EVENT We need to get back to focusing on the product, say the authors of the new book Tilbage til virkeligheden (Back to Reality), Rasmus Bech Hansen and Jens Martin Skibsted. The book was discussed at the event ‘A Discussion between Research and Practice’ at Copenhagen Business School, organized by the Entrepreneurship Platform. In the book, the authors mention the Danish family-owned company VIPP, whose CEO, Kasper Egelund, and chief designer, Morten Bo Jensen, also participated in the discussion at the event. The discussion about brands and products was facilitated by Professor Robert Austin from CBS’ Entrepreneurship Platform.
Hansen and Skibsted during the discussion. The two authors argued that much of the usual thinking about brands and branding is dead wrong: Brands are not merely stand-ins for often unavailable comparative information to help customers choose among products and services. Instead, according to Hansen and Skibsted, brands are sources of meaning and emotional satisfaction. In fact, the authors say, customers turn to brands to seek comfort and refuge from information overload.
Professor Robert Austin from CBS’ Entrepreneurship Platform facilitated the discussion about the book and the book’s case study about VIPP. To him, Danish design products are among the best in the world – because often, as in the case of VIPP, ‘the story is woven into the product’, as he put it at the event.
Researchers from CBS engaged in the discussion about brands and products.
Photos: Christoffer Regild
Text: Irene Houstrup
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