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I just started reading James B. Twitchell's Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld, which I bought the other day at Blackwell's for 10 quid. I'm not even through the first chapter, and I don't think I'll bother finishing it. Never before have I seen a book contribute so very little to the currently existing body of knowledge, and manage to do so in such an uncompelling way.

Here is the opening line to the book:

Branded Nation: If you were looking for two of the most overused title words in the book business, you couldn't do better than this.

That alone made the book lose its appeal to me. It went on to elaborate on how overused these words are, and seemed to end with the idea that it was only a matter of time before someone slapped these two words together for a title. The rest of the book is filled with tired, predictable clichés that made me say, "I was waiting for them to say that." For example, in the chapter on the marketing of churches, there is a line that reads, 

In the beginning Christianity was the Word, and, as I'm sure you've already guessed, the Word was the Brand.

Umm yes, I did already guess it, thanks.

The beginning chapter is about how brands and ads are stories, and gives the standard examples: the J. Peterman catalogue and pretty much anything by David Ogilvy. It wasn't anything I hadn't read a hundred times in a standard introductory advertising or media textbook. The following chapters discuss how marketing now plays such a central role for churches, colleges and museums respectively. I'm still trying to work out his argument, though: that advertising is bad? Colleges shouldn't have stores in them? I'm not really sure what his point is supposed to be.

I think the brands in colleges debate is interesting, and I am in two minds about it. On one hand, I think running a college like a business often sets a bad tone for students. In Oxford, it is clear who gets the priority: conference guests. Students are asked to clean out their rooms entirely during the breaks and shove the entire contents into cupboards, just so conference guests can stay in a "real Oxford room" and get the authentic Oxford experience™ while staying here. Running a college like a business also puts students in the mindset of "the customer is always right" and leads to those fun arguments about how "I pay so much to go here, I deserve an A." Sometimes, with wealthier colleges, I wonder how many people got in based on their CV and how many people got in based on the fact that Daddy built them a library.

On the other hand, I think including stores and brands on the campus landscape can be beneficial in some cases. A lot of underclassmen either can't drive or don't have their car on campus, so I think having stores and restaurants on campus makes it easier for them to be comfortable in their new surroundings. Granted, it doesn't teach them independence in the sense of learning to take public transportation and figuring out how to get places, but I think it does make the whole transition a little less shocking when you don't have to buy your meals from a vending machine.

However, again, it's also problematic because companies can take advantage of their monopolies on campus and jack up their prices tremendously. And availability doesn't equal choice. I'll never forget the campus grocery store at my old uni - nothing but snacks and frozen dinners. It's convenient, it's profitable, but it's certainly not healthy. I guess it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Colleges want money for buildings, etc., but they need to think about the image they project by aligning themselves with these sponsors.

God, I got bored writing this post. These are such old, tired debates. And Twitchell does nothing to liven them up. You're better off reading an advertising textbook.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Surprising Truths

Tonight, while dining at Exeter with David and Chung (and while walking home with Chung later), our discussion landed on two topics that I'd never really thought about before and can't believe that I'd never thought about them before.

During dinner, we were talking about languages, and the different ways languages can signal respect. David was mentioning how in Japanese, there are 17 different words for "you" - all depending on the level of respect you wish to convey. We then got to talking about how while other languages may not have 17 ways to say "you," perhaps they have less explicit ways to show respect for others.

For example: the way we ask for things. In Spanish, it is perfectly correct to say "yo quiero" (I want), but it is much more polite to say "yo quisiera" (I would like). The same is true in French (je veux/je voudrai). David noticed that the polite form of the address is often the one that uses more syllables, and perhaps it suggests that we're showing respect by taking a bit more effort and skill to address the person. It's even true in English (I want/I would like), and Chung said it is the same in Chinese as well. Perhaps this is not the 100% correct explanation, but I found it interesting and it seems to make sense.

