Quality thought leadership: more critical than ever?

Fresh from the publication of Source’s latest Quality Ratings of Thought Leadership report, Natasha Cambell, Principal Thought Leadership Consultant; Nicola Kostrzewska, Thought Leadership Consultant; and Emma Carroll, Head of Content, get together to debate today’s big thought leadership trends. They also discuss exactly how firms can improve the differentiation, appeal, resilience, and action-driving capability of their material.    Natasha and Nicola discuss the following matters and more:     Thought leadership has long been considered essential to driving awareness of a firm’s brand. However, Source’s research shows that it is also integral to the whole lifecycle of the firm-client relationship.   Thought leadership has come a long way since the one-time-only launch of the doorstop report, where 80% of investment and effort was put into producing the thought leadership and only 20% on activating it. A more even split is now needed.    Changing customer behaviours are shaping thought leadership. More content is being consumed on the move and clients want short, sharp resources. This is changing how thought leadership is produced and governed. Collaboration across a firm is key.  Though leadership quality scores are at their highest ever this year. “Challenger brands” have worked harder on all dimensions of quality, and against this background, appeal and resilience have started to become non-negotiable hygiene factors.    Thought leadership is distinguished from its “poorer relation” content marketing by a strong dataset. We look at what else sets it apart.  Prompting action is, once again, where thought leadership often falls short. Firms have some good ideas in this space but fail to apply them consistently.     If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Jason Maude of Starling Bank about what a tech-first business wants from consulting firms.