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Thought Leadership Marketing‘Selling IT services is no longer a cost play. Learn how Thought Leadership
marketing can help you improve competitive positioning and value
realization’
Vinod Harith
Nasscom Emerging Companies Forum25th July 2008
Chennai
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Defining thought leadership
� The term was first coined in 1994, by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the magazine, Strategy & Business
� A commonly accepted definition is that thought leaders are individuals or organizations that are recognized by peers, customers and industry experts as someone who deeply understand the business they are in, the needs of their customers, and the broader marketplace in which they operate
� Thought leaders have a distinctively original idea, a unique point of view or an insight
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Why thought leadership?
� Because customers now control the buying process
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Why thought leadership?
� Simple. Because your customers are looking for it
� And 4 of the top 5 effective marketing vehicles AS RANKED BY CUSTOMERS have to do with thought leadership
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Why thought leadership?
� And customers pay a lot of attention to thought leadership
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Why thought leadership?
� Customers will even read junk mail if the message or idea is compelling
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What thought leadership marketing
delivers
� Moving beyond being just a cost player with your customer
� Building a strong brand – thereby helping you cut cost/ time of sale
� Increasing Marketing’s Business Impact
� Improving Competitive Positioning and Differentiation
� Implementing Demand Generation Tactics that Work
� Sharpening Marketing’s Edge
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The Thought Leadership Ecosystem
Thought Leadership Creation
Build in-depth research
and compelling content around
the identified topics
Thought Leadership Partnerships
Identify the right fit partners for
joint research and papers
with academia and partners
Thought Leadership
Dissemination
Distribution of papers, PPTs, webinars
and podcasts though paid and unpaid channels
Thought Leadership
Repurposing
Convert the content into webinars,
Podcasts, speaking opps, etc
Niche Identification
and Positioning
Identify the unique space
you should occupy in the
Thought Leadership space
� 1/3rd of organizations don’t have a thought leadership strategy and another 1/3rd
don’t communicate it
� Identifying your unique ecosystem helps you maximize touch points, improve effectiveness and reduce cost of outreach
� Next practices – joint thought leadership with clients, customer councils
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Where do we start
� Have a point of view - any view is better than no view
� Ideas, frameworks or hunches also qualify
� Build supports around your point of view – research, benefits…
� Get it endorsed by peers, customers and industry experts
� Find or create forums to communicate your thought leadership
� Be evangelical about your idea, don’t get side tracked
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Measuring thought leadership
� We need to move away from traditional measures to business focused ones� Touch points analysis and messaging recall
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