90 per cent of brands do not budget for innovation

Only 11 per cent of marketers spend specifically on innovation programs such as real-time marketing  and building digital innovation hubs, despite the majority (95 per cent) agreeing innovative ideas do yield positive ROI, according to Forrester. It found that almost  two in three (61 per cent) of marketers invite team members to test new ideas, but only 12 per cent have the infrastructure in place to develop marketing innovation leaders.

Marketers claim the lack of commitment to “innovation ROI” from their bosses is hampering efforts to adopt a “customer-obsessed” organisation. Corporate bosses do not actively review marketing innovation programmes to understand their value, according to almost a quarter (20 per cent) of marketers. At those organisations that do monitor marketing innovation, 44 per cent of marketers agreed they were achieving positive ROI from their programs. But, only 36 per cent of these companies set long-term goals and only 27 per cent are actively reviewing their innovation initiatives.  

Bert DuMars, author of the report and an analyst at Forrester, says it is “critical” for marketers to understand the “cultural bias” of a company to get the backing of company executives for innovation schemes. He cites brands including Mondelez, Coca-Cola and Nestle that support innovation through strategy, organisational development, and budgeting as examples of firms willing to take risks and react quicker to how consumers are evolving.  

He adds: “Marketing innovation is difficult due to the ever-changing customer landscape caused by digital disruption, perpetually connected customers, and the shifting customer lifecycle. “But to keep up, CMOs must understand their current marketing innovation culture.”

The findings are from Forrester’s “Benchmark Your Marketing Innovation Culture” online survey of 45 senior marketers which was conducted in May.