<div>The Excellence Diploma is a rigorous twelve-month program designed by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA)-the professional body for advertising, media, and marketing communications agencies in the UK-for practitioners fascinated by brands. It is their most prestigious qualification and is known as the “MBA of brands.” The culmination of the course is a 5,000-7,000 word essay that focuses on the future of brands and brand communications. </div><div> </div><div><I>What is a Brand?</I> is not just a collection of the best essays from the last ten years (since the beginning of the program), it also allows the authors, who have gone on to have successful careers at agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, and BBDO, to come back and analyze and comment on their original thesis in light of what they know now. </div>