Overview
In this assignment, you will read the following Harvard Business Review article:
“Researchers Asked LLMs for Strategic Advice. They Got ‘Trendslop’ in Return” (March 2026)
https://hbr.org/2026/03/researchers-asked-llms-for-strategic-advice-they-got-trendslop-in-return
The article highlights a key limitation of AI: its tendency to produce advice that is polished and popular, but often generic and strategically weak. They call it “trendslop.”
From a marketing perspective, this is critical. Effective strategy is about making clear choices, building differentiation, and uncovering unique insights. It is NOT about following trends!
This assignment will test both your understanding of the article and your ability to think beyond it. Strong answers will go beyond buzzwords and should be the result of anti-trendslop thinking :)
Note: Answer length will not be graded. What really matters is that your response sufficiently and clearly addresses the question.