[sotojuan]

Companies do stuff like that because they think or have proved that it sells. I've heard and read that people increasingly don't want just products any more. They want a brand, a story, etc. That might not work for beer or TVs but that won't stop Budweiser and Sony from trying.

[Retra]

What happens when a marketer sends out a brand message which reaches theoretically maximal returns? Why, nothing. They come to work the next day and try to beat it.

Advertising isn't a job that's just "done" and people walk away satisfied. McDonalds isn't going to stop putting new things on their menu either. Capitalism doesn't really seem to work otherwise... If you produced the optimal product, you have to come back next year and produce an (almost-by-definition) less optimal product and sell it better than you did before.

Most companies do things because people are being paid at that company to do things. The assumption that they do things because they work better or are better should not be so easily believed or sold. I produce content for my employer because they pay me to produce content, not because I think I can produce content which is better than all other content. Just because people are running really hard doesn't mean they aren't going in circles.