I read the Al Ries “Darwin’s Theories applied to Marketing” article on AdAge.com ( http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46338) and was floored! The answer is so simple it has been right in front of us the whole time!

In short, Mr. Ries looks at Darwin’s theories of evolution and divergence. Evolution, of course, is the gradual course of change to adapt to changes in environment. Divergence, on the other hand, is a splitting from that course to forge a new direction.

Up until I read the article, I thought of the two theories as basically the same – the process of change to ensure survival. But they are completely different… in nature and in the jungle we call marketing.

We read everyday of the new technologies, innovations and media habits that have begun (and continue) to force change. We in the media believe that if we simply continue to “evolve” we will continue to survive. But as dinosaurs and dodo birds have demonstrated, evolving does not ensure survival.

Continuing down the same “evolutionary path”, busy patting ourselves on the back for the “changes” we’ve made, without looking forward (as well to the left and the right) can lead to danger, and perhaps, to extinction. Too many media companies suddenly get to the end of the road and ask “now what?”

Of course we need to evolve, but we must also diverge, and in my opinion, in a bold way. Let’s embrace these new technologies. We should not simply open an evolutionary door and try to fit them into what we’ve always done. We need to analyze the strengths and benefits of these new media and expand what we do to benefit from them. That is divergence! And if we don’t do it, someone else will – they probably already are!