Thought leadership is powered by three key principles

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I reckon when you boil any thought leadership idea or campaign down it ultimately rests on three key principles.

1.         It is a public relations rather than an advertising exercise

In order to truly take hold, thought leadership needs to be driven first and foremost by PR. Advertising and other marketing interventions can and, where possible, should support thought leadership, but the very nature of advertising’s bought space negates this medium as a driver of thought leadership. Only PR can truly create buy-in and sustain a thought leadership position for a brand.

Why do I say this? Because thought leadership is about sharing information, it is about engaging with an audience through delivering content via channels such as print, radio, television, websites, research, white papers, discussion forums, speaking opportunities, stakeholder engagement strategies, books and events.

It is about conversations with rather than sending messages one way to your audience.

I have seen thought leadership campaigns combine these elements in such a way that it has been able to influence and change behaviour of the target audience – surely the ultimate goal of any thought leadership campaign.

On its own, advertising cannot do this, but it can work very effectively in conjunction with a broader communications campaign if used strategically, at the right time and using the relevant channels.

2.            It is about sharing information or content

While thought leadership is about sharing information, this is anathema to some brands. Many corporations are, by nature, secretive and hold their intellectual property or product/brand information close to their chests. How often have you heard a client or you own company say: ‘We cannot tell them that. We cannot give that information away to our competitors.’

No one’s asking you to give away your ‘Coca-Cola formula’, but very often the information that companies are so precious about hanging onto can be found out there anyway.

Corporations with this attitude are rarely thought leaders. Thought leaders are refreshingly candid and they understand the bigger picture and where they and their brands fit into their consumers’ lives.

They understand their consumers and want to add value or insights to their customers’ lives beyond merely selling them a product or service. They often believe passionately in what they do or the space which they occupy, and they feel a moral or social responsibility to deliver something of value to the community in which they sell.

They understand that today merely selling a product is no longer good enough. For their brands to survive in the medium- to long-term they need to deliver value beyond their product benefits.

Brands with this sort of abundance mentality are prepared to engage with their stakeholders and share information and insights, and literally expect nothing in return in the immediate future. Their return on investment is in building trust and loyalty, and through this, positioning their brand as the leading choice.

Consumers are changing and so are the ways they make their purchasing decisions. They are demanding more from a company and its products. There are strings attached and they are best defined by the question: ‘What are you giving me or doing for me, my kids, my life, my community, or the environment?’

The companies that grasp this and can give satisfactory answers will be the ones that set themselves apart from their competition.

Thought leadership is precisely about creating an environment in which a company’s customers choose its brand because of what it stands for or because the position it has taken on an issue sets it apart from its competitors.

3.         It should aim to produce a sound business outcome

While thought leadership need not, and often does not, focus directly on selling a brand or service, it should still aim to produce the best possible business outcome for the long-term reputation and standing of that particular brand or company.

I love Dana vandenHeuvel’s analysis of this.  He says that you take a point of view to the market in order to gain share of voice in that sector or industry so that you can drive greater share of mind and ultimately greater share of market.   

The power of thought leadership lies in influence. If correctly targeted and structured, it is a potent tool for influencing a particular audience.  Your aim should be to become known as the expert or the ‘go to’, trusted source of knowledge or information in that particular area.

When you are recognized as the thought leader in your industry it does a number of things:

§         Creates ongoing, meaningful dialogue with your audiences

§         Delivers greater share of voice in the industry and as a result, greater share of mind over your competitors

§         Increases the profile of your brand

§         Delivers pre-qualified leads

§         Creates a set of customers who have already experienced your ‘value’ and who have ‘bought’ into your ideas before physically buying

§         Leads to less price resistance and a shortened sales cycle

§         Enhances the reputation of the brand/company as a leader in its field 

2 Responses to “Thought leadership is powered by three key principles”

1. Craig Pearce says:

   November 17, 2009 at 09:59

   I don’t think bought space is a key characteristic of marketing not being up to the thought leadership game. It is the strategic underpinnings and mindset of marketing that is the killer point.

   Marketing exists to make money for organisations through the production, distribution and promotion of products and services. It is not, as I have written – http://craigpearce.info/?p=1 – concerned with the holistic relationship an organisation has with its stakeholders.

   It may well be that the conversational characteristics of social media are dragging the marketing horse to a ‘dialogic water’, but I’ve yet to see any evidence of that this horse is drinking water at a deeper, more straegic level.
2. craig says:

   November 18, 2009 at 03:24

   I agree with you but think you may be being a bit harsh on some marketing departments. Check out my blog on SKM to see how a marketing company can get it right when it comes to relationships with its stakeholders.