WRITING AS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP · Seth Godin • Mr Marketing • Website, blogs EVERY day •...

How thought leaders develop platforms Lecture 10 Karen Morath May 16, 2013

WRITING AS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Lecture 10 (of 13)

•  What is thought leadership? •  Who are thought leaders? •  How are platforms created and sustained? •  Role of social media (blogs, Twitter) •  Role of traditional media (op-eds, white

papers and books) •  Role of speeches

Thought leadership

•  term first coined in 1994 by Joel Kurtzman •  “someone with business ideas which merit

attention” •  someone thought to have progressive and

innovative ideas •  a futurist •  someone who leads thought in their

‘space’ or creates a new space

What is the value in it?

•  be seen as an authority or a leader in your industry/subject matter

•  attract media attention •  attract more business (and be able to

charge more) as a result •  create change/make a difference in the

world/leave a legacy

Thought leaders

•  In industries, sports, humanity, music... •  Not necessarily about size of market •  Who are you aware of? •  Look at three individuals and three

‘industries’

Thought l

Tom Friedman

•  The world is flat •  We know that because Tom told us •  Thought leadership can be about

introducing new ways of thinking and understanding and introducing new terms that take off and become part of what we know/creates new language for new space

•  (The Tipping Point, The Long Tail, Sophie’s Choice, Catch 22)

Seth Godin

•  Mr Marketing •  Website, blogs EVERY day •  Written at least 25 books, many mega-hits

that shape (lead?) thought •  Books and ideas create new ways of

thinking and new terminology

Sethisms

•  Permission marketing •  Meatball sundae •  As remarkable as a purple cow •  Connection economy •  Linchpin •  Tribes •  The dip •  Idea virus

Sir Ken Robinson

•  “Schools kill creativity” •  Challenging people to think differently

about education/creating new space •  Website, blog, books, TED talks, speaking

circuit •  172,666 Twitter followers •  38,234 Facebook likes

Role of speeches - TED

•  The ultimate speech platform in 2013 is the TED stage (not reach but gravitas)

•  Most watched TED speech – ‘Schools kill creativity’, Robinson, 2006 – 8,660,010 views

•  Once was the UN (in impact), now YouTube (in scale)

Gandhi, Barack, Thatcher

•  Politics is ripe for thought leadership platforms

•  Exactly what we expect from our politicians and leaders

BB, Elvis, Chuck, Madonna, Gaga, Pink, Adele •  Thought leaders in music •  Changed the nature of music •  Pushed boundaries •  Led the way •  Became well enough known to need only

one name •  Others?

Andrew Bolt, Jana Wendt, Anderson Cooper •  Do we look to traditional media for thought

leadership? •  Do we get it? •  Is that their role?

Companies can be thought leaders too •  Booz and Company – innovation (source

www.thoughtleadersipstrategy.net)

•  Conduct original research •  Media releases •  Webinars •  Articles •  Speaking at universities •  Develop a reputation

And so can organisations

•  United Nations (world peace) •  Olympic Games (amateur competitive

sport) •  World Health Organisation (world health!) •  European Union (economics and politics) •  Red Cross (humanitarianism) •  Cancer Council/Heart Foundation, etc

How platforms are created

•  Writing original material on a subject or an industry that captures people’s imagination, changes the way they think, makes the writer the ‘expert’ in the field or at the vanguard of a new field of their making

•  Ideas and work ‘ go viral’ whether or not online

Some successful platforms

•  Huffington Post – most successful blog in the world (80m unique visitors each month) and very influential

•  Arianna Huffington a significant thought leader in ‘news’

•  Perez Hilton 10.2m visitors per month – 10th most popular blog in the world

•  Thought leader/go to guy in ‘celebrity gossip’

Role of social media - blogs

•  Blogs arguably the biggest influencer of thought in the 21st century

•  Twitter and Facebook can deliver a platform of tens or hundreds of thousands, a huge platform

•  YouTube the platform of choice for some •  Email newsletters can be shared

Role of social media - Twitter

•  Top ten most popular people on Twitter •  Justin Bieber has 39,033,855 followers

(source www.friendorfollow.com) •  All but two (Obama and YouTube) in top

10 are musicians •  But remember it is not necessarily about

numbers (create/own/lead your space)

Role of traditional media

•  Authoring a book is significant in itself but also creates media leverage

•  Writing op-eds for newspapers •  Being interviewed or writing for

newspapers and magazines in the field (engineering, cancer research, parenting)

•  Writing ‘white papers’ or manifestos on areas of expertise

Role of academia

•  Publishing in academic journals can be thought leadership if the work becomes often-cited and influential

•  Contributes to shaping thought in academic disciplines/professions

•  Can then attract traditional media interest

Key ingredients of successful thought leadership •  Note the role of writing in each of these

examples •  Credentials/something original to say and

a compelling way of saying it •  Courage to be different, to lead, to publish •  Presence to challenge the status quo

Next week

•  Visualisation and gamification of strategic communication

•  Is writing now content production? •  Impact of citizen journalism

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