As one cultural brand to another, Education Guardian would like to hail Oxford University's latest iconic event - the inaugural lecture by the L'Oreal professor of marketing. He deserves it, after all ...
Conceivably Douglas Holt, holder of the chair at the Saïd Business School, gets a little tired of that remark but it is a tribute to his benefactor's advertising. (The firm put £1.8m of shampoo profits to establish his chair.)
Holt, the guru of cultural branding which seeks to "position the brand to address changes in culture and society", was poached by Oxford from Harvard and will be talking on March 9 about how brands become icons.
Now comes the science bit. Says Professor Holt: "Brands become icons not by highlighting unique features and benefits, but by staking out a provocative and valued position in the national culture. Iconic brands address acute cultural contradictions - and the widespread desires and anxieties they create - by 'performing' myths. These simple stories, usually conveyed through powerful advertising, smooth over cultural contradictions and help people feel better about their identities."
He believes Coke, Volkswagen, Budweiser, and Harley-Davidson built their franchises through myths that smoothed over acute tensions in society.
We're not sure how Education Guardian fits into this model of cultural branding but there's certainly plenty of tension out there in the education world. Just ask Tony Blair.
