How to show Thought Leadership in your Industry ?
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It’s interesting to be a thought leader and show thought leadership.
But how do you get organized, from a marketing and company perspective?
Michael Porter or Treacy and Wiersema have learned us about product leadership, operational excellence or customer intimacy, and the relevancy to the strategy of companies.
(Michael Porter, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors – 1998), later revised by Treacy and Wiersema with their Value Disciplines model (The Discipline of Market Leaders – 1997), now taught in nearly all business school programs, and which crops up at least once at every business conference.)
When B2B buyers seek out to buy a certain solution, I believe that in many cases they are not buying a product, but they are buying the vision of the company, and the people behind that vision.
That’s why any company, no matter which “Porter” strategy you have, must have a clear vision about the new solutions of the future. Solutions that give your buyers the competitive edge they need to survive in todays economy, while believing that your company will remain to provide you with future products that will keep giving him that competitive edge.
The objective of thought leadership ? If you get your thought leadership strategy right, customers will see you as a go-to source of expertise, your new products or incremental improvements will find easier acceptance, you’ll stand a good chance of bolstering product price (which is critical in many industries where commoditization is at work), and you’ll attract talent more easily.
The real definition of Thought Leadership
Study: Strategic issues for communication management until 2015
The European Association of Communication Directors just published its annual report
It provides insight into communication and PR professionals (survey from 2200 communication professionals from 42 countries in Europe), and has titled it:
Challenges and Competencies for Strategic Communication
Why am I covering this report?
The reason I am covering this report is because
- It show the biggest challenges for marketers and communicators today.
- Because it comes from a descent source
- Because it has data from previous years that allows to spot trends.
Key take-away’s from the European Communication Monitor 2012
- Most important strategic issues: Need to address more audiences with limited resources
- Ethical challenges: Six out of ten PR professionals faced moral problems within the last 12 months
- Barriers to professionalization: 84% state that top management lacks understanding of communications
- Integrating and coordinating communications: Shaping multiple identities is more relevant today
- Practice of strategic communication: Operational work takes 37% of a typical week
- Social media: Large gap between perceived importance and real implementation in most organisations
- Development and qualifications: Management and business knowledge needed, but training is missing
