Seth Godin <claims that we should stop looking for case studies, templates and rules about marketing. We should ignore marketing failures; and since marketing successes are each unique in their own way, studying them is pointless.

Very zen. Also very wrong, in my opinion. I may be biased as someone in business school, who reads and studies case histories every day. But I would argue that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Even on the creative side of marketing, where "rules matters less," I believe there's much to be learned from studying what's worked and what hasn't. That's one reason I read blogs like Seth's!

If I were preparing a new ad campaign to launch Nike into a new product category, I can't help but think I'd do better by knowing the history of Nike's previous entrances into new categories; I'd also do better by knowing what's working -- or worked -- and what's not worked in the sports/fashion apparel world. I'd like to know what's relevant and what's been relevant to my target audience. You learn about these things by studying the market, competitors and, yes, history.