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30 Mar 2011
The four secret questions for effective thought leadership
Good thought leaders or thought leadership campaigns should ask four key questions before they even start:
1. Where do we get most of our business and what are their key issues/challenges?
Without this knowledge your thought leadership position is much like shooting in the dark in terms of whether it will have the desired impact on your targets.
2. What knowledge/expertise do I/we have that we can research further to deliver something of real value to address these issues/challenges?
You want your thought leadership position to enable you to play to your expertise and showcase this and your thinking in your chosen space. Wherever that knowledge or intellectual property can inform your thought leadership point of view, use it wisely.
3. For what do I/we want to be known/famous?
When your ideal client base says that is the firm/person who has incredible insights into x. What is that x? What is it you want to be famous for?
4. How do I/we best leverage our thought leadership content to share it with our market?
Many thought leadership campaigns I have seen are not leveraged to their full extent. Once you have identified your point of view, make sure you apply a sound, strategic content management strategy to your thought leadership property. Are you squeezing every element of your content across every touch point your target audiences?
How you answer these four questions is critical to your thought leadership point of view and how you take it to market.
Thought leadership must have a business objective
However, there is one, űber thought leadership question that remains. It is the glue that should bind and guide your whole campaign:
“What are our business objectives for this thought leadership campaign?”
This should underpin everything you do. Without a business objective or objectives your campaign isn’t measureable and you will probably have difficulty eliciting the commitment from senior executives.
I can’t stress this enough – your thought leadership needs to be drive very clear business objectives in order to gain the credence and top-level commitment it requires to succeed.
It can be as simple and focused as: “We want to gain one-on-one access to the CFOs of the top 200 listed companies.”
Alternatively, you can have two or three objectives. My view is that if you have more than three you are probably spreading your objectives to thin.
Your objectives should:
· Be singular in focus
· Be easy to measure
· Rally everyone around it
Get these fundamentals right and you give yourself every chance of success for your thought leadership campaign.
Good luck. Let me know if you have any other questions you think should be framed up front to help guide your campaign.
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17 Mar 2011
Fiona Czerniawska shares her insights on thought leadership
For this interview on thought leadership, I had the privilege of interviewing Fiona Czerniawska, one of the foremost global authorities on thought leadership, particularly in the management consultancy space. There are few people who understand as much about thought leadership as Fiona. She is the co-founder of Source, a company specialising in researching the consulting industry www.sourceforconsulting.com . She has authored numerous management reports, books and articles.
I would urge you to visit her site and join up to her thought leadership newsletter White Space http://www.sourceforconsulting.com/whitespace/ . White Space is a subscriber-based web service which provides detailed analysis of the thought leadership of around 30 leading global consulting firms.She is also the Director of the Management Consultancies Association’s Think Tank, she is a Programme Director for the Centre of Management Development at London Business School, and also lectures at Kingston Business School in London and Haarlem School of Advanced Management Studies in Holland.
Trends in thought leadership
1. Fiona your firm White Space does an exhaustive annual analysis of the thought leadership material of around 30 leading global consulting firms. What trends have you seen emerging in this field from the leaders in the thought leadership space?
The overall quality of thought leadership in 2010 slipped a bit – at least in our opinion. We think there were two main reasons for this. The first is that many firms cut their thought leadership and research budgets during the recession and the cracks this opened up really began to show in the latter half of the year. Thankfully that particular trend seems to being reversed. The second reason is to do with the way in which people are publishing their material: we’ll all have noticed a plethora of new formats, including Twitter, videos, podcasts and design-your-own graphs. But these share a common challenge which is that you have less space to say things and I think consulting firms are struggling with the transition from back-breaking flagship reports to a pithier, more opinionated style. A five-minute video shouldn’t be a balding man in a grey suit reading the executive summary, but someone saying something memorable and thought-provoking, as well as fast. This type of thought leadership should be like the tip of an iceberg, with the underlying research below the waterline, but it often becomes an excuse for not doing the research in the first place – and that shows.
Content and thought leadership
2. There’s a lot written these days about marketing content but what’s your view that content alone doesn’t make you a thought leader?
