What happens if we think of innovation as the new advertising?
Paul Kelders, Founder and CEO at jump! innovation, argues that innovation can have as much impact as advertising, but that it is under-realised in a market where advertising is the go-to for almost all growth challenges. It's time, he says, we bridged the 'innovation gap'.
Innovation and advertising need each other. There is a symbiotic and synergistic relationship between the two – innovation needs advertising to ‘get out there’ and advertising needs innovation to give it something new to say and bolster creativity.
Yet, innovation’s potential can be under-realised. How can it grow to be the power that advertising is? The answer is writ large as some of the world’s greatest ad talent gathers for the Cannes Lions; advertising is just really good at marketing itself.
Advertising has managed itself into a position where it’s the ‘corporate System 1’ go-to for almost all growth challenges.
Advertising has managed itself into a position where it’s the ‘corporate System 1’ go-to for almost all growth challenges. And yet, I’d argue, it is innovation that can create stronger, more price inelastic brands; more efficient advertising; engaged employees; higher returns and more valuable businesses.
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Above: The Cannes Lions is a great marketing event for advertising itself, something innovation can learn from.
There is an innovation gap that’s stalling growth; we need to reframe innovation for the C-Suite so it becomes more accessible and is de facto used as a key growth driver. It’s time for an innovation nudge to start a great change.
So, what’s the challenge?
The innovation gap is a problem because innovation’s potential, despite significant evidence of its power as a growth driver, is all too often unrealised.
A few years ago, jump! developed what we considered to be an amazing innovation for a category-leading client of ours. No capital expenditure [CapEx] was needed, it was difficult to copy, there were no natural competitors and it was a Giffen good i.e. demand increased as price increased for this everyday, non-luxury item.
‘Home Run!’ we thought. But then the client backed down, opting instead to pump the money into advertising to support their under-pressure core brand with additional spend. The commercial reality was that the understandable short-term pressures of our industry lead to the emergence of a chasm separating what we say we will do (innovate) and what we actually do (attempt to reinforce loyalty to existing business). This is the innovation gap, and it's is a problem because innovation’s potential, despite significant evidence of its power as a growth driver, is all too often unrealised.
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/ptK0qhAK41BXnxs78a6MiPSg4ew/1280x/80/shotsmag/production/clips/e1c8f7f0-113e-4bfe-b2e0-d086c18d409d/gettyimages-532466570.jpg?v=1&quality=70&format=jpeg)
Above: An innovation-focussed 'home run' was ignored and, instead, the brand pumped money into advertising to support their under-pressure core brand.
There are reams of reports from the likes of BCG, Kantar and Nielsen showing that companies and brands that innovate outperform those that don’t. Yet, only 25% of C-Suite-level execs have an innovation lead in place. If it’s nobody’s job, it won’t get done. This is part of the challenge that companies face when it comes to innovation; if a company must take a risk, it seems that a known risk (advertising) will be taken before an unknown one (innovation).
Advertising is known and visible but, as commented by Mark Ritson, it is only “10% of the total marketing game”.
To disrupt this, we need to reframe innovation from an unknown, intensive risk, pulled out on special occasions, to something more accessible and familiar, part of the everyday marketing environment, like advertising. We need to shift people from thinking of ops and engineering and CapEx, to thinking of creativity, growth, excitement and performance. Hence the provocation to learn from the best – advertising - and see if we can accelerate innovation, benefit marketing and grow companies.
I’m a fan of advertising. It rocks. We all love it. Gorillas, horses, meerkats, bouncing balls - the excitement is infectious. Advertising is known and visible but, as commented by [brand consultant and former marketing professor] Mark Ritson, it is only “10% of the total marketing game”, and yet it occupies far more time and energy. Corporate System 1 in action.
We need to borrow from advertising and reframe innovation as more of an efficient and, perhaps, accessible contributor to the overall marketing and business mix. Innovation doesn’t have to be disruptive - the key is to make sure it’s important to many people, not just a niche.
Credits
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- Production Company MJZ
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Credits
powered by- Production Company MJZ
- Post Production The Mill London
- Editor Russell Icke
- Director of Photography Jim Frona
- Director of Photography Joaquin Baca-Asay
- Agency Producer Nicky Barnes
- Creative Juan Cabral
- Director Nicolai Fuglsig
- Producer Nell Jordan
- Creative Director Richard Flintham
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/j-Yym6GYrHgtQmJqLJhPyKNvOrY/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/385b2670-cc42-4311-8823-549e213617c5/1682357847967.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Production Company MJZ
- Post Production The Mill London
- Editor Russell Icke
- Director of Photography Jim Frona
- Director of Photography Joaquin Baca-Asay
- Agency Producer Nicky Barnes
- Creative Juan Cabral
- Director Nicolai Fuglsig
- Producer Nell Jordan
- Creative Director Richard Flintham
Above: Advertising "rocks", but it is only 10% of the total marketing game.
Take Mark Anthony Brands International – makers of Mike’s and White Claw, amongst other things. For the past three years they have added hundreds of millions of dollars to the business through innovation. They know they couldn’t do this by advertising alone. What innovation does, even via a relatively simple line extension, say White Claw Peach, is give the ad agency something new to play with, a new source of inspiration instead of constantly looking for new ways to sell ‘old’ things. In turn, this helps with the creativity, originality and cut-through of new comms.
The objective in forcing ourselves to think of innovation as 'the new advertising' is to identify how we can, by learning from a parallel world, release its potential. I propose a relatively simple first step, an ‘innovation nudge’, that will begin the mental and practical process of closing the gap and making innovation a significant and habitual growth driver.
The objective in forcing ourselves to think of innovation as 'the new advertising' is to identify how we can, by learning from a parallel world, release its potential.
The nudge would be to make innovation the first action on your strategic plan, or its related delivery plan, for the next year... then leave it there. This literally (and figuratively) moves it to the top of your agenda, making it ‘Urgent and Important’ and narrowing that innovation gap.
Every board or marketing team meeting starts with progress on opportunities; insight or foresight; pipeline; innovation metrics; brand challenges; CapEx; value, etc. and compels us to create a dedicated resource with support, and to also focus on ensuring we work to have the right culture in place.
If we do that, our company, brand, consumers – current and potential – plus our employees, thrive. It starts with a simple nudge.
Let’s go.