If something is innovative with a dedicated developer it deserves to grow, unfortunately that is never the case.
I believe innovation will prevail over the long term. That's why bitcoin is now stagnant and why litecoin is dying.
There is a formula now of using slick marketing, slick bootstrap websites, and artificial social buzz, to elevate a coin. But I think the eventual winners will be those that find sustainable organic growth and critical mass. That will most likely come from development not from hype.
So while the marketeers, whales, and traders might find short term success pumping and dumping, the eventual bitcoin replacement will be born from invention.