Comments on: On pedants and dilettantes, gurus and gravitas http://blog.blisspr.com/uncategorized/on-pedants-and-dilettantes-gurus-and-gravitas/ PR for Thought Leaders Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:46:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: abbycarr http://blog.blisspr.com/uncategorized/on-pedants-and-dilettantes-gurus-and-gravitas/comment-page-1/#comment-729 abbycarr Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:06:31 +0000 http://blog.blisspr.com/?p=1665#comment-729 Mike -- Certainly there are levels of contribution, and that a TED-level "true" thought leader is different from one who is simply drawing from his/her experience to join the dialogue around an area of expertise. To quote my colleague Meg, who recently blogged on a similar topic, "From a tactical standpoint, the term “thought leadership marketing” means different things to different people. As in traditional marketing, there are endless possibilities for inputs (e.g., statistics, stories, analysis, opinions), spokespeople (institution or individual),outputs (e.g.,books, videos, podcasts, documentaries, articles) and objectives (e.g., credibility, awareness, loyalty, positioning). But what’s unique about real thought leadership, to me, is that it’s edu-marketing. It’s one part promotion/persuasion, one part teaching/giving. True thought leadership helps audiences make sense of things — e.g., the world, a sector, an experience, the future. It’s marketing, of course, because it drives revenue by (1) boosting credibilty; (2) engaging customers; (3) creating differentiation and (4) triggering the reciprocity reflex. But it also inspires." Mike — Certainly there are levels of contribution, and that a TED-level “true” thought leader is different from one who is simply drawing from his/her experience to join the dialogue around an area of expertise. To quote my colleague Meg, who recently blogged on a similar topic, “From a tactical standpoint, the term “thought leadership marketing” means different things to different people. As in traditional marketing, there are endless possibilities for inputs (e.g., statistics, stories, analysis, opinions), spokespeople (institution or individual),outputs (e.g.,books, videos, podcasts, documentaries, articles) and objectives (e.g., credibility, awareness, loyalty, positioning). But what’s unique about real thought leadership, to me, is that it’s edu-marketing. It’s one part promotion/persuasion, one part teaching/giving. True thought leadership helps audiences make sense of things — e.g., the world, a sector, an experience, the future. It’s marketing, of course, because it drives revenue by (1) boosting credibilty; (2) engaging customers; (3) creating differentiation and (4) triggering the reciprocity reflex. But it also inspires.”

]]> By: Mike Myatt http://blog.blisspr.com/uncategorized/on-pedants-and-dilettantes-gurus-and-gravitas/comment-page-1/#comment-725 Mike Myatt Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:43:33 +0000 http://blog.blisspr.com/?p=1665#comment-725 Abby: I enjoyed your post, but have a bit of a different perspective. I am a believer that there is a real qualitative difference when dealing with "true" thought leaders as contrasted with those who have simply adopted the moniker for marketing purposes. I have actually come to loathe TLM as I believe real thought leadership has little to do with marketing, but everything to do with contribution. I don't deny for a second that marketing plays a big role in creating some of today's perceived thought leaders, I just question the authenticity of such efforts. A real thought leader's body of work should speak for itself. The following link will take you to more thoughts on the topic of thought leadership: http://bit.ly/83Iui2 Abby:

I enjoyed your post, but have a bit of a different perspective. I am a believer that there is a real qualitative difference when dealing with “true” thought leaders as contrasted with those who have simply adopted the moniker for marketing purposes. I have actually come to loathe TLM as I believe real thought leadership has little to do with marketing, but everything to do with contribution. I don’t deny for a second that marketing plays a big role in creating some of today’s perceived thought leaders, I just question the authenticity of such efforts. A real thought leader’s body of work should speak for itself. The following link will take you to more thoughts on the topic of thought leadership: http://bit.ly/83Iui2

]]> By: Abby Carr http://blog.blisspr.com/uncategorized/on-pedants-and-dilettantes-gurus-and-gravitas/comment-page-1/#comment-700 Abby Carr Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:45:12 +0000 http://blog.blisspr.com/?p=1665#comment-700 Thanks for your comments, Jim. I agree with you 100% about what makes true thought leadership, and especially in a corporate environment and in the tech industry. The thinking there is leveraged by a large brand presence and an army of business development foot soldiers. Where most of my comments were directed are at audiences where individual professionals -- attorneys, investment bankers, management consultants -- are both selling and delivering the work. In those instances, the bar for a unique and robust thought leadership platform is lower, at least in my opinion. The services being sold are often comparable, and the expertise and experience needs to be sold/told in stories. Thanks for your comments, Jim. I agree with you 100% about what makes true thought leadership, and especially in a corporate environment and in the tech industry. The thinking there is leveraged by a large brand presence and an army of business development foot soldiers. Where most of my comments were directed are at audiences where individual professionals — attorneys, investment bankers, management consultants — are both selling and delivering the work. In those instances, the bar for a unique and robust thought leadership platform is lower, at least in my opinion. The services being sold are often comparable, and the expertise and experience needs to be sold/told in stories.

]]> By: Jim Pennypacker http://blog.blisspr.com/uncategorized/on-pedants-and-dilettantes-gurus-and-gravitas/comment-page-1/#comment-698 Jim Pennypacker Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:13:23 +0000 http://blog.blisspr.com/?p=1665#comment-698 Abby, I generally like what you've said about thought leadership marketing, but I believe that communicating what you know, how much you care, and how reliable your outcomes are is necessary, but not sufficient, to be thought leadership. I think you have to truly understand the needs of your market, to put significant effort into thinking about these needs, developing a point of view, and actively engage with your market. Companies like IBM have been doing this well for years. Unisys has started a strong thought leadership marketing campaign around the concept of cloud computing. My former employer, PM Solutions, is a great example of a small business that has positioned itself as a project management thought leader. Abby,

I generally like what you’ve said about thought leadership marketing, but I believe that communicating what you know, how much you care, and how reliable your outcomes are is necessary, but not sufficient, to be thought leadership. I think you have to truly understand the needs of your market, to put significant effort into thinking about these needs, developing a point of view, and actively engage with your market. Companies like IBM have been doing this well for years. Unisys has started a strong thought leadership marketing campaign around the concept of cloud computing. My former employer, PM Solutions, is a great example of a small business that has positioned itself as a project management thought leader.

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