BCG-Shifts-Future-Areas-Innovation-Importance-Dec2015The speed of adopting new technology is the most rapidly increasing area of importance with perceived future impact on innovation and product development, according to the latest Global Innovation Survey [pdf] from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). By contrast, marketing is declining in perceived future impact, per the report. Still marketing innovations aren’t considered to be a hindrance to product development ROI.

Only 1 in 5 senior executive surveyed for the report said that marketing innovations are an obstacle to generating a return on their investments in innovation/product development. By comparison, development times that are too long – the leading obstacle – was indicated to be a challenge by 42% of respondents.

Based on BCG’s weighted methodology, Apple is the most innovative company of 2015, followed by Google, Tesla Motors, Microsoft and Samsung.

The following is a brief list of other intriguing data points sourced from recently-released research.

  • Close to 1 in 3 US consumers are mulling changes to their pay-TV service, per GfK, with “Defectors” (those who have reduced their pay-TV service or are thinking of doing so) outnumbering “Desirers” (those loyal to traditional pay-TV and/or thinking of adding services) by a more than 2:1 margin (21% vs. 9%). The study, which breaks up pay-TV subscription attitudes into 10 “cord segments”, notes that Defectors have slightly higher incomes than Desirers, are older, less likely to have kids in the household, and slightly more likely to be male. Desirers, for their part, show higher receptiveness to advertising and are more likely to stream video.
  • Sticking with TV, an Altman Vilandrie & Company survey released last month shows that 86% of US consumers want a single application for all of their TV viewing and that 7 in 10 have not downloaded any network or cable channel apps. Meanwhile, the share of the adult population watching TV shows and movies online has grown, with 6 in 10 adults aged 55 and older now doing so on a weekly basis, up from 48% last year. The 18-24 bracket remains the most likely to watch TV shows and movies online on a weekly basis, at almost 9 in 10 respondents. A demographic analysis of online TV program viewers can be found in MarketingCharts’ newest report, the 2015 edition of US Media Audience Demographics.
  • TV will cede its position as the leading medium for ad spending to digital in the near future, according to various forecasts. ZenithOptimedia sees this happening on a global level in 2018, while MAGNA GLOBAL believes the shift will occur globally in 2017 and in the US next year. Of course, while these forecasts have received much press, they are not the first to make these predictions; PwC and eMarketer have come out with similar forecasts. Meanwhile, GroupM has its own global advertising forecasts, accessible here and the IAB notes that US digital ad revenues rose 23% year-over-year to reach $15 billion, the largest quarter on record.
  • Turning to social media, a Quintly study of Pinterest interactions in Q3 reveals that while they only account for a small share of major brands’ pins, recipe pins account for the highest average number of re-pins. However, product pints average the most number of likes, followed by article pins.
  • Sticking with social, a Simply Measured study of Interbrand 100 companies’ activity on Instagram indicates that 80 post at least one photo or video per week and one-third post 10-20 times per month. Interbrand 100 companies are also enjoying a 53% year-over-year increase in engagement per post, with average engagement higher for photos than for videos. The report also notes that posts with hashtags and location tags over-index the most in engagement. More details are available in the report, which can be downloaded here.
  • Moving on, an interesting study from the Shullman Research Center finds that of the 5 senses, sight is considered the most important by US adults, followed by hearing. Compared to the average adult, those with household income of at least $500k are less likely to consider sight and hearing to be among their top-2 senses, and more likely to indicate taste and small to be in their top-2. Also of note, sight and hearing are relatively less important to Millennials than to other generations, although they remain the top-2 among the youngest generation.
  • Shifting gears again, a Software Advice analysis of its interactions with small-business buyers reveals that the top reason they are evaluating new CRM software is due to their current software missing features. Top-requested functionality by web-based sales automation buyers are interaction tracking, alerts/reminders, and lead tracking.
  • Finally, a Leapfrog Marketing Institute survey of 131 senior US executives (81% in marketing functions and 19% in IT functions) from large companies (69% with $1B+ in revenue) reveals that the internet is becoming more of a channel for generating revenue and less so as a branding vehicle. However, just 46% are able to track digital activities to sales, down from 68% last year. Meanwhile, financial metrics such as sales and ROI are increasingly more important to respondents than awareness and engagement metrics. Separately, survey respondents indicate that data tracking/analytics and mobile/web are the most important areas for them to achieve their marketing objectives, though there is a large gap between the importance of these areas and how well-developed they are in respondents’ organizations.

Have a great weekend!

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