It’s always interesting to read what academics have to say about advertising.  Having attended business school, I know there is plenty of literature about marketing and marketing strategy.  The study of creativity and innovation have also come into vogue at leading MBA programs.  But the agency world has been neglected, in part because it spends so little on research and development.

But this is changing.  Umair Haque has been appointed to lead Havas Media Lab, a research and development unit
to partner with clients and start-ups to find new ad models.  He has a new blog on the Harvard Business Review which offers the pithiest definition of brand I have ever heard:

“A brand is way to compress information about the expected value of consumption”.

His argument is that the value of brands is decaying because you no longer have to cram the full experience of consuming a product into a 30-second spot – because there are so many other, more interactive ways to experience that product by proxy.  This is a powerful explanation for the Google’s success as a brand – achieved without no advertising.  There is no need to advertise Google, because you can experience it fully from your desktop.

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/haque/

I think the argument breaks down for many other products that don’t support cheap interaction – most CPG, in fact most products that advertise heavily period.  But he finesses this by talking about the power of WOM and consumer-to-consumer interaction.  Can you think of any non-digital products that you truly experience prior to purchase?

Misha Cornes