In a Time of Transformation, a Lot is Up For Grabs.

Transformational times offer a lot of opportunity.

Thomson, formerly one of the world's greatest newspaper publishers, decided in 2000 - the all-time best year for newspaper ad revenues - to get out of newspapers entirely. The move looked insane. But as Fortune Magazine said in its latest issue, Thomson-Reuters was adapting to the world it saw coming. And today, it is thriving, whereas most newspaper companies are running the race with crutches and a head bandage.

The music industry is writhing around in a time of huge transformation. But one company, somewhere, will see the opportunity and will stake out a huge claim. Or maybe that company was Apple and the category-breaking idea was iTunes. In 2000, Steve Jobs Jobs saw the world in transition, and unleashed his "digital lifestyle strategy" when Apple was worth $5 billion. Today Apple is worth $170 billion. It has $34 billion in cash - which alone surpasses the entire market cap of Dell.

Microsoft never saw the internet coming. Bill Gates refused to invest in it. Now they are trying to buy big internet companies like Yahoo. They are pawing longingly at the internet window, and want in.

Transformation is usually accompanied by enormous turmoil. Turmoil is usually accompanied by enormous opportunity. What stops most companies from realizing those opportunities is that you have to jump - fully and completely - into the turmoil, wade through it carrying your rifle over your head, and an opportunity will reveal itself.

That's why huge innovations are made in times of war. The internet itself was a product of the Pentagon. Stress ingites creativity. As Reid Miles, the famous photographer (and famous yeller) said to me one day, "The absence of tension leads to contented oysters, but no pearls."

The ad business is going through a big transformation right now. Traditional advertising is being bullied by online advertising, yet advertisers are having trouble grabbing the internet, because it’s a big slippery bar of soap right now. But smart advertisers are wading into the deep, fast moving waters of the net, learning, experimenting, trying to decipher the feedback. That homework will pay off.

Big pieces of lucrative real estate are up for grabs in the marketing world.

It's just the fog of turmoil that's in the way.