Ana Andjelic of Havas Lux Hub: Smart brands defy conventions of traditional industries

For Ana Andjelic, Senior VP, Global Strategy Director at Havas Lux Hub, brands have achieved growth and valuations through a smart combination of product design and marketing, and then by their crystal-clear brand promise. “Smart brands defy conventions of traditional industries and create a new category of their own” she explained. Andjelic said that companies like Airbnb, Uber or Net-a-Porter not only emerged as viable disruptors because of their superior understanding of consumer needs and technology. According to her, they succeeded because they seized the opportunity unrecognized by the market they ended up disrupting. “The definition of entrepreneurship is seeing hidden connections missed by others. Where people saw a bunch of empty apartments, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky saw –for example- a profitable business”. She added that “all these companies have in common the unorthodox way they define, create and distribute the value they provide, the original way they think about the business they are in, and the empathy as to who their customers really are and how they go about solving their problems”.