Fly Me To The Moon...Or Wherever

Those with an eye for innovation will have noted the recent launch of the Indian mission to Mars.  While they haven't got there yet, at time of writing all seems to be progressing nicely.

Quite apart from the desire to be the first Asian country to reach Mars, what is it that motivates a society like India to take up these challenges?  By extension, what innovation processes are necessary to achieve such a goal?

The Psychology Wiki defines innovation as referring "to both radical or incremental changes to products, processes or services. The often unspoken goal of innovation is to solve a problem."

Some may argue that there is no problem to be solved by sending a spaceship hurtling towards Mars, and the real problem remains at home with the grinding poverty of many of India's citizenry.

But such innovation more often than not adds value to society in the broader global context.  In addition, those countries and enterprises that do not innovate run a real danger of being surpassed or destroyed by those that do.

There are two basic types of innovation; sustaining and disruptive. For companies, the former means continuing to approach their core markets in a similar fashion while the latter "significantly changes a market or product category".

By now most people recognise that innovation and a good dose of creativity are essential to an organisation's survival. Globalization, increased competition and the increasingly rapid changes in technology, mean that those enterprises that do not change and adapt simply wither on the vine and die.

Paul Simpson, writing about the psychology of innovation, says:

"Homo sapiens have, since the 10 commandments, had a bit of a soft spot for concise lists which tell us what to do. They imply that if we follow their advice we will be suitably rewarded. 

But the bad news about innovation is that suggestion-boxes, brainstorming sessions, away days, consultants and 183 techniques to encourage creativity (as listed on Wikipedia) won’t, by themselves, transform your business into the kind of free-thinking, ground-breaking, market-leading corporate utopia you might be hoping for".

It is really all about company culture and not fancy creativity suites.  It also takes dedicated time and budget.

Ranjeet Laungani, Nielsen's VP for Innovation Practice, examined how India innovates in a recent study. Five of his key findings were:

1. It takes 50% of Indian companies one to two years to bring an innovation from concept to launch.
2. In the year that they launch their innovation they spend as much as 34% of their budget on advertising and another 30% on trade and consumer promotion.
3. 75% of organisations measure the level of innovation success by their growth in market share. This followed by brand awareness and health measures and the Return On Investment (ROI) that the innovation has delivered.
4. Nine out of 10 organizations surveyed identified that sharp consumer insight led to innovations in their organisations.
5. 20% of industry professionals across sectors relayed that more than 25% of their ideas made it to the shelves

Ranjeet also reminds us that 90% of newly introduced products fail in the year they launch, so innovation is not in itself a guarantee of success.  There are also several factors that can impede the progress of innovation within an enterprise. These include:

• Too lengthy a period from idea to market
• Long-term strategic planning being hijacked by short-term priorities
• Insufficient budget to fund innovation
• Internal teams with conflicting priorities
• An unwillingness to accept that failure is very much part of the innovation process

So while the success of a mission to Mars cannot be guaranteed it does prove the point that any innovation is based on risk taking.  As the old adage says "nothing ventured, nothing gained". 

Amartya Sen, the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Economics, hypothesises that development is the key to freedom.  Perhaps ultimately it is this motivation that drives mankind to innovate.

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Boom, Boomers

In the words of the immortal Basil Brush - Boom, Boom!

If you can remember the fox puppet then you might just be in the Baby Boomer generation.  If you can't then you are either too young to have see the show or possible too old to remember what you have seen. There are 80 million of them,  born between 1946 and 1964 and they have great spending power

Source: Nielsen

 Recent research  by a team of Nielsen Neurofocus neuroscientists have come up with the conclusion that the older we become, the greater the neural decline. This means that to market to Baby Boomers you need to keep it simple as they will begin to find it more difficult to handle visual or verbal complexity

But there is a flip side.  Baby Boomers have the ability to filter out negative messages and experience negative mentions less; at least that's the theory.

According to the Nielsen unit "the amygdala, an emotional center in the brain, tends to be active in older people only when viewing positive images. Negative images are overlooked unless they’re “immediately relevant.”

Marketers have tended to ignore the group once they migrated from the 18-49 demographic.

Source Nielsen

Nielsen make the point that in five years, 50 percent of the U.S. population will be 50+ and they spend close to 50 percent of all Consumer Packaged Goods dollars. Why is it then that less than 5% of advertising is targeted at this group?

Nielsen in collaboration with BoomAgers gives additional insights into this marketing opportunity.

Consider these points from the report:

• Between now and 2030, the 18-49 segment is expected to grow +12%, while the 50+ segment will expand +34%.
• Boomers are more tech savvy and more marketing-friendly than believed
• Their business is winnable and losable
• They are a much more sensitive and dynamic cohort than most realize
• By 2050, there will be 161 million 50+ consumers, +63% compared to 2010
• Internet users over the age of 50 are driving the growth of social networking as their usage of the social net has nearly doubled to 42% in the past year
• 53% of Boomers are on Facebook

Boomers drive car sales and according to the Huffington Post. they also buy 73 percent of all hybrid cars. A monthly poll by  AARP media sales  showed that 70 % of women 50 and older felt invisible to fashion and beauty companies.

Clearly there are some 'golden opportunities' being overlooked!

