Innovation: Why some agencies are better at it than others
Innovation is the lifeblood of the marketing industry. It’s impossible to attend a conference, pick up a marketing title like The Drum or simply have a conversation in the pub with your industry peers without the term repeatedly raising its head.
The problem is that ‘innovation’ isn’t a magic tool you can pick up at your corner shop. No matter how much creatives in the ad industry insist that innovation is simply inherent in their DNA, the basis of their unique magic, innovation takes hard work. It takes commitment and is built on a solid structural framework that enables it to flourish.
The incredible power of digital technology has put the raw tools of innovation into anyone’s hands. The ease with which it is possible to create new services and applications today does though mean everyone thinks they’re an innovator. While the tools of innovation are indeed open to anyone, innovation capable of driving sustainable business change very is different and is no short-term fix.
"Innovation almost always is not successful the first time out. You try something and it doesn't work and it takes confidence to say we haven't failed yet,” said Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, in an interview with HSM Global, "ultimately you become commercially successful."
It’s that ‘ultimately’ phrase that’s important. This long-term approach to innovation is increasingly being recognised by business leaders, who realise that for innovation to drive real long-term benefits, commitment and investment is vital.
The importance of innovation to any business has been rapidly climbing the corporate agenda. We’ve seen companies from Tesco to Cadbury hosting hack days to help drive innovative disruption in their businesses.
Innovation labs have been set up by leading global companies like M&S, Walmart and Nordstrom.
Google president of brand solutions Kirk Perry summed it up recently at Dmexo, insisting that that brands need to reconsider what innovation really means if they are to succeed in a digital world.
Delivering a keynote, Perry said that brands should “reframe innovation” and that being “rapidly disruptive” is now key.
Digital agencies are crucial partners for any brand wanting to reframe innovation and embed it into their DNA. However, to do this, they need to ensure they are themselves set up to nurture and maintain innovation within their business.
As with the clients they serve, innovation is a constant process, hard won and easy to lose. What many agencies fail to realise is that their own partners, the companies that provide them with the essential technical infrastructure that enables them to do their job, are also essential components in innovation.
Hosting is one such case in point. It’s hard to overestimate the damaging impact on an agency’s creative processes of a constant need to deal with bugs, after-hours notifications and other associated problems. You need your team creating code to enable the incredible innovations that will drive your business, and your clients’, to success, not constantly firefighting.
Agencies are creative businesses, not IT suppliers, and to ensure that creativity is free to drive the innovation your clients are seeking, a reliable, rock-solid technology partner is crucial.
Your hosting company should be an essential partner in helping your agency innovate.
For inspiration on how to make this happen, simply download our latest Tip Sheet here.
Jamie Dunkley, Head of Solution Design, Claranet UK
Web: http://www.teamsquare.co.uk/
Email: TeamSquare@uk.clara.net
Twitter: @TeamSquare_UK
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