The tanning of America : how hip-hop created a culture that rewrote the rules of the new economy / Steve Stoute with Mim Eichler Rivas.

When Fortune 500 companies need to reenergize or reinvent a lagging brand, they call Steve Stoute. In addition to marrying cultural icons with blue-chip marketers, Stoute has helped identify and activate a new generation of consumers. He traces how the "tanning" phenomenon raised a generation of black, Hispanic, white, and Asian consumers who have the same "mental complexion," based on shared experiences and values. This consumer is a mindset--not a race or age--that responds to shared values and experiences, rather than the increasingly irrelevant demographic boxes used by corporate America. Stoute believes there is a language gap that must be bridged in order to engage this market force, and this book provides that translation guide. Drawing from his company's case studies, as well as from extensive interviews with leading figures of multiple fields, Stoute presents an insider's view of how the power of popular culture is helping reinvigorate the American dream.--From publisher description.