diluted, but is thought leadership dead, dying or dynamic

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP DISRUPTED

‘Diluted, but is thought leadership dead, dying or dynamic?’

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

2

Thought leadership diluted

3

The landscape

Knowledge businesses

Big picture positioning

Disrupters

4

Thought leadership today

Knowledgebusinesses

• Strategic and tactical• Brand and sales return• Rooted in core service proposition• Immediacy vs dilution

Examples: McKinsey | E&Y | IT industry | Professional Services

5

Thought leadership today

Big picture positioning

• Ingredient in a bigger campaign• Strategic purpose• Linked to societal challenge• Brand return• Rooted in core service

Examples: Shell Energy Scenarios | IBM Smarter Planet | GE Ecomagination

6

Thought leadership today

Disrupters

• Actions louder than words• We learn in their slipstream• Will they change as they mature?

Examples: Uber | Tesla | Airbnb | Amazon

7

Thought leadership today

• Strategic and tactical• Brand and sales return• Rooted in core service

proposition• Immediacy vs dilution

Examples: McKinsey | E&Y | IT industry

• Ingredient in a bigger campaign

• Strategic purpose• Linked to societal challenge• Brand return• Rooted in core service

Examples: Shell Energy Scenarios | IBM Smarter Planet | IO

• Action over words• Learn from their slipstream• Will they change as they

mature?

Examples: Uber | AirBnB | Amazon

Knowledge businesses Big picture positioning Disrupters

8

The opportunity

Increased Desire

Flexible Strategy

High Rewards

9

The new rule book

Raising the bar on content

Management Discipline

Presentation, Delivery and Distribution

Marketers need to rebalance and professionalise their approach

10

The new rule bookCredible

Relevant

Innovative

Transformative

Impactful

Compelling

Accessible

Raising the bar on content

Why are we doing this?Find the critical concept

Credible

Impactful

Transformative

Compelling

Accessible

Lasting

Relevant

Innovative

CRITICAL

11

Thought leadership – CRITICAL scorecard

Credible

• Quality of research and robustness of data

• Expert opinion• Respect attributed to research partner• Subject where company has permission

to publish

0-5

Impactful• Starts or drives a conversation which builds

momentum• Measurable with KPIs aligned to objectives• Changes perceptions of the company• Ignites change

0-5

Relevant• Goes to the heart of a pressing issue• Rooted in your company’s purpose,

values , strategy or operations• Connects to organisation’s relationships

with its industry or communities

0-5

Compelling

• Big picture • Relevant and valuable to the audience • Persuasiveness of idea• Values of an independent publisher

0-5

Innovative• Original thought or ideas • Pushes forward the boundaries of

knowledge • Time to market on idea or perspective

0-5

Accessible

• Breaks ground in visual literacy, distribution and use of technology

• Plays in every format• Potential to serialise with a ‘breadcrumb trail

‘and set pieces

0-5

Transformative

• Challenges conventional thinking• Ability to ignite change• Big picture, ‘white space’ thinking

0-5

Lasting• The central concept has longevity and will

drive a lasting conversation• Commitment to the theme• Planned schedule of interventions

0-5

Add 0-5 rating scale against each criteria

12

The new rule book

The Management Imperative

1. Set the strategic context2. Process for developing thought

leadership concepts3. Protocol for internal alignment and

collaboration4. Planning and delivery system to include

an editorial board5. Clear policy on employee amplification6. Method of evaluating ROI, sentiment

and tactical effectiveness

Management Discipline

13

The new rule book

7 Trends to watch in executive thought leadership

1. ‘Globalisation’ debate2. Cause fatigue3. Big data4. Return of long form content5. Visual storytelling6. Virtual Reality7. What’s beyond LinkedIn?

Presentation, Delivery and Distribution

14

The new rule book

Raising the bar on content

Management discipline

Presentation, delivery and distribution

Marketers need to rebalance and professionalise their approach

15

Let’s continue the conversation…

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP DISRUPTED‘Devalued but is thought leadership dead, dying or dynamic?’

Hill+Knowlton Strategies