Woolley Marketing: Why change is not always disruption

Some 500 years before Christ, the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus reminded us that “the only constant in life is change.” Fast-forward to the frenetic pace of the 21st century, and I wonder what old Heraclitus would make of the accelerated pace of change driven by technology. New channels and platforms for engaging an audience, technology for predicting where to invest valuable marketing dollars, and more are changing marketing, well, constantly.

Like change, the fear of change is constant (ask anyone in financial services marketing). Change today means rethinking and evaluating how we work, who we work with, and where we focus our time and resources. It is also known as restructuring.

But recently, I have noticed that change has had a significant upgrade. It is no longer enough to be the constant of change, but now these shifts are called disruptions. This is possibly due to what can be considered a recent true disruption—a global pandemic—and the subsequent impacts. The very word “disruption” seems to carry a weight, a sense of upheaval, unlike the more neutral “change.” However, Google news searches showing “disruption” peaked in March 2024, and as a general search term, it has significantly increased since mid-2016.

Of course, change and disruption are related, so it is not unexpected that the two have dynamically become more like synonyms. But change is about making something different or replacing it with something new or better. In contrast, disruption is a disturbance or problem that interrupts or causes a radical change. Think of it as the difference between a gentle breeze and a sudden squall.

So, while all change is not a disruption, all disruption involves change. As a Venn diagram, disruption is a subset of change. In business, disruption refers to major changes fundamentally altering how a business operates, often threatening its survival or requiring a major strategic shift.

We are living with the aforementioned global disruption, the Covid pandemic, which caused substantial disruptions across industries—supply chains, remote work, and shifts in consumer behaviour, with some categories thriving while others struggled to adapt—a stark reminder of how quickly the familiar can become unfamiliar, the stable unstable.

However, disruption also comes with technological advancements. For example, the rise of streaming services like Netflix disrupted traditional television and DVD rental businesses. Ride-share services such as Uber and Grab disrupted the taxi industry globally, forcing regulatory change in many markets. Alibaba, Amazon, Pinduoduo, Shopify, and other e-commerce majors disrupted traditional brick-and-mortar stores by offering convenience, lower cost, and a wide range of products.

And, of course, now, we have the rise of AI, which has created the most valuable business in the world. Nvidia is valued at $3.43 trillion; other chip manufacturers like Intel and Samsung have felt its impact. And the ripple effect of AI is only just beginning to be felt, promising—or threatening—to reshape the environment we know.

And then there are the regulatory and legal changes that disrupt markets and force established players to adapt or become obsolete. A good example would be the legalisation of cannabis in Thailand and various other countries, which has disrupted the pharmaceutical and alcohol industries, leading to new competitors and changing consumer preferences.

But these disruptions contrast with the many common changes facing business, such as the operational improvements of implementing a new software system, adjustments to the existing marketing strategy, developing a product line or brand extension, a company updating its remote work policies for employees, or even a branding refresh, such as the new Jaguar rebranding.

Business disruption typically involves fundamental changes, often unseen or unpredicted, that can alter or threaten a category's or business's viability. In contrast, simple changes are usually incremental improvements that do not significantly alter the core business model, often instigated by the company.

But it feels like we are being disrupted more than ever before. Or are we more inclined to see changes in the context of a broader disruption we have recently navigated? It may be the bombardment of technological innovation. But then, not all technology is disruptive. Our constant fear of change may make us fear that every change is a disruption.

What is clear is that today’s changes may lead to tomorrow’s next disruption. There is a clear relationship between the two. Heraclitus was right. “The only constant in life is change.” As business leaders, we need to embrace change.

To reject change is to reject growth and progress—the inability to change, progress, or grow results in being left behind. Consider businesses like Blockbuster, Kodak, and Nokia. In each case, they were disrupted by innovative technology-enabled business models and either refused to change or could not.

As marketers, success means not only navigating the market but also being the business's bellwether for the opportunities ahead.

Woolley Marketing is a monthly column for Campaign Asia-Pacific, penned by Darren Woolley (left), the founder and global CEO of Trinity P3. The illustration accompanying this piece is by Dennis Flad (right), a Zurich-based marketing and advertising veteran.