In their book "The Origin of Brands", Al and Laura Ries draw parallels between brands—their birth, development, evolution and even death—and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution: "Product categories will diverge, divide, and generate endless opportunities for brand creation". Let's look at essential products such as milk, bread and oil. These product categories were originally very basic (natural milk, white bread and olive oil), but they have evolved and created new subcategories and different products, even generating new business opportunities. Who would have thought a few years ago that we would know what picual oil, soya milk or sourdough was and would seek them out, and that buying bread would become an experience full of options: sourdough, cereal, corn, unleavened...

Behind this whole revolution lies the intrinsic dual nature of brands. None of this would have been possible without the essential collaboration between marketing and R&D&I. In all companies, this cooperation has become increasingly close in order to respond to the need for market evolution and customer satisfaction.

And this is where the personalities of Darwin and Verne converge. The "I” of investigation responds to the need to understand the market and the consumer as they are, comprehend their motivations, and identify opportunities. The “D” for Development represents the evolution of a brand, its products and services, to take advantage of these opportunities. And the latest “I”, the Innovation, corresponds to the essential obligation of a brand, product or service to evolve, create new sub-products or even new sub-categories in order to grow or survive in the market. 

Charles Darwin took responsibility for the Research of our environment, the world as it was, and Julio Verne “Innovated” imagining what that world might be like: from the submarine in his "20,000 Leagues..." to the international communications network (which we now call the internet) that he described in his first novel, "Paris in the Twentieth Century", via the journey to the moon and the conquest of the poles.

For all these reasons, at Darwin & Verne we are convinced that Darwin and Verne are present in all brands; because all of them, their products or services, must understand the reality of their market and their consumers, what they are like and how they behave, and then imagine what they could be like, how their needs or desires might evolve, in order to design new products or services for them. This is also why our work philosophy captures this same essence in three fundamental concepts: UNDERSTAND – IMAGINE – GO, which reflect our ability to understand our clients' businesses, imagine where they should or could evolve, and accompany them on their brand's extraordinary journey.

Shall we begin the journey?