Thought leaders will fail

Being a thought leader in your sector means that you will fail at some point. 

Why? Because you can never satisfy everyone, not everybody will see you as a thought leader and you will always have your detractors.  In fact some people and organisations may attack your position outright. That’s the price of being a leader.

Thought leaders aren’t shy, retiring types.

The very nature of thought leadership requires that you put yourself out there.  If you want to be seen to be leading or framing the conversations around a topic, if you want people to sit up and take note and think differently about the way they do things, if you want to highlight issues or trends that we have not yet experienced you are opening yourself for criticism at some point with some audience.

Does that mean you have failed as a thought leader?  Not at all.

Throughout history some of the greatest thought leaders have been criticised by the media, their competitors, government and other detractors.

Look at some of the great innovators and inventors of our time. Over the centuries they too have been wrong.  Consider how many times some inventions or ideas failed before they came to fruition or before they were generally accepted.

Thought leaders require vision, courage and perseverance

The fact of the matter is that the very nature of leadership whether it be thought leadership, innovation or leadership per se requires three key characteristics – vision, courage and perseverance.

It is also precisely why so many large corporations don’t embark on thought leadership campaigns.  True thought leadership often falls into the too hard box making it very easy for its detractors in the organisation to explore what could go wrong, how much IP they are going to have to give away and what the immediate return on investment might be.

It is far easier for the marketing department to stick with the tried and tested above the line campaign or PR campaign that disseminates media releases and marketing collateral.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this stuff is not important to the marketing success of the company, indeed we could all name many a campaign which stands out and that really hit the mark.  

However, more and more today the standard marketing and PR campaigns are probably not going to deliver your brand the cut through you need to stand out from the crowd.

If your thought leadership campaign isn’t working what do you do?

If you have a thought leadership campaign currently running and it’s not hitting the mark try some of these tips: 

• Get closer to your customers, clients or whoever it is aimed at.  Ask them what they like about it, what is most useful, what they don’t like and how it could be improved to truly deliver something of value to them.  Far from failure, this should be viewed as a great opportunity to engage with your audience in a really authentic manner, a manner that shows you care 

• As a matter of course, like any good marketing campaign does, your thought leadership campaign should be cross checked to make sure it is delivering on your initial objectives.  Go back and re-evaluate these and measure them against what it is currently delivering

• Follow in the footsteps of the great inventors and thought leaders of our time.  Don’t give up.  Tweak your campaign, use the interactions and feedback from your market to adjust your campaign and you will end up with a far stronger thought leadership property than you initially envisioned.

Fear of failure will leave you lagging

If you aren’t prepared to give your thought leadership campaign a go because of the fear of failure you can be sure that you will remain in the marketing trenches doing what everyone else is doing.

I’d love to hear from thought leaders out there who have failed and who have come back better for it with a more robust campaign.         

Thought leadership is powered by three key principles

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 

Thought leadership requires courage

I never forget the first full length story my daughter wrote when she was about six or seven – she called it “The rat that lost its courage”.   Forget about who moved my cheese, this rat didn’t even have the courage to go out and look for cheese.

It struck me on reflecting on my daughter’s story the other day that I along with many people with whom I have worked, seem at various times in our careers, to lose our courage.

Think about how often you’ve seen marketing, PR or brand teams compromising their work because of: insufficient budget; too much ‘political’ risk; lack of courage; taking the easiest or most reasonable path; too many other ‘things’ on their plate; fear of failure; adopting the safe route; being output focused rather than outcomes focused?

The question we as marketing, advertising, brand or PR professionals need to ask ourselves is how often we are brave with the work we do and the ideas we put forward? Sure some of us vacillate between brave and reasonable. But how many of us are truly courageous - brave with the advice given, brave with ideas and brave with implementation? How many of us have the strength to tell it as it is and to give hard-nosed counsel and strategic direction when required?

A true thought leadership example

The guys who came up with the Dove campaign for Real Beauty were brave.  How many marketers or brand managers do you know who would give the green light for spending big on a campaign that doesn’t mention any of the company’s products on the flagship website for the campaign?

So the question is how we can interrogate daily the real value we add to our campaigns because it is no longer good enough to practice yesterday’s PR, brand, marketing and advertising strategies.

The impacts of a company’s social, environmental and political footprints are disappearing. On the contrary, the focus of all stakeholders on these impacts is growing and will continue to influence buying behaviour, purchasing decisions, perceptions of the brand and that much vaunted word of mouth.

Today we need to carefully reflect how we can add sustainable value to our consumers and the campaigns we run on behalf of our brands.

Thought leadership requires alignment with your consumer/stakeholder

As communicators we are in an enviable position. At no time in the history of marketing have we had the power to interact with a company’s audiences as now.

