Could Your Company Benefit from Fastvertising?

In this HBR IdeaCast episode, Alison Beard interviews Ayelet Israeli, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, about "fastvertising," or marketing at the speed of culture. They discuss how companies can quickly create ads in response to cultural trends and viral moments, using examples such as Oreo's response to the Super Bowl power outage and Maximum Effort's Peloton ad. Israeli emphasizes the importance of authenticity, brand consistency, and a flat organizational structure to enable quick decision-making. While quantifying the impact of fastvertising on sales is challenging, it can increase brand awareness and positive sentiment. The conversation also covers potential pitfalls, the role of AI, and structural changes companies need to make to succeed in this fast-paced marketing approach.