It may have been a corporate buzzword in 2006, but 'innovation' has fully transitioned to a business imperative for 2007, according to a survey from Weber Shandwick and KRC Research. The
creativity economy, as coined by BusinessWeek to describe the new economic environment, has driven innovation, as has the Web 2.0 movement. According to the survey:
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78% of surveyed senior executives agree that innovation is important to their CEO;
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Nearly 66% have already reported greater emphasis on understanding and incorporating the customer's viewpoint;
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60% said their companies are shifting marketing and advertising expenditures to enhance the way they think and talk about their company, not just the products themselves;
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Nearly 80% expect tighter collaboration between product development and marketing in the innovation-leadership race; and
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Respondents defined the top three tools companies use to drive innovation as: better meeting consumers needs (88%); marketing and communications (82%); and internal collaboration (82%).