Over the last few years, we’ve written a lot about leveraging innovation for success during the recent recession. But what about after the recession, as companies assess the damage and start to rebuild?
According to a recently released study of chief marketing officers (CMOs) by IBM, innovation is actually going to be more important than ever. In fact, Steve Robinson, senior vice president, CMO of Chick-fil-A, said he sees “more demand for innovation than (he) ever (has) in the past 30 years.”Not surprisingly because simply making it through a recession is not indicative of future success. And with consumer behavior changing at quantum speed, it’s essential for marketing communications specialists to keep time with their customers.
The report, “From Stretched to Strengthened,” is the latest in IBM’s C-Suite Studies series, and the first that targeted CMOs. The researchers sought to reveal the direction marketing is taking over the next five years and the preparedness of those tasked to lead that change.
The report found that 79 percent of respondents expect a high or very high level of complexity over the next five years. But only 48 percent of them feel prepared to cope with the complexity.
Innovation can help.
The respondents ranked 13 key factors based on their expected impact on marketing in the next three to five years. Of those key factors, four stand out as particularly challenging. They are:
- Data explosion
- Social media
- Growth of channel and device choices
- Shifting consumer demographics.
It is critical that CMOs and their teams develop new ways to tackle these challenges.
“The first imperative for CMOs is to deliver value to empowered customers,” the report said. “That means finding out who these customers are, what they want and how they would like to interact with the organization. It’s not just a question of understand their immediate needs and preferences. It’s also a question of understanding what they value and how they behave.”
Today’s marketplace is more crowded than ever. And it is only going to grow. Marketing consultants need to leverage innovation techniques to reach consumers in a variety of new places using new communications avenues, while also personalizing their messages.
As an insurance CEO in Turkey said in the report, “a new generation with totally different needs and consumptions habits is coming. Companies will have to adapt to this change in order to survive in the marketplace.”
What is your company doing to adapt to consumers’ changing behaviors? What techniques do you recommend to a company that has made it through the recession but is concerned about its ability to continue to thrive in today’s marketplace?
– Kathie
