One of the best books in the past few years is without a doubt No Logo by Naomi Klein. Here is a good interview with her.
When I visited Andy Law at St. Lukes he said, “Everybody wants unbranded public space now, so we’re thinking of creating websites that are unbranded, but brought to you by a brand. There wouldn’t be any ads, and people would go there and hang out.” Unbranded space would be the new luxury item.