In a marketing world where, understandably, brands are less apt to invest in innovation rather than in what has worked effectively in the past, "new stuff" is often the first to get nixed from the budget. However, agencies should try to push for the 80/20 rule when working with clients. I'd go as far to say 70/30...
"When it comes to digital, it would be crazy for us to suggest clients put 100% of their budget into innovation. What we ask is for you to keep putting 80% of your budget into things that are proven to work, but spend the remaining 20% on measurable innovation (“new stuff”)."
An example:"One of our longest standing clients, Honda Australia, lead the way in innovative digital investment in their industry. When we first talked with them about creating the world’s first iPhone based car showroom, it seemed like a somewhat risky proposition.
Looking past the risk and considering the potential returns from the investment, we were given the go ahead to create the application.
Since launch, the Honda iShowroom has been downloaded over 20,000 times, and has consistently been one of the top rated business applications on the iTunes Australia store. Furthermore, the cost of reaching customers through this channel was significantly lower than the cost of reaching those customers through other more traditional channels.
The outcome: we have learnt that mobile marketing can be a very effective way of reaching Honda’s customers. We can now recommend moving this kind of activity into their 80% mainstream budget."
For more, read the post at DTDigital.
