All companies like to believe they're innovative, but few bring that trait to the forefront. This paper presents five best practices for creating a culture of innovation in a marketing organization: 1) try and develop a culture where all members of staff are encouraged to create their own ideas; 2) establish a diverse team, not always with backgrounds in obvious disciplines; 3) establish a process for generating insight, and empower people to spread it throughout the organisation; 4) take risks, and learn from successes and mistakes; and 5) utilize market research and other analytical tools, as well as face-to-face meetings, to better understand customers.
What a great idea!
Thomas Wailgum
Inside today's most resourceful marketing organizations, the resounding drumbeat for more innovation has become deafening. “The only way to survive is to be innovative,” admits Warwick Stirling, the global director of innovation at Benton Harbor, Mich.–based Whirlpool Corp. “It's not an option.”
The question is, how do you innovate? By locking your team in a colorful room for hours on end? By begging the finance department for more money? By taking a smart pill every morning? Innovation is, after all, an abstract term, one that can be difficult to grasp, let alone communicate to...
