Digital Darwinism

By Evan I. Schwartz

Reviewed by Jonathan Clark

Although Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection in living organisms was not proven as a scientific fact until the genetic research of Gregor Mendel was completed and DNA was discovered by Watson and Crick, the applicability of this theory to e-Business is already apparent.

In Digital Darwinism, Evan Schwartz outlines 7 strategies that should enable business to be categorized as fit and survive the natural selection process of the new economy. The strategies Schwartz covers are branding, pricing, marketing, packaging, manufacturing, new value creation and integration. All of the topics are covered in sufficient detail with evidence of both the benefits and detriments summarized. The book also adds interesting stories regarding various successful and unsuccessful e-Business strategies.

Two of the more interesting discussions involve branding and integration.

Brands

For companies to survive they will have to create a “solution brand”, one that solves a problem facing either businesses or consumers - not a brand based on a product or technology. The brand must be a life simplifier, because free time is the commodity that the customers are looking to increase. To stay relevant to the end user the brand must also continue to add services with increasing value because as the customers gain experience, their expectations will increase. The Web will enable successful companies to develop a complete multi-step solution, but to survive the solution may need to include other attributes – including human interaction - that the Web cannot provide.

Integration

Companies that exist solely on the Web will probably not be the ones that survive. The survivors will be the companies that can integrate e-Commerce, stores, catalogues and other tradition channels in a continuous loop. The feedback that each element provides will keep the company/brand relevant in the minds of the consumer and develop increased customer loyalty. The hybrid species will also be able to compensate for the weaknesses and reinforce the benefits in any of the elements. For this to be successful, however, the integration must be tight. Any company that tries to run the channels as separate entities will perish; the detriments – inability to combine inventory, lack of feedback and unshared customer information – far exceed the benefits of separate entities – no tax on sales and separate profit/loss centers.

Although the book presents “7 breakthrough business strategies for surviving in the cutthroat Web economy”, a business will only prosper if they take these strategies and evolve them according to customers’ needs before their competition.