When walking home with Chung, another interesting topic came up in discussion: how people at home react to the fact that we go to Oxford. I know I like to talk a lot on this blog about how great Oxford is, but when I'm home, I seem to be a bit self-conscious about the fact that I go here. My mother is perfectly happy to announce to the world where I go to graduate school, but most of the time I just tell people that I go to grad school in England. Chung told me that he feels the same way. We think it is because people tend to see Oxford as this amazing place with all these rich snobby clever genius people, and we don't really feel like we fall into that category. I don't want people to think differently about me just because I go to a famous school. I don't feel like I fit with the perception of Oxford, and I don't want people to think that I'm telling them about Oxford to show off. I was glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

In other news: after getting a terrible letdown by finding out that I was placed on a waiting list for a scholarship, I received some very good news on the financial front. I have just been appointed junior dean at my college for next year! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the system, junior deans are the Percy Weasleys and Hermione Grangers of Oxford - they assist the dean with welfare and discipline issues. With this position, I get free accommodation, free meals, SCR dining rights (i.e. very fancy dinners), and a stipend. In total, it covers about a third of my yearly expenses in Oxford. Yay!

xxx

"For once in my life..."

I owe you all a lot of posts about a lot of things. But I really haven't been in the best frame of mind lately, so those things will have to sit on the back burner for a while. One thing that will not sit on the back burner, though, is this opportunity to ring in the anniversary of my beautiful and wonderful parents.

My parents are some of the strongest people I know. They are both firstborns, so they have grown up looking after their families. Although most of their children and certainly all of their siblings are grown up, they still devote their lives to looking after us. And it's a hell of a job. You all know about the special needs of my siblings - taking care of them and all of the bureaucracy (academic, medical, etc.) that goes along with that is physically and emotionally draining. And you would think that would be more than enough, but even when all that is sorted out, they still continue to give selflessly to others. Sometimes giving is not easy financially or physically or emotionally, but they continue to do it regardless.

I'll give you an example. Once I was telling my parents about a classmate who was suffering from a rare disease. I did not even know the girl that well. My mother, being a nurse, knew that this was a disease that required bone marrow transplants, and said without thinking that she would be willing to donate bone marrow. My father said the same. I didn't even ask - that wasn't even why I told them the story. They just knew that someone needed help, and that they could help, and they wanted to help.

This is a trait that I've tried to adopt from them throughout my life. Having grown up in a household where giving and sharing with others is a way of life, I give to others because it is something I genuinely like to do. I don't give or do things to show off, or to impress people, or to expect something in return. It's just something that makes me happy.

Maybe this is just what you get when two firstborns marry. Maybe we've bitten off more than we can chew at sometimes. But no matter how stressed out we get, if you asked any of us, we wouldn't have things any other way.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! I love you!

xxx

Random McRandomness

I have a lot of things going on in my head right now, but not much desire to write a post about anything. So here are some tasty nuggets of randomness:

• Tonight, for the first time in a long time, I decided to wear flip flops. (I hadn't worn them since I took that bad fall back in Michaelmas.) Chrissie and I were walking to McDonald's, and my right calf started killing me. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it there. I know I hadn't worn flip flops in a while, but I also knew it shouldn't hurt that much to wear them - especially only on one side. We stop in WH Smith to look at stationery, and as we leave the store, the strap on my flipflop snaps off! It was completely broken - I couldn't just pop it back in and go. I wonder if that's why my calf hurt - the strap was probably loose, and I was probably compensating for it. Anyway, we got to M&S just before it closed, and I got these in white. Whew. Crisis averted.
• British pop music depresses the hell out of me. I've reached the point where I need to wear my iPod while I'm eating lunch in a restaurant by myself.
• I have a scholarship interview on Monday! I am so nervous, primarily because I haven't had much luck with the scholarships this year. Keep all extremeties crossed for me please.
• Look what I got from my parents for Easter! (The shoes were French blue, the bag was sky blue with my name embroidered on it.) Yay!
• Enrique sent me links to this hilarious video series called "Look Around You," which is a 1990s British parody of those educational videos from the seventies and eighties. The format is so painfully familiar it's funny, and the commentary is ridiculous. There are eight "modules," but the funniest ones are the modules for germs and water. Enjoy!
• Dublin photos are on the Flickr, as well as Easter and boat race photos. They're not labeled and sorted yet, but you can still enjoy them.

I think that's it for now. Have a good weekend everyone!
xxx

Oxford celebrity sighting #128

Look who's coming to my college on Monday!