‘Marketing earthquakes’

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of brands within fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) markets using existing theory from the palaeontology literature. This article demonstrates that the theory of evolution by punctuated equilibrium can be applied to the development of FMCG markets and brands to explain the highly destructive ‘marketing earthquakes’ that periodically occur within them. The mechanisms of punctuated equilibrium are presented, and the means by which they can be applied to the development of FMCG brands and markets is explained. It is proposed that genes and species and memes and brands are highly analogous to one another and that the marketing environment is particularly suited to the application of existing palaeontological mechanisms. Two recent case studies of marketing earthquakes from New Zealand are presented. A final section showing how this theory can be applied to develop analytical tools that are capable of identifying critically stable brands and markets that may be prone to earthquake-like punctuation events concludes the article.