Here in a talk at FMCL IV, a speaker made the point that $7 billion of Coca-Cola's yearly $14 billion income represents the value of its trademark, its reputation.
I have a vision of a networked economy (borrowed, I think, from a group I think is called p2pmap, the ones behind bookswelike) in which most of our current tools for transferring economic information --- signs, government certifications, shopping districts, newspaper ads, etc. --- are supplanted by real-time networked information. In this world, if you want something in a city, you advertise your location and your desire through your wearable computer, entering into it a preference function indicating how much you want that thing. Other people nearby who have that something --- a ride, a hug, a hot dog --- respond with offers; in a few seconds or minutes (depending on the preference function's time-weighting) you find a provider with an acceptable reputation, you walk half a block to meet them, pay them, and receive your desire. We already have some prototypes; in the SF Bay Area, if you want a computer, a date, a job, an apartment, or to sell your current computer, you spend a few minutes reading craigslist, or you post on craigslist and get many responses within a matter of hours. Elsewhere, many consumer goods are much more available through eBay than through stores. When you're traveling, you may be able to find lodging through CouchSurfing.com or HospitalityClub.org. This hypothetical world, if it's possible, is clearly much more convenient and economically efficient than what we have now. Rather than standing on a street corner for half an hour trying to flag down a taxi, you'd find someone nearby who's already planning to drive to the area you want to go, then split the gas expenses with them. Rather than spending eight hours' wages on a hotel room for a night, you'd find someone in the area you're going to who is willing to host you. So in this dream of a disintermediated, hyperefficient low-friction free market, what happens to Coca-Cola? Presumably, you can find the reputation of a little-known soft drink the same way you can find the reputations of a dozen offerors of ad-hoc taxi service would also allow you to, and the price premium you're willing to pay for the Coca-Cola brand would diminish.
