Grant McCracken - Culture and Consumption - Convergence 2008 Grant McCracken – Culture and Consumption – Convergence 2008

On May 22nd, I attended Convergence 2008 sponsored by Cossette West. I had previously interviewed Sandy Fleischer, VP Fjord Interactive a division of Cossette West prior to participating (available on youtube and utterz).

The first speaker was Grant McCracken, the author of Culture and Consumption who was introduced by Sandy Fleischer.

Sandy Fleischer - Fjord Interactive Marketing - Convergence 2008
Sandy Fleischer – Fjord Interactive Marketing

Dr. Grant McCracken is a professor of MIT whose work has been reviewed by media ranging from The New York Times to The Oprah Winfrey Show. As a cultural anthropologist, McCracken examnes where culture and commerce, anthropology and economics meet most often: marketing in general, branding in particular, popular culture, Hollywood, advertising, television, magazines, and new media.

Grant McCracken - Culture and Consumption - Convergence 2008
Grant McCracken – author of Culture and Consumption

I enjoyed Grant’s presentation (he is a Canadian born in Vancouver) as he explained some of the existing technologies I use such as twitter from an ethnographic perspective. As a student, I identified with his discussions on how students are always online (I know my friends still love facebook). Afterwards I thought of how companies may see digital media as a potential platform for marketing products to youth.

Grant McCracken - Culture and Consumption - Convergence 2008 Grant McCracken – Culture and Consumption – Convergence 2008

During the lunch hour I interviewed Grant McCracken about his presentation entitled: Digital Cultures: Markets, Meaning and Brand Management, which I uploaded to YouTube below.




Here are my Flickr photos from Convergence.

Relevance: How are companies adapting to emerging technologies and digital media for marketing to targeted groups?