No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of commerce and business administration
at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

No Logo, the author writes, is based on a simple hypothesis: “as more
people discover the brand-name secrets of the global logo web, their
outrage will fuel the next political movement, a vast wave of opposition
squarely targeting transnational corporations, particularly those with
very high name-brand recognition.”

The book is divided into four sections: “No Space,” “No
Choice,” “No Jobs,” and “No Logo.” “No Space” presents a
history of brands (including the evolution of the “branded
multinational”) and addresses such topics as the undesirable
consequences of sponsorship, the youth market, marketing of the
“cool” image, and advertising in educational institutions. “No
Choice” examines the negative implications of globalized super brands
as buyouts, mergers, and bankruptcies, together with corporate
censorship and the elimination of many small businesses, have led to
less or “no choice” for consumers. In the “No Jobs” section,
Klein focuses on the exporting of jobs to the developing economies
(where undesirable working conditions prevail), which has left the
developed economies increasingly dependent on temporary, part-time, and
telecommuting jobs. In “No Logo,” she states that brand image is the
corporate Achilles’ heel and outlines opposition tactics such as
culture jamming (i.e., counter or inverted advertising messages) and
street protests at international summit meetings.

Klein’s book has been widely distributed and well received,
especially by anti-corporate activists who view it as a protest
handbook. But corporate managers are reading the book as well in order
to gain an appreciation for the influence of social activists. Even if
the “vast wave of opposition” may have crested, No Logo has affected
corporate behavior.