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Seeing The 'TV Light'

A large segment of the population don't bother too much about TV watching. They are often referred to as 'Light TV Viewers'.

31% of the18 to 49 age demographic spend an average of 39 minutes per day watching TV, so where can advertisers get better bang for their buck?

Google would have you believe that they and YouTube are better options for advert retention. TV by itself misses a whopping 63% of this target market, but with the addition of online there is a 27% increase in brand impression rate.

Influencing South East Asian Consumers and Small Business Survival

According to a recent Nielsen report, South East Asian's respond well to advertising delivered on social media and mobile phones.

73% of these South East Asian consumers said they were “highly” or “somewhat” influenced by web site advertisements on social media.  This is 13% higher than  the global average (60%).

They also respond well to advertisements that acknowledge their previous purchase habits or third party site visits.  Living as they do, a full and active digital life, means that they think such personalised advertising techniques makes their lives easier.  74% found this to be so with the global average of similar sentiment being 58%.

Vietnam consumers were by far the most receptive to such personalised inducements.

Nearly 70% of SE Asian consumers have “liked” or followed a brand or company on social media which proves how vital it is for companies to develop a robust social media presence if they hope to succeed in this part of the world.

Consumer comment and sentiment posted online proved to be one of the most trusted forms of engagement and communication amongst those surveyed by Nielsen. 54% of respondents claim to completely or somewhat trust consumer opinions posted online.

All of which goes to prove that if you don't build your own online reputation others will do it for you.  The need to monitor the 'Buzz' and respond to it is vital for any business and this in turn requires understanding from management and resourcing to manage the process. This includes having the right person in charge of social media strategy and development.

And it is not just large scale enterprises that waking up to this realisation. Small Businesses are also growing through the use of social media although a significant percentage still do not see it as important, with just 12% of US respondents in a July survey seeing it as 'a must'.

It also need to be said that in the same eMarketer report, 50% of small business respondents saw word of mouth as essential to business. Either they have not realised that 'word of mouth' in the 21st century is largely a social media exercise or they do not have the time and resources to use social media to its fullest extent.

Patrick J. Chambers, organizer of the Small Business Survival Summit however sees social media as critical to business survival.

"For most small businesses, word of mouth is the predominant way of getting leads and finding new business.Social media is an extension of the word of mouth platform. Social media education with practical application is the missing piece today - small businesses need to be comfortable with social media in the same way that they may have evolved from being a wallflower at a Chamber event to someone who is actively seeking to introduce themselves and engage with prospects."

Panel Discussion: The Future of Online Retailing

Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large at Fortune Magazine moderated a panel discussion at Nielsen’s Consumer 360 with Mike Brennan, COO Peapod; Anne Jones, VP, Business Development, Kimberly-Clark and Steve Nave, SVP and GM, Walmart.com.

• Mobile commerce represents 2.7% of web revenue and $2.4 billion annually
• Mobile commerce has doubled in size since 2009 alone
• Moms with young kids are becoming one of the most important demographic drivers of e-commerce, with 20% of purchases from this demo falling coming from diapers and infant care

Source: Nielsen

TV Retains Greater Brand Trust Than Bloggers?

This recent Nielsen survey is revealing and confirms just how influential the new online social environment has become for brand recognition and development. Consumers influencing consumers is the new order of things.

Image via Wikipedia

Family and Friends are still the primary influence but social media is a close third in the queue.  It would appear though that "Influential Bloggers" are not as influential as they would have hoped with television still engendering greater brand trust.

Key findings from the Nielsen survey:

• More than 40% of consumers go online to check reviews and consumer feedback before purchasing consumer electronics.
• 60% of those going online have visited a social network, with half going back everyday according to Facebook.
• 23% of social network users expect companies to listen and respond to what is said online

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Social Australians And Positive Koreans

Image via Wikipedia

I have written before about the need to change the mindset that many CEO's have about the effectiveness of their corporate web site.

The belief that "we build it and they will come" simply does not hold water any more. The term "web site" in itself is very 1990's.

It is the "network" that should be referred to, as the principle of engagement and personal interaction is paramount in building the brand and online buzz.

Being online where your market is should be the primary goal. The principal focus now should be on social media and any corporate web site should also have social media capability.

Nielsen reports that social media now dominates Asia Pacific internet usage:

"Social media usage has seen unprecedented growth in Asia Pacific in the past year and is now one of the most critical trends in the online sector."

The survey found that three of the seven biggest global online brands are social media sites – Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube.

Close to three quarters of the world’s Internet population (74%) have now visited a social networking/blogging site, and Internet users are spending an average of almost six hours per month on social media sites. "

Some Key Findings:

• Koreans are most likely to relay positive comments in any review while the Chinese are most likely to to focus on the negative
• The Koreans are one of the most social engaged in the world
• The Japanese are the world's most avid bloggers and the percentage of twitter users in Japan now surpasses the States
• The Chinese admire grass root celebrities and track them.  The bulletin board is still a dominant platform
• Social media games are big in China and drive new users to to sign on.
• In India Facebook is rapidly making up ground on Orkut as the platform of choice for social networking

But it is the Australians who are the worlds most socially engaged .  Their focus is communities of interest, which explains why 62% of Aussies visited a forum or message board in 2009.  The professional network platform LinkedIn experienced 99% growth in a single year

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