Media survey shows that innovation is low on the agenda

The survey delivers an analysis of all statements made on JSE-listed companies, non-listed 'giants' as well as the CEOs of listed and non-listed companies in the South African media.

Highlights from the Innovation Media Survey include the following findings:

-- Of the total 270 818 statements made in the media on corporate organisations or industries, 55 733 featured the mining industry (21%).
-- This was followed by the banking industry (29 880 statements or 11%) and retail (19 788 statements).
-- IT (19 260), insurance (16 574) and financial services (15 574) followed in positions four to six.

Interestingly, industries such as the IT and automotive industries, which both rely heavily on new technology and innovation, did not receive higher than average coverage.

The survey highlights the fact that very often successful media coverage of innovation requires a strong driver in the form of a visibly active CEO, as in the case of Sasol. The survey also flags issues around the manner in which innovation, research and development (R & D) and sustainability topics are reported by companies to the media.

"R & D is generally a very large investment, and companies need to achieve a secondary return from that investment," says Wadim Schreiner, Media Tenor managing director. "If a company reports effectively into the media, innovation can contribute significantly to brand equity and general image in the market place, offering a valuable secondary avenue of return."

However, for this return to become a reality, companies need to seriously examine the ways in which they are delivering innovation information to the media.

"If a journalist feels that innovation reporting is largely a matter of company hype, then that says a lot about the type of information he is getting," says Schreiner. "The survey clearly indicates that the art of communicating R & D and innovation to the media needs to be re-examined. The simple press release – which is impersonal and probably one of hundreds sent to the media – is set to fail. Instead of a press release companies need to engage the media on a one-on-one and truly informative level."

According to Schreiner, innovation reporting also needs to focus more strongly on the bottom line link between innovation and R & D drives and the overall company strategy. Businesses need to clearly define why the company has invested in innovation, what the expected return is for the company itself, as well as returns for suppliers, distributors and clients / customers.

The Media Tenor / Idea Engineers Innovation & Sustainability Media Survey performs two distinct functions. On the one hand it clearly lays out the need for an increasing focus on innovation within the South African economy, and within its associated media environment. On the other, it highlights a strong need for companies to re-examine the manner in which they report innovation issues to the media.

"South African organisations, be they commercial or governmental, have to focus more on innovation," says Schreiner. "Innovation is a clear point of competitive advantage for our economy. In this context, the survey shows a strong need for an overhaul of the process companies go through when reporting their innovation objectives and successes into the media. Smart organisations - those that have a clear and definitive approach to innovation - will certainly achieve a considerable secondary return on their investment through their engagement with the media around the topic."

Innovation is a critical component of modern business. Indeed, cross-organisational innovative ability has, in recent years especially, powered the growth and competitive edge of the global economy's best performers. "Innovation is the critical challenge for businesses in an era where they are differentiated by their ability to adapt dynamically to marketplace changes and to meet changing customer needs on the fly," says Desmond Seeley, GM of Strategy and Business Development at ICT company, T-Systems SA "This kind of creative thinking need not generate a "Eureka" moment to be of value," Seeley continues. "Forging ahead is not only about technological leapfrogging; rather, staying in the race could be a matter of behaving in an innovative fashion all the time and moving along bit-by-bit, but continuously."

Innovation, in all its many forms, is a strategic and operational factor relevant not only to commercial entities, but also to government. In South Africa, in particular, government faces a unique range of challenges when it comes to service delivery that meets the needs of newly democratised country.

"The irony in South Africa is that poverty and desperate need stand alongside the latest in technological gadgetry and global thinking," says Glenda White, executive director of the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI). "But this contradiction also carries the solution. Using the best of globalisation creatively, to transform public sector institutions, is the way to step up the public sector's delivery capacity and service quality." According to White, "Innovation is the key: it takes creative and clever thinking to enable government to do more and better, without using more of the limited resources available to it. This entrepreneurial thinking includes the invention of new products and services and new approaches to the application of technologies and tools."