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What is thought leadership and how can companies pursue it?

Tue 26 July 2011

, Maurice Eykman, LEAP redactie

Many corporations feel that they should be developing a
thought leadership strategy. Some – like Unilever and Philips -  are quite successful at it. Some have no idea what thought leadership is and why a company should pursue it. Mignon van Halderen and Kym Kettler-Paddock of Rotterdam School of Management try to enlighten us. They (partly) succeed.

What is thought leadership?
In the article ‘Making sense of Thought Leadership’ in the June issue of the Rotterdam School of Management’s online magazine RSM Insight, Van Halderen and Kettler-Paddock define thought leadership as: the action of introducing and promoting convention-breaking ideas that cause people to change how they think about marketplace or societal issues.

Major issues – climate change, water management, renewable energy, aging, health and well-being, you name it  –  have gained great ground in their importance. Society places ever more emphasis on determining the ways in which they can be tackled. This presents companies with the opportunity to step in to the discussions about the issues that are relevant to their stakeholders and position themselves as organizations that not only care, but as ones that may have innovative ideas that can help solve problems. According to Van Halderen and Kettler companies can become thought leaders by developing novel points of view (NPOVs) that catch not only the attention of society, but which break with or challenge conventional thinking. This enables them to create a platform from which they can differentiate themselves from competitors and be seen by stakeholders as intellectual leaders in the fight against society’s worries.

How to create thought leadership
Thought leadership is based on two pillars, say the authors.  The first is novelty (the NPOV), and the second is trust. If you don’t have followers you are not a leader. And people don’t trust you, they won’t endorse the NPOV.

Four steps will help you become a thought leader:

• 1. Articulate a novel point of view.
  It doesn’t have to be an amazingly earth-shattering one. Sometimes it is enough to be the first to bring an idea or perspective to the attention of stakeholders and to propel societal discussion about it. The important factor here is that the NPOV needs to be something that changes the way we think or perceive the subject matter.
  The NPOV doesn’t need to be articulated explicitly either. Apple, for example, is seen as a thought leader, yet they do not express their ideas vocally. Apple’s iTunes changed the we use and think about buying and playing music without Apple explaining why we should do this.

• 2. Share the expertise and information the company has accumulated around the NPOV.
  This will show that the organisation has the best interests of its stakeholders at heart, and this will  create trust.
   
• 3. Create strong interactive networks with stakeholders.
  The deeper organisations can become embedded in these social networks, the more central they are to those with influence in the sphere of their NPOV. Additionally, thought leaders continually need information from the market in order to maintain their position as the trusted advisor. As well as offering a means to be aligned with stakeholders who share the company’s vision, the reciprocal sharing of information is an excellent way to develop trust and enhance reputation.
   
• 4. Act in line with the desired positioning.
  Organisations cannot create a thought leadership position based on hollow principles, ideas or visions. A strong sense of strategic alignment is essential so that all elements of the organisation are committed to and entirely supportive of the NPOV.

Why become a thought leader?
The authors of RSM answer interesting questions about the what and how of thought leadership, but don’t clearly address the question: Why? Why would a company want to become a thought leader?

According to several case studies, sales of Dove products increased after the Real Beauty Campaign. And they say they reached 7 million ‘lives’ with their self-esteem fund. But is increasing sales the goal of a thought leader? No, probably not. (Or – if it is – it can’t be said out loud).  Or is the goal helping solve societal issues? Dove seems to help with the self-esteem fund, but was this (part) of its goal?

You don’t start a cosmetic factory or oil company or retail bank to help find answers to society’s worries. But you might want to contribute to it anyway. And it won’t hurt you. You might even benefit from it, along with everybody else. And we all know sustainability is important.  Maybe that is the answer to the Why.  The last sentences of the article in RSM Insight – about the long term commitment needed for thought leadership - seems to imply as much:  When looking to develop a thought leadership position, companies must fully comprehend that as a commitment it is akin to picking up and bearing a flaming torch. As such it needs to be held aloft at all times so that its carrier clearly illuminates the way for the benefit of all.

Beautifully put. But we would like to hear more about the Why. Services and products that people need to improve their lives have and always will be in demand. You don’t have to be a thought leader to sell them. Or do you?

Example:  Unilever, Real Beauty
The Real Beauty Campaign of Unilever’s personal care brand Dove is an example of a  successful thought leadership strategy. In 2003, Unilever‘s Global Brand Team for Dove was charged with invigorating the fifty-year old brand. They researched the perception of beauty in ten countries and got some startling results indicating that low self-esteem was rife among women. Only 2 per cent of women described themselves as beautiful and only 12 per cent were satisfied with their physical attractiveness. Women also indicated that they felt pressured by the beauty industry to do something about their appearance. The Dove Team used these findings to create a NPOV for the convention-breaking ‘Real Beauty Campaign’, which included the use of average-looking women instead of professional models.

Dove became an authority – a thought leader – on the social issue of beauty and our preconceptions of it. ‘No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted’ was the pay-off of a beautiful film made by the company Dove moved beyond standard marketing and branding techniques. They developed platforms that their target audience could get involved with – Mother and Daughter days, for example, and the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, the purpose of which, according to their website, is “to help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes.”

Example: Philips,  Liveable Cities
Philips also serves as a good example of a company with a thought leadership vision based on the breaking down of conventional societal thinking. It wants to become global leader and trusted voice around the issues of aging and city living. To do so, Philips seeks to challenge the accepted notion of aging as a sedate process concerned with infirmity, and by changing society’s conception of cities as being largely unsafe and unhealthy.

Philips positions itself as a company that understands the challenges of ‘keeping cities livable’, and a contributor to resolving urban issues as crime rates and road safety, and  community interaction. In the area of aging and healthcare, Philips solutions help caregivers monitor and care for patients suffering from chronic illnesses as well as helping families care for the elderly living alone.  As part of the company’s mission to improve the quality of people’s lives, the Philips Center for health and well-being is researching what matters most to citizens all over the world in terms of their own health and well-being. The Center is currently conducting a worldwide survey, the Philips Index on health and well-being, the results of which are being published as a series of reports.

Initial outcomes of the survey in the US, Brazil and China reveal that people’s health and well-being are affected by factors such as perception of their health, emotional well-being, personal relationships, occupation and the community in which they live. These results provide an insight into the trends that have determined the categories of the Philips Livable Cities Award.
http://www.youtube.com/user/livablecities

Read the full article by Van Halderen and Kettler-Paddock.