Comments on: ‘Thought Leading’ Your Way to Premium Brand Status

By: addy

addy — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:12:37 +0000

Can you please update the pictures? This looks like a very interesting article but the pictures are the main content, and they’re missing!

By: Raf Adams

Raf Adams — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:12:15 +0000

Dana, becoming a premium brand takes a long time. Based on your experience how long would it take to be seen as ”premium brand” by the market?

By: Shannon Zaher

Shannon Zaher — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:17:09 +0000

Dana,
Thanks for the affirmation and the link to your post. I subscribed to your feed along the way…looking forward to following your thoughts!

By: Dana VanDen Heuvel

Dana VanDen Heuvel — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:22:17 +0000

Sharon,
AAARRRGGHHHH! It drives me nuts when I see marketers trying to simply “claim” thought leadership. You can try to lead through thoughts, sure, but thought leadership is ATTAINED, NOT CLAIMED. (in my very less than humble opinion).
Needless to say, you’re 100% right – the audience ordains you a thought leader…you don’t put that crown on yourself… (kind of like becoming a saint, so to speak…saints DO things and are then proclaimed as saints…)
Perhaps you’d enjoy a post on this that I