The Innovation Ecosystem blog analyzes Brand Evolution

With much of the mainstream business media focusing on rapid, revolutionary change, it’s always a treat to discover bloggers and consultants who adopt more of an evolutionary view of business innovation. For example, Julie Fleischer, the Innovation Thought Leader for Egg Strategy, has been publishing a blog since December 2006 called Innovation Ecosystem that looks at how concepts related to evolution and ecosystems can be used to understand business strategy and marketing. As Julie explains at the top of her Innovation Ecosystem blog, “great innovation happens organically, with

sloppy edges and growth spurts. Because as with nature, innovation

doesn’t take place in a vacuum – it is dependent upon and interrelated

to all things around it. And because innovation needs to be cognizant

of the ripple effect — seeing opportunities AND managing potential

damage. Innovation thrives on change, curiosity, and desire.”

For example, citing a recent cover story in Newsweek (“The Evolution Revolution”), Julie points out what evolution means for corporate brands:

“The cover story of the 3.19 issue of Newsweek is fascinating… We’re now learning that evolution is not a straight-lined

path of progress. It occurs in fits and starts, with many adaptations

failing to take root. We’re discovering an evolutionary family tree of

sorts, with a number of adaptive traits developing, hanging around for

several million years or so, and then becoming extinct. Progress is

lumpy.

And that’s where brands come in. Brand evolution is rarely a straight line path of forward progress.

Quite often, brand adaptations (let’s call them line extensions or

flankers) come to market, score sufficient volume to hang around for

several years, and then make way for a new generation of extensions.

This process may continue on ad infinitum without ever really evolving the brand – making it more relevant, more contemporary, competitively advantaged.

Survival of the fittest is about more than merely hanging in there.

For

a brand to truly evolve, it needs to move beyond these experiments and

take a strategic view toward innovation of the entire ecosystem.

Perhaps the business model needs to evolve (see Netflix vs. Blockbuster

below). Perhaps the brand needs a different approach regarding channels

or supply chain. Maybe the consumer situation (the human genomic code?)

has changed and new needs have arisen, requiring repositioning or

structural packaging innovation. Maybe a new predator has emerged that

forces the brand to take a more defensive – or offensive – posture. Just as our species need to evolve, so do our brands. Settling

for “natural growth” only gets you so far – hyperadaptation of the

innovation ecosystem is needed to grow the legs that take you out of