SUMMARY – RORY SUTHERLAND’S TED TALK

SUBMITTED BY: PRATEEK KAVA

ROLL NO: 2211209

SUMMARY: Life Lessons from an ad man

The video starts with Rory explaining why intangible or the perceived value gets a bad rep. He gives
an example of a train running between London and Paris. The engineers came up with an
engineering solution of laying down new tracks that will reduce the train journey time by 40 minutes
costing 6 billion pounds. He then draws a contrast between solutions provided by engineers and
marketing professionals.

He further explains that most problems when one reaches a certain level of wealth are a problem of
perception. All value is relative, all value is perceived value, and persuasion is better than
compulsion.

Advertising is an integral part of consumer culture. It helps change our perception of a product and
makes it more accessible. Advertising works by creating associations in our minds between products
and certain positive emotions or memories.

Intangible value is the term used to describe a product's benefits that cannot be measured in
quantifiable terms. These include things such as prestige, satisfaction, and brand affinity. In order for
a company to create intangible value with their products, they must understand what matters most
to their customers.

Because intangible value is so important, it is often the thing that attracts consumers to a product. In
fact, it is often what motivates them to buy it. In some cases, this attraction is strong enough to
overcome any reservations or objections that they might have. For example, people might be willing
to spend a lot of money on a product even if they don't think that it is worth it.