Gonzo Marketing???

Over the last two days, large amounts of my personal time (I'm referring to my time - not 'time' in the holistic sense) was spent reading Gonzo Marketing by Christopher Locke. I bought the book on amazon because i was curious to see what the chap had to say. I had previously looked up 'Gonzo Marketing' on Google, curious to see what results would throw back at me. I envisaged the term to be a neat fit with the current Guerrilla Marketing crowd - a modernists view on the latest strictly-not-by-the-book marketing practices.

I was right. Even though Locke accuses Hunter Thompson of insulting his readers as part of the qualification for 'Gonzo Journalism' (an accusation refuted by myself, at least with my (reasonable) savvy knowledge of HSTs works), the guy fitted my perception of the term with acute detail in the marketing mix.

Marketing is dead!!! "The end of marketing as we know it ...based on mass-merchandising with little attention to customers needs..."

I concur.

"Gonzo marketing provides a model whereby companies can stop manipulating people as if they were abstract demographic data, and instead create genuine relationships with emergent online communities of interest."

I concur again. This is too good. But hang on a second. You sure as hell are not going to do that by insulting your readers, Locke. Get a grip!

Locke talks tough cheese. He goes on (and on and on...) about micromarkets. I'm not going to go there. Period.

I do however give the guy a 'thumbs up' for being the first to come up with the goods fitting my subject of interest. Even if it is now remaindered on amazon for four quid including delivery, in hardback form.

It's a tough world.

The photo, I'm afraid, doesn't bare resemblance to this piece. I am learning, so bear with me (as opposed to bare with me - where you would - of course, be invited to strip in unison).

At least you have a photo.

London. Waterloo area. Same day as the toilet. How efficient.