Book Review: The Culture Code

About the only good thing our recent airport adventure was the time it gave me to read. A few weeks ago my friend Annie reviewed The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille in her blog. After reading her review I was ready to go out and buy the book. Fortunately, she lent it to me so I took it along to Boston. What a great read! I am a huge fan of book dealing with sociology or psychology and the reasons people do the things they do. In this book Rapaille explores the codes, or the hidden messages, behind a particular culture's view of different aspects of life. This information is then used by companies to market their goods to consumers using the codes to sell more products.

Rather than simply interviewing people and using their responses Rapaille goes to an emotional response. He gets at what people feel about a specific idea or event. Based upon their emotional responses he can develop a code for advertisers. For example, Jeep Wranglers weren't selling in the late 90's so Rapaille was brought in to find out why. The company's research was telling them that people wanted Wranglers to become more like other SUV's (larger, smoother ride, more features), but when Rapaille started to get at people's emotional connects to Jeeps he found that they connected with the vehicle as a tool to explore the open terrain. Most people had a memory of Jeep being the only vehicle that could rescue someone in a remote location. The code for Jeep was "HORSE"; people thought of Jeeps like a cowboy's horse. It was the way for the good guy to save the day. The solution wasn't to change the entire vehicle, rather Rapaille suggested that Jeep make the headlights round, instead of square, thus resembling a horse's eyes. That simple solution changed everything. Take a look at Jeep's new logo.

I loved this book! It talked so much about why Americans think the way we do. Some of the codes scared me a bit (Sex = "VIOLENCE" and Alcohol = "GUN") but most of the codes really helped me think about our culture and the thinks Americans value. The Culture Code should be on your short list of books to read. It's a quick read and it will really help you examine parts of your own way of thinking.