Guest Author: Ernie Smith, Associations Now
A new study on innovation from Marketing General suggests that there’s a distinct line separating associations that are innovative from those that aren’t. Is there some middle ground here?
One paragraph in Marketing General’s new survey of innovation in the association space really stands out. It’s not a stunningly surprising fact, but seeing it directly spelled out makes it a bit of a doozy:
“Looking at the association landscape as a whole, innovation tends to play out in one of two distinct ways: The association either embraces innovation completely or ignores it altogether. There appears to be very little middle ground.”
And that point, as highlighted in the Association Innovation Benchmarking Report—written in tandem with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)—should generate a host of conversations in associations that are on the wrong side of the dividing line. Perhaps it’ll get some people talking that are on the right side of that line as well.
In case you’re wondering where that dividing line lies: Of the 344 associations surveyed, 58 percent said they’ve put a focus on innovation, while 42 percent haven’t. And nearly three-quarters of the organizations that have embraced innovation have done so only in the past five years, while 27 percent have done so within the past year.
