The Tanning of America

Steve Stoute, founder and CEO of Translation, explains why hip-hop culture should matter to marketers. He is the author of The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• steve
• stoute
• marketing
• tanning
• of
• america
• hip-hop
• economy
• harvard
• business
• school
• publishing
• hbr

[therealcarson]

I love how Gap paid for a FUBU commercial.

[eshaesh06]

@zassounotsukushi i agree "defiant" isn't quite the adjective, clever would be a better word to describe it. LL is saying look at me I'm getting paid to do a rap for the Gap but watch as I slip a line to my target consumer for some free advertsiement cause these people dont understand what I'm saying. Its like an inside joke the Gap was not in on. Its like watching a man introduce his wife to his mistress.

[AntonSlizzardhands]

Good stuff.

[takeover08]

Great interview, thanks for this. I added Tanning of America to my book wish list.

[DrMathewTM]

Sounds like an interesting and new concept "Tanning" in Marketing. Tanning as Steve mentions in this video, refers to how hip hop culture targets all cultures, nationalities unlike the targeted segmented traditional approach (to a specific race, gender , age group etc) of marketing.

[CognitiveFilmsAustin]

Found this on CNNMoney from 05: "A total of 35 percent of the songs that made the charts in 2005 contained product references, compared to 40 percent of songs in 2004. The top product categories in this year's list were automobiles, fashion labels, beverages and weapons." money.cnn.com/2005/12/30/Autos­/rap_brands/index.htm 1. Mercedes-Benz 2. Nike 3. Cadillac 4. Bentley 5. Rolls-Royce 6. Hennessy 7. Chevrolet 8. Louis Vuitton/Cristal (tie) 10. AK-47

[TheAmateurVid512]

Is that mark cuban loosing like 50pounds?

[zassounotsukushi]

I had to look up what "on the low" means, lol

I think his claim of a subtle and defiant message is a little weak, but maybe I still don't get it ;)