The Culture Code

One of the most interesting books that I've read in years is The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille.

Rapaille, a psychologist, advises Fortune 100 companies on how best to market their products. He does so by identifying certain codes held by the target audience and carried by the product itself. Just to take a minor example so as not to spoil the book: For Americans, the code for the Jeep Wrangler is HORSE. They associate it with open plains and wilderness. For the French and the Germans, however, its code is LIBERATION. They associate it with the American liberators in the Second World War. How this translated into the marketing approach is fascinating.

You'll never look at a Jeep's headlights again without recalling Rapaille's translation.