He mentions, advertisers don't believe its worth advertising to smart people because they don't make decisions based on brand, but rather they make decisions based on research.
Interesting and true.
Interesting and true.
Buying based on brand recognition is just one facet of a multitude of ways advertising affects buying habits. There are a lot of advertisers that already have a great product, but just need to get the word out (i.e. many YC startups). From the article, "Laporte said he charges $70 CPMs for ads." Clearly advertising to smart people is in demand.
I think the point is that advertising to smart people is not effective; they will research and find the best product regardless of advertising.
Not all advertising is dishonest, and instead informative. Hopefully the new media technologies will let this type of advertising thrive.
Is this counter-intuitive with Mac purchases?
(Cue joke about doctors' intelligence.)