- New Weber Shandwick Survey Reveals 76% of Senior Executives Expect Innovation to Grow in Importance -
- Findings Reflect Greater Emphasis on Promoting the Company and What It Represents, With Less Emphasis on Individual Product Brands -
NEW YORK, Feb. 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- According to a recently released survey by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, the bedrock of the new "Creativity Economy"(1) in 2007 will continue to be innovation, with 76 percent of senior executives agreeing that innovation will become more important over the next five years. The survey, titled "The Changing Face of Marketing and Communications in Today's Creativity Economy," also reveals that 78 percent of senior executives agree that innovation is important to their CEO, with most CEOs similarly responding that innovation is important to the company.
Innovation has long been regarded as a buzzword enthusiastically discussed in boardrooms, but with the rise of the Creativity Economy, innovation is top-of-mind for decision makers. As the Web 2.0 movement helps propel innovation to the forefront of the global business stage, an overwhelming 86 percent of senior executives surveyed believe that the marketing and communications functions are increasingly critical tools for successfully navigating this new operating environment. This phenomenon likely will continue to gain traction as next generation Web 3.0 expands beyond its infancy.
Companies are infusing innovation throughout their organizations. Seventy percent of senior business leaders use internal communications to promote innovation among employees, and more than two-thirds believe that driving innovation in their business processes and customer experiences are more important than innovation in product development.
"The emergence of the empowered consumer means that companies can no longer just talk about innovation as a strategic imperative. They must seek new ways to live it by involving the consumer and integrating innovation into their corporate DNA," says Billee Howard, Executive Vice President and Managing Director in the Global Strategic Media Group at Weber Shandwick. "Embracing innovation, while driving stronger emphasis on what corporate brands stand for, will be vital to a company's success in 2007."
Interestingly, the Weber Shandwick study found a growing emphasis on promoting the company and what it represents (where the company becomes the main brand), and less emphasis on individual products. Nearly 60 percent said that their companies are shifting marketing and advertising expenditures to enhance the way they think and talk about their company, not just the products themselves.
Nearly two-thirds of senior executives have already reported greater emphasis on understanding and incorporating the customer's viewpoint. Furthermore, nearly 80 percent of those surveyed expect tighter collaboration between product development and marketing in the innovation leadership race.
The survey also identified the top three tools companies are using to drive innovation, including:
* Better meeting customers' needs (88 percent)
* Marketing and communications (82 percent)
* Internal collaboration (82 percent)
These findings further support the important role a company's internal culture plays in driving innovation.
"The customer has never played a more significant role in helping to direct how business gets done," says Jennifer Risi, Executive Vice President in the Global Strategic Media Group. "In the race for innovation leadership, meeting customers' needs in new and creative ways is charting the course, and finishing in the front of the pack will mean the difference between success and failure. Successful use of communications strategies and techniques, particularly those that carve out leadership and distinction for the corporate brand, will be critical to success in this new era."
As the role of innovation evolves, marketing and communications will play a greater role in a company's success more than ever before. Already, 68 percent of senior executives report that they're expanding their communications strategy thanks to the advent of the Creativity Economy -- a percentage that is sure to increase as the new business paradigm takes root. "As companies' emphasis on innovation continues to grow, so too will the need for creative, well-articulated communications strategies," said Risi.
(1) "Creativity Economy" is a term coined by BusinessWeek used to
describe the new economic environment. You can obtain additional
information at http://www.businessweek.com
The Changing Face of Marketing and Communications in Today's Creativity Economy
A total sample of 104 U.S. senior executives (CEOs, presidents, chief marketing officers and other top executives) were interviewed by telephone from June to August 2006. KRC Research conducted the survey for Weber Shandwick.
About Weber Shandwick
Weber Shandwick is one of the world's leading global public relations firms with offices in major media, business and government capitals around the world. The firm specializes in strategic marketing communications, media relations, public affairs, reputation and issues management, and offers corporate communications counseling services. Weber Shandwick also provides specialized integrated services including Web relations, advocacy advertising, market research and visual communications. In 2006, Weber Shandwick was named Large PR Firm of the Year (PR News U.S.), European Consultancy of the Year (The Holmes Report) and Network of the Year (Asia Pacific PR Awards). The firm also won the United Nations Grand Award for outstanding achievement in public relations. To learn more, please visit http://www.webershandwick.com .
Weber Shandwick is a unit of The Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), which is one of the world's leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services companies.
About KRC Research
KRC Research is a full service market and attitudinal research firm. Research partner to Weber Shandwick and other Interpublic Group agencies, KRC specializes in strategic communications research, including research to support product communications, corporate communications, public affairs, and social marketing. KRC provides a full range of primary research services, including surveys, focus groups, and executive interviewing. Find out more at http://www.krcresearch.com .