I’d agree, but with some caveats. I honestly don’t think you can beat good content: that’s easy to forget because so much of the content we do see isn’t that good. If you look back at the block-buster management ideas of the past, they were all based on serious research, not a sudden brainwave or luck. I don’t believe in eureka moments except those that emerge from deeper-than-deep content. That being said, I do think that innovation in thought leadership will come from the way this content is assembled and disseminated. I’m watching McKinsey’s What Matters micro-site with interest and I know that other firms are looking at this issue too.
Thought leadership quantity vs quality
3. You talk about four factors likely to attract a client’s attention as appeal, differentiation, practical application and quality of thinking but do you think the volume of thought leadership these firms produce these days means they are having to be more creative with the way it is packaged?
These four factors relate to the quality of a firm’s output and that’s independent of quality (although, almost inevitably, a firm that decides to increase the quantity of its material takes a hit on quality). It’s tempting to say that quantity should never matter but it does: if you produce one piece of thought leadership on, say, strategy in the banking sector, but your competitor produces 20, then there’s a fair chance that you’ll get shouted down, however great your piece is. Quantity also sends a not-so-subliminal message to clients about how much a firm specialises in a particular area. However, I think firms could indeed be more creative about the way they package their content. In particular, I’d like to seem more “bundling” (putting related articles, in a mix of different formats, together in the same place); better recommendations (suggesting articles I might find of interest); and, please, please, please, better search engines. It’s incredibly frustrating to put a keyword in but not be able to sort the results by date or filter them.
Thought leadership as a term
4. The term thought leadership is bandied about quite loosely do you think the term itself is dated and if so are there better terms to encapsulate thought leadership?
Like all jargon (the first book I wrote was on business language… ), “thought leadership” has its uses. People – at least consultants – know what it refers to means and broadly understand what’s involved even if they might quibble about its exact meaning. The trouble is that it’s an inherently arrogant term that set itself up for a fall: it’s an old joke that most thought leadership is really thought “followship.” And of course the even bigger problem is that no one, certainly not us, has a better term.
Thought leadership – a growing discipline
5. Are you seeing signs that thought leadership is becoming a discipline in its own right? Are there any examples of it being split in terms of resourcing and manpower from the traditional marketing and corporate communication roles?
We’re certainly seeing this more – and I think that’s the right thing to do. If you ask clients what influences their choice of consulting firm, they almost always cite personal recommendations, case studies and thought leadership, but these components have an impact in different ways and at different times. A personal recommendation is very much about which firm to use for a specific piece of work, but case studies and thought leadership are important at an earlier stage in the thinking process. Long before they reach the point when they decide to hire a consulting firm, clients need evidence that it makes sense to invest time and effort in an idea or problem they’ve been mulling over – and case studies and thought leadership can provide this. In other words, done well the latter help stimulate demand for consulting in general even if they don’t convert into a sale for a specific firm. That’s why it makes sense to view these functions separately – but of course you can go too far in the opposite direction and it’s important for marketing, corporate comms and thought leadership to plan and act in unison.
The client’s view on thought leadership
6. What are clients of the firms you analyse saying about the thought leadership material they receive?
They have mixed reactions, depending on the subject-matter and their position. Overall, clients dismiss most thought leadership simply because it’s not relevant to them. There’s a lesson in this about ensuring all material is focused on as tight a group of clients as possible, otherwise – a bit like infections treated with antibiotics – they become resistant! Where it is relevant, views are much more positive: indeed, it’s quite clear that producing good thought leadership is, in many senior managers’ eye, a fundamental characteristic of a certain type of established, high-class consulting.
Thought leadership case study
7. What’s the best thought leadership campaign you’ve seen and why?
The BBC’s A History of the World in 100 Objects. Not exactly a conventional programme, but it gives us a clear sense and standard about what can be achieved when you mix great content with an intelligent use of new media. It should be required listening for all marketing departments.
The future of thought leadership
8. What is your view on where thought leadership is heading over the next five years?
I like to think that it will become a serious battleground for really good ideas. I may be laughed at for this on the quite reasonable grounds that (a) clients value small-scale insights more than grandiose conceptual models and (b) the extent to which thought leadership is – or can be – a crucible for innovation is questionable. But I do get frustrated by the lack of ambitious in much thought leadership. There are some big and interesting questions about business that never seem to get debated – and it would be good to think that some of these will start to be discussed. The prerequisites to this, and I suspect to upping the overall quality of thought leadership, are investment and collaboration. I can’t believe we won’t see more money going into thought leadership in the future, as it’s clear that it is one of the few marketing activities which can differentiate a firm. And I also think consulting firms will realise that they have to work with people (clients and other consultants) outside the boundaries of their firms for inspiration.
If you have any comments on Fiona’s points of view I’d love to hear from you – also don’t forget to sign up for Fiona’s newsletter here http://www.sourceforconsulting.com/whitespace/
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11 Mar 2011
Einstein offers great insights for thought leaders
In a guest post on Problogger,
http://tiny.cc/mfjhz Graham Phoenix of Male eXperience talks about rogue bloggers and there are some delightful insights and some inherent tips for thought leaders.
In particular, Albert Einstein’s quote stands out like a beacon for any person or business wanting to be a thought leader: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”
—Albert Einstein.Thought leaders don’ play it safe
Merely playing safe is not going to help you as a thought leader and is a sure-fire path to mediocrity and obscurity. To this end Corbett Barr, from Think Traffic in Graham’s post had this to say: “I’m saying you have to look fear in the eye, realize that fear is hiding some of your richest potential material, punch fear in the face and take whatever it was hiding from you and put that in your writing.”
The same applies to you if you want to be a thought leader. It is indeed a tough challenge for many corporations but there are also many who get it right – think Virgin, IBM, Deloitte, Booze & Company and Apple to mention a few.
What should your thought leadership be doing?
Your thought leadership position should:
· Challenge and raise questions in your field of expertise around new thinking and new ways of doing things
· Stretch your clients to think “What if?”
· Frame the debate and create conversations
· Provide new insights to a particular topic area/sector/area of expertise, and most importantly;
· Hone in on the challenges and issues your clients or your targets face now and into the future.
By doing this you will be taking a leaf out of Einstein’s book and choosing to express your opinions courageously and honestly.
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8 Mar 2011
Hats off to Manpower in the city of Milwaukee in the USA – they are advertising a thought leadership job – take a look here http://tiny.cc/c8ynvThought leadership job description
I won’t cover all of it – you can read the entire ad in the link above but I just love the way these guys have advertised for a thought leadership position. The fact that a Manpower dept is doing this says volumes for them and where they are on the marketing continuum.
This is how they start the ad: “This position reports to the VP of Thought Leadership (wow they even have a VP of Thought Leadership) and is responsible for developing and executing thought leadership materials in support of business goals and to increase revenue. “
And then I love this bit. Why? Because it is all about the client and candidates precisely the focus a brand’s thought leadership strategy should have: “This position will work cross functionally with all of the marketing team in support of the lines of business in their dealings with clients and candidates.”
It gets even more interesting. Under the heading Thought Leadership Strategy, it says· Develop and implement an overall thought leadership materials strategy to support Manpower’s business objectives as well as enhance sales and revenue.
· Design and manage consistent process for collecting topic ideas, tracking subject matter experts, and measuring the success of various communications channels
Well done guys, I hope you find the dream candidate.
Is there anyone else out there who has seen actual thought leadership positions advertised? Let me know.
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4 Mar 2011
Law firms and thought leadership
I had the privilege of speaking at the 4th (Legal) Managing Partners Conference at Sanctuary Cove on the Queensland Gold Coast in Australia this weekend. The topic “What do you want to be famous for?” The angle I took on how you get there – thought leadership of course.
Thought leadership in the legal industry
The interesting part of the talk was what I discovered during my research and information gathering phase in the weeks preceding the presentation. I spoke to some of the heads of communication at some Australia’s largest law firms about their views on thought leadership in the Australian legal industry. This was followed by some desktop research on what six of the leading global legal firms are doing online with their thought leadership properties. The six included Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, Skadden, Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Freshfields.
The legal industry spokespeople were unanimous that thought leadership across Australian legal firms is still in its infancy. While there are some great pockets of thought leadership it is generally ad hoc and not a lot of time or resources are spent on it. Contrastingly when I explored the global big six law firm, or Magic Circle firms as they are known, they seem, based on my online observations anyway, to be well on their way with their thought leadership properties.
Australian legal firms and thought leadership
Before I touch on the Magic Circle firms I want to illustrate what is happening in the thought leadership space for the legal industry down under.
This probably best illustrated by snatches of the conversations I held with four of the leading communication professionals across Australia’s leading law firms.
“It’s unsophisticated; we’re not nearly there yet.”
“Partners often have competing interests.”
“Our partners are more like media champions than thought leaders.”
“Most lawyers are reticent to stick their necks out.”
“We worry about upsetting clients.”
“It’s a time issue – the billable hour is king.”
“I don’t think the partners have seen the benefit of thought leadership yet.”
“There’s a feeling we’re giving our intellectual property away.”
Thought leadership is a growing trend in Australian law firms
It wasn’t all bad though, there were some positives. For example, there were a number of comments which indicated that thought leadership is growing and becoming more of a recognised marketing and communications tool. These included:
“Thought leadership is starting to seep through the firm.”
“The legal market is changing rapidly, there is increasing competition globally and locally and we will have to differentiate.”
“There is a golden opportunity to use older partners to drive our thought leadership efforts.”
“We’ve seen some fantastic benefits using our website for our thought leadership content.”
A mixed bag but some really positive noises for thought leadership around the corner.
The Magic Circle and thought leadership
I need to preface this by saying that my analysis is only based on quick desktop analysis of the Magic Circle firms thought leadership properties online and it is therefore limited by what I could find on their websites.
That said, all six had great content unfortunately I didn’t have the time to explore whether this content was genuine thought leading content – I am a firm believer that content alone does not make you a thought leader.
Here’s my quick summary of the six firms websites I visited:
· Linklaters– have “Year in Review”and “The Year to Come” which summarises major developments in English law and expectations for the new year. They also have Hot Topics which hosts papers across wide ranging issues.
· Freshfields– have what they call “Briefings” which are papers on various issues. They also have a separate microsite called Mobile Matters site which discusses all things mobile. It is one of the best examples of legal practice thought leadership I have seen. In addition, they have collaborated with The Economist Intelligence Unit to report on the opportunities and risks in Africa for the extractives industry.
Some great thought leadership from these two firms but there was something nagging me when I viewed these sites and it is probably best illustrated by a quote from an interview I conducted last year with Ken Blanchard. Ken is the author of over 50 books including “The one minute manager” and he said: “You can have the greatest, most innovative thoughts in the world but if nobody hears about them they’re worth squat.”
And therein lies the issue with the two firms I have just mentioned – I had to search and sift through layers to find their thought leadership material.
Make your thought leadership stand out on your web
The following firms had their thought leadership front and centre on their web sites.
· Clifford Chance – great scrolling content blocks, big and bold across the front page. They also have a very impressive webinar series covering numerous topics and featuring panels and interviews with third parties. In fact they label it their thought leadership impetus. The topics include, among others: remuneration reform in the financial services industry, trends in M&A, cross border tactics in takeovers and inbound investment in China.
· Allen & Overy– slap bang on their front page they have something called Insights. What’s great is that when you click into this you can search by topic, by country, by practice area or merely enter a search term and it will kick out all their content on that. They’ve made it very easy.
· Skadden– on their home page they have big and bold their “2011 Insights”, an annual issue of critical legal issues its clients will face in the year ahead across key areas such as governance, M&A, Capital Markets, Corporate Restructuring, Financial Regulation and Global Litigation to mention a few.
· Baker & McKenzie- front of centre of their home page they have a large title block “one step ahead of Dodd Frank”. For me though the coup de grace is that the first button top left on their home page is something called “Supporting your business”. I love it! This is not the typical me language you find on website i.e. “About Us” “Our services” “Who we are”, rather it’s all about you the client and your business.
What’s more, they have heaps of great, useful content and very easy to find – they even have a whole International negotiating handbook on their site chapter by chapter.
I would have loved to have the time to find out more about how these firms use their thought leadership material with their clients and in other forums but another time for that.
The wonderful thing is about all this content online is what it is doing for their Google rankings – I just hope they are optimising it accordingly.
Archive for March, 2011
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