerrilla marketing campaigns. Chapters 4 and 5 will be particularly interesting to practitioners in this field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, students at all levels, researchers, faculty, and professionals.-CHOICE,