In a time when sameness passes for connection, Gerald Mazzalovo invites readers to rediscover the art of difference. His new book, Exoticism, Brands & Society: Ethics and Aesthetics of Diversity, reclaims a word often misunderstood, one burdened by colonial history yet rich with the potential to teach us how to look, feel, and think anew.
Drawing on his long career in luxury brand leadership and his deep research in semiotics, Mazzalovo explores how the idea of the “exotic” still moves through culture quietly, powerfully, and often unconsciously.
From ancient travel narratives to Cartier’s advertising, from museum walls in Phnom Penh to AI-generated consumer studies in Thailand, the book traces the shifting line between fascination and appropriation.
The book steps beyond just aesthetics. It is a meditation on perception itself — on what happens when we meet the unfamiliar without the impulse to possess it. It bridges philosophy and practice, showing how brands, societies, and individuals can approach difference as dialogue rather than dominance.
Mazzalovo writes with precision and poetry, drawing from thinkers like Victor Segalen to reframe exoticism as an aesthetics of the diverse. His message is quiet but urgent: to see the Other clearly is to understand ourselves more honestly.
Exoticism, Brands & Society: Ethics and Aesthetics of Diversity is available in print and digital formats.
About the Author
Gerald Mazzalovo is a brand specialist whose career bridges the worlds of luxury, culture, and meaning. His expertise includes top management experience with renowned houses such as Ferragamo, Loewe, Bally, Clergerie, and Jim Thompson, across Europe, America, and Asia.
Driven by a belief that practice and theory must feed one another, Mazzalovo combines executive insight with academic rigor. He researches and teaches the nature of brands, their role in society, their cultural resonance, and their strategic and operational complexities. His work approaches brands as living systems of meaning, shaped by semiotics, symbolism, and human desire.
He is the author of four books on branding and numerous academic articles. Over the years, he has taught at institutions including Sasin School of Management (Bangkok), ESSEC, Université Paris-Dauphine, Lyon 2, ISC Paris, Instituto de Empresa, Istituto Europeo di Design, and Jiao Tong University.
Today, Mazzalovo is a Senior research Fellow at Sasin School of Management (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand) and continues to consult globally in brand strategy, management, and education — advancing the idea that brands are not only business tools but cultural languages that tell stories about who we are, and what we value.