The advent of Web 2.0 and social media has seen a marked shift in the communication game. Consumers are not only interacting with brands directly but they have also become part of the media landscape.

Today, companies can communicate directly with their consumers and vice versa. Traditional media channels are no longer the only conduit to reaching an audience. Increasingly marketing is about communicating with, rather than to, the consumer. It is about participating in a dialogue with your consumers.

But consumers want more – they want to know what value you are add to their world and the society in which they live over and above merely selling them a product or service.  And herein lies the opportunity for thought leadership as well as strategically relevant CSR campaigns.

I believe that this is the way companies will need to align with their consumers in the future.  For consumers want more than a brand to merely sell them a product or service – they want to know that the brand gets them, understands their issues and is prepared to give something of value to them over and above the product or service they sell.  

By being brave and spending time arriving at a great thought leadership position, you, your company and your brand will be able to create a compelling point of difference and add substantially more value to your campaigns and ultimately your audience.

Is thought leadership coming of age?

I would like to draw your attention to a post written by Blair Currie the CEO of Aegis Media in Japan at  http://tinyurl.com/lljhdg . In it he talks about his ten predictions for 2010.  But what caught my eye were two points in particular:

Disruption will be the norm. With an abundance of choice, products and services need to be even more extraordinary to stand out and succeed. More attention and reward will be given to those who can find greatness within or outside market norms. The need to be more inventive will make creative destruction the norm rather than the exception. Consequently, effective change agents will be in increasing demand.

 Brands will grow up. People will expect brands to do more than simply satisfy their basic needs. Brands will need to appeal higher up Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs. As a result, brands will take on different roles in society supporting an increasing range and depth of CSR programs.  

Both of these have serious implications for thought leadership and how a) one differentiates ones brand and b) the need to position it in such a way that at every level - consumer, government and employees - the company is seen to be striving to deliver to their audiences something of value beyond what they sell and something which aligns with the values and aspirations of society.

It’s what I call the social license to operate which is quite distinct from the regulatory license to operate.  Social license to operate signifies going beyond what is required by law.  It challenges companies to always go one step further, the extra mile. 

Why? Because that is what society has come to expect and that is what consumers are starting to demand of their suppliers of goods and services.  

The other reason is that if a crisis hits the company has some sort of responsible brand shield which can, depending on the crisis, to some degree either buy them time or soften the consumer/societal backlash.

What does this all have to do with thought leadership?

Precisely the point that great thought leadership ideas are vested in the values of the company which should these days be inextricably linked to the good of greater society, employees and the community in which the company operates.  We’ve all heard the expression ‘No man is an island’.  Well no company is an island either.

By understanding the needs, fears and desires of the society in which you operate and specifically those same issues with your direct target audience, you/the company are in a far better position  to delivering a thought leadership campaign which hits the mark.

If you’ve seen or had experience of this, please share it with me.

The evergrowing need for thought leadership

Strong opportunities for thought leadership

Today, more than ever, there is an even stronger link between management philosophies, company values and customer expectations, and how these impact company or brand marketing campaigns.

One of the questions you should be asking is whether your communication or marketing campaigns and brand strategies are delivering authentic, sustainable value to your brand’s audience?

If your campaigns are merely ticking the traditional marketing box the challenge is to find that true differentiator, something that will set your point of view and ideas apart from your competitors.

Corporations face a growing need among consumers for brand authenticity and informative content from which will help them make up their own minds. More and more customers and clients are wanting and, in some cases, demanding true engagement with their brands.

With the expectations and buying patterns of these customers aligning more closely with their values, it provides fertile ground for exploring your thought leadership campaigns.

True thought leadership can add real and sustainable medium- to long-term value to a company’s brand and its customers.  It presents the brand in a refreshing way and in turn sets it apart from its competitors. It also has the significant effect of gaining the long-term trust and loyalty of the brand’s audiences – a compelling quality in today’s highly competitive market.

Thought leadership should drive sales but not be its sole focus

Ultimately you want your thought leadership to drive sales but that shouldn’t be your sole focus.  It is my view that the focus of a thought leadership campaign should be to add value to your customers lives by doing something which aligns closely with your (the company’s) values and in the process touches a cord in your customers hearts and minds that says to them “I feel good doing business with these guys.  They add value to my life.  They get me.”

Why thought leadership for a brand?

OK I admit I haven’t exactly been the devoted blogger one should be when launching a blog but hopefully I have a good excuse.  We’ve just bought a house, moved in, been offline for days and had to deal with a client crisis at work.

Unfortunately my blog lost out in the process.

Why a thought leadership position for a brand?

I’d like to explore my philosophy of why brands and in particular, corporations, need to have a thought leadership point of view.

It is expected by society, regulators and government today that the products and services a company develops and sells need to be seen to support growth, not just financially but also personally, socially and spiritually.

It’s no longer acceptable for companies to merely sell their products without due consideration for the environment, the communities within which they operate and the way they source and dispose of their products.

This is not a new term but a company’s ‘social licence’ to operate is constantly being called into question as legislators, community pressure groups, social media commentators, non-government organizations (NGOs) and the media, focus increasingly on companies and their responsibility from ‘farm to fork’ or ‘factory to landfill’.

Focus your thought leadership around your values and those of your audiences

It’s my view that companies should be looking at opportunities to  establish connections with the values, dreams and aspirations of their customers if they are to remain competitive.

It is in these areas that companies will also find their thought leadership ideas. it is in these areas where companies should be focusing their thought leadership ideas - particularly if they want their brands to inspire their audiences and they want to differentiate themselves from their competition.

Companies serious about embarking on a thought  leadership campaign should be re-evaluating what their brand/company stands for.  Deep inspection of these questions linked to the aspirations, wants and needs of its customers should give you the clues to apply and deliver longer-term, strategic thinking to your thought leadership ideas.

I have already talked about the seven steps to great thought leadership (START IP), which if followed, will lead to more meaningful, strategic and values-based thought leadership campaigns.

I suggest you check it out - not only will it deliver better marketing and public relations outcomes for the company but it will help define a unique space for your brand and a great thought leadership position.  One in which  senior management and employees can believe.

I promise you that it’s not difficult and it is a very rewarding path to pursue.  All that is required is time, commitment and importantly a willingness at a senior level to engage with and deliver authentic, compelling content to your audiences.

In this way, you will engage with your customers/clients/stakeholders in a way you never have before.

Thought leadership - strategic brand rocket

Thought leadership is a grossly misused phrase -

People use it liberally without much thought to its meaning let alone its strategic context.

Hopefully in some small way over time, I and the many other people who advocate and write about thought leadership can deliver to CEOs, PR practioners, marketing and brand professionals and other interested parties, a better understanding of the tremendous power of thought leadership if used strategically. Properly used and applied, thought leadership has the ability to turbo-charge personal profiles and brands so that they stand out from the competition.

It’s my view that while thought leadership for brands/companies is more challenging than building a thought leadership position for an individual, it can and has been done very successfully by many companies.

The challenge for companies to be thought leaders

Why do I say it is more challenging for a company to be a thought leader? For a number of reasons.

First, the best thought leaders share information with an abundance mentality. Most companies aren’t into sharing information, alternatively if they do share it is usually information that has been sanitised and filtered to a bland paste through committees, sub-committees, legal compliance, brand managers, etc.

Second, the best thought leaders engage with and listen to their audiences in order to understand their needs. They’re in tune with their audience and are constantly seeking feedback and adapting what they deliver based on this feedback. They are interested in adding value to their customers lives beyond merely selling them a product or a service.

Unfortunately most companies are still stuck in the old media mentality of choosing your medium and then delivering a much massaged or creatively enhanced message to its audience through that medium. That’s the way it’s always been done and it’s worked.

Thought leaders research and listen to their audience

So why should we change? Why should companies engage with its audience rather than continue delivering messages to them? After all we conduct research, that’s listening, that’s engaging isn’t it?

Yes and no. Research is a very effective way of listening to an audience but is it two way engagement? Not really.

And herein lies the rub. Social media and Web 2.0 has changed the way not only how companies communicate with their customers but more importantly the way customers want to and expect to communicate with the company and how they find out about a company’s brand and what the social media community out there are saying about that brand.

It is no longer good enough to merely sell products or services the way you always did. There is a growing percentage of customers who want more from the company from which they buy. Questions are being asked about what the company does in the community, how it recycles, how it sources and processes it raw materials and what impact it has on the environment.

This is even being felt at at B2B level where suppliers in turn are being asked to tick the procurement box on a number of issues such as employment and environment practices, health and safety, corporate social responsbility, product sourcing practices and the like.

Tap the rich vein of thought leadership ideas

This is where the rich vein of thought leadership opportunity rests for companies. It is the companies who engage with their customers, suppliers and the communities within which they operate, who get to the bottom of the issues that are important to these audiences.

It’s at this point that they are able to align the delivery of a thought leadership platform relevant to the issues that are important to the very people it is trying to influence, whether that be government, consumers, regulatory bodies, the sector in which they operate or their own staff.

In my mind the best, long term thought leadership examples are tied very closely to the company’s core values but that is an entire topic on its own which I will address in another posting.

I’ve talked about listening and engaging with an audience throughout this post and so I look forward to any views you may have on the topic.

Also if you have any thought leadership case studies which you know of or you’ve been involved let me know - who knows they may appear in my next book: Great thought leadership case studies from around the world – How leading brands are getting ahead. (more…)