September 20189 Michael Vullingsoften be a challenge. When making investment decisions for the future, the wrong market timing is the same as simply being wrong. The best approach is usually to make some `big bets' by picking a small number of radical innovation themes to invest around, and then experiment with several projects. To enhance the quality of innovation, a culture of experimentation allows media companies to test from among many ideas. This will invariably mean some projects succeed and others fail, however, further investment is staged to manage risk, and learnings from failures can be applied across the portfolio. This process leads to a `venture style' approach to innovation and means lots of ideas are trialled quickly to identify the best candidates to scale to customers.2. Establish Capabilities to Build for Tomorrow To develop new and exciting innovations for advertising customers, media companies are setting aside time, capital and top-talent to make innovation a priority. Dedicating resources to innovation, building distinctive capabilities, and ring-fencing new initiatives can play key roles in creating an environment where innovation will thrive. All too often businesses are single-minded about the day-to-day activities of the business, especially in markets where competition is fierce, leaving little scope for invention and trying new ideas.For innovation to become part of the company DNA, driving cultural change is an important and often overlooked ingredient to success. One way in which companies can establish a broad base of support for innovation-focused customer experience is by inviting staff to take part in a front-line leadership program. This can play a key role in developing support from within and promoting an entrepreneurial culture.3. Test, Learn, and Scale to Win Conventional approaches to project implementation are linear and frequently follow plan, design, build, test, and deliver phases. This can work well when requirements are stable and well understood, but can stifle experimentation, which requires iterative processes that allow continuous planning and feedback. The use of agile tools and methods can accelerate the delivery process, and help make sure that value is being maximized at every step in delivery. Implementing an agile approach to innovation means having a bias towards `test and learn', including individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working prototypes over excessive documentation, customer collaboration over rigid commitments, and responding to change over following a plan. Overall, agile delivery methods can maximize the quality and productivity of innovation projects.The way forward For industries facing early stages of digital disruption, leading media companies can serve as case studies on institutionalizing and building capacity for innovation. To thrive in a digitally disrupted landscape, companies must respond by looking to the future, establishing the right capabilities, and adopting a `test, learn, and scale' approach to transforming customer experience. Not only do these practices create new revenue opportunities, improve customer satisfaction, and drive down costs in a short space of time, but they build competitive advantages in customer-focused innovation, to stay a step ahead of the competition in a fast-changing market. DEDICATING RESOURCES TO INNOVATION, BUILDING DISTINCTIVE CAPABILITIES, AND RING-FENCING NEW INITIATIVES CAN PLAY KEY ROLES IN CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE INNOVATION WILL THRIVE
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