The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do
by Clotaire Rapaille
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
nerds
Truly fascinating on a variety of levels.
Clotaire Rapaille is a psychologist who started his career working with autistic children and studying the process of learning. He applied his heavily Jungian theories to marketing and has become a guru figure to many fortune 100 CEO's. He spends a lot of time making some very fascinating points about human nature as he explains the psychological disconnect of why anyone would buy an off-road vehicle with no intention of ever going off road.
On ano...more
Clotaire Rapaille is a psychologist who started his career working with autistic children and studying the process of learning. He applied his heavily Jungian theories to marketing and has become a guru figure to many fortune 100 CEO's. He spends a lot of time making some very fascinating points about human nature as he explains the psychological disconnect of why anyone would buy an off-road vehicle with no intention of ever going off road.
On ano...more
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Largely absurd and often borderline evil, this is the tale of one incredibly smart man stealing our memories in order to sell us things we don't need.
In one passage, Rapaille declares that since the moon reflects the light of the sun, and the French word for moon is feminine while the word for sun is masculine, the French consider men to be shining and brilliant and women a mere reflection of that. Nevermind that the French language was invented before knowledge of the moon's reflective prope...more
In one passage, Rapaille declares that since the moon reflects the light of the sun, and the French word for moon is feminine while the word for sun is masculine, the French consider men to be shining and brilliant and women a mere reflection of that. Nevermind that the French language was invented before knowledge of the moon's reflective prope...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Nurkastelia by:
Charlie Kounsrecommends it for: people in global marketing
So. my first reaction reading the introduction to this book was, 'goddammit, this guy's right!!'
but then... gradually, i started to think, 'can we really simplify an equation as complicated as culture into a single formula?' because culture's ever changing. it's cyclic, according to what i heard during my brief time of listening throughout high school.
so, when monsieur rapaille stated that the code for perfection equals death, the code for money is proof, violence for sex, and love equa...more
but then... gradually, i started to think, 'can we really simplify an equation as complicated as culture into a single formula?' because culture's ever changing. it's cyclic, according to what i heard during my brief time of listening throughout high school.
so, when monsieur rapaille stated that the code for perfection equals death, the code for money is proof, violence for sex, and love equa...more
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Read in December, 2006
was impressed with Rapaille's line of reasoning, mainly, that one’s culture imprints you in a way like Freudian/Jungian imprinting; that things have a unique code to your culture. Example: American culture is adolescent. American codes... alcohol = gun. money = proof and luxury items = military stripes. car = identity. from these codes one can make educated inferences about how people will respond to and treat consumer goods from a “reptilian” or subconscious place. it’s a fascinat...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Ad industry types, comm nerds, expats
Is it ridiculous? Sometimes. Is it based on generalizations and cultural stereotypes? Sure. But Rapaille's Culture Code theory is fascinating from an advertising and marketing standpoint, and has clearly made an impact on cultural messaging. These are slick, shallow observations designed to achieve slick, shallow results -- depending on your end goal (especially in business), that can be a positive or negative agenda. If you take everything he says with a grain of salt and don't expect the book ...more
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Read in August, 2007
I know Clotaire Rapaille is a marketing genius, so I'm not going to try and diss him or anything. But I think if you've studied ethnography or human research you'll find this book rather thin on new ideas. He has a patented 3-step technique he uses to get into people's heads that seems really interesting, but the details of how he does it aren't really disclosed in the book. It's basically a look-back at several of his genius ideas from his three decades in marketing (he left a psychology practi...more
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I thought parts of this book were fascinating. It started out strong but I wanted more information. I wanted to understand better how his method worked to get to each "code" within his discovery sessions but it seemed vague to me.
Also this book was very focused on the American culture and didn't give much insights to other cultures. Maybe my expection was incorrect, but I wanted to understand how to better market to customers in the european countries but I felt info was lacki...more
Also this book was very focused on the American culture and didn't give much insights to other cultures. Maybe my expection was incorrect, but I wanted to understand how to better market to customers in the european countries but I felt info was lacki...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone!
I don't have a lot of time to review this but this book is absolutely amazing! I want to buy it for everyone in my family this year for Christmas. I am really critical about books because my time is precious and I don't want to invest hours into a book if it isn't going to change me/give me knew information in some way.
This book is surprisingly amazing, a quick and easy read, and will probably be used in college classrooms this coming year and the years to come, if not already!
I am neve...more
This book is surprisingly amazing, a quick and easy read, and will probably be used in college classrooms this coming year and the years to come, if not already!
I am neve...more
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Read in April, 2008
A friend was supposed to give me this book for my birthday but decided to keep it for herself and give me a purse instead. I stole it from her shelf six months later. Reading this book while flying was eye-opening as I got to watch how the American culture code played out in the branding of companies advertising in airports and in the vast diversity of my fellow travelers who continuously adhered to the code.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Nadine by:
Jean Chapin
"We are all individuals, and each of us has a complex set of motivations, inspirations, and guiding principles (a Personal Code). However, seeing how we think as a culture, how we behave as a group in predictable patterns based on the survival kit we received at birth (Culture Code) as Americans, or English, or French..., enables us to navigate our world with a vision we've heretofore lacked."
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Read in October, 2007
This book starts out so good and then Chapter Two delves into such an incomprehensible mess that I'm fairly certain the editor quit early on.
And believe it or not, Clotaire Rapille is an American flag-waving Frenchman. This dude is pro-Bush all the way. Why this comes out in a book on marketing and culture is beyond me--and is also the reason this book is a complete waste of time.
And believe it or not, Clotaire Rapille is an American flag-waving Frenchman. This dude is pro-Bush all the way. Why this comes out in a book on marketing and culture is beyond me--and is also the reason this book is a complete waste of time.
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Chi by:
Duke Vurecommends it for: nobody in particular
This book revealed what people, Americans especially, really feel about products, brands, and culture. It brings new life into our culture and society. Sometimes, we think we know something, but our feelings are the main catalyst for that knowledge. It's a quick read, but I disagree with several points in this book. The author is too into himself to give an objective perspective.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
any one who is interested in pop psychology
Ethnographers, Pseudo-psychologist, sociologist and people watchers will love this book.
I found it easy to read and completely fascinating, learning about different cultures and how different cultures see us. Since I have recently returned from Europe I found it very acurate on the differences between the American culture vs. the European culture.
I found it easy to read and completely fascinating, learning about different cultures and how different cultures see us. Since I have recently returned from Europe I found it very acurate on the differences between the American culture vs. the European culture.
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Read in October, 2007
This book is brilliantly evil. The author, in real life, found ways to sell chocolate to the kids in Japan when kids didn't even like chocolate. He seeks to reveal the code of what different culture really think about when they are presented with an idea. He covers presidents, sex, cars, etc. The logic isn't compelling but the results are stunning.
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Read in May, 2008
This book is great at boiling a whole bunch of ideas down to one word. The code. The code for Jeep, coffee, America, healthy, etc. It helps us, as Americans know why we do what we do. It also helps marketers know the best approach to market products to Americans, French, and the English. I thought it was very insightful.
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Read in August, 2008
A great way to think about the reasons why we love the things we love and feel about the things we feel for. It was especially fun for me to imagine which categories I fit into as he talked about the different culture codes of different nations. Am I Korean or am I American etc etc.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
cultural analysis enthusiasts, nerds
This book is truly fabulous. Why do Americans love fast food? Why are the French so much more intellectual and aversive towards labor? Why This book is like cultural anthropology in an-easy-to-read format. Kind of like Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science.
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I want to get this baby after I'm done with all the "I am woman - roar" books. I'm toying with the idea of doing a masters in communication psychology because I've always been interested in it... so this sounds like a good place to start. Rather US-centric, though...
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recommends it for:
critical theory types
Completely fascinating and insightful but not great writing and sort of self-serving. He's a brand consultant/psychologist and some of his logic strikes me as circular. Also, what kind of book on American culture fails to address race? I don't totally trust it.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
This book is interesting because it opens your eyes to why we do what we do as an American. How marketing plays into what we buy, how our history as a country shapes us and how other countries view us. Very enlightening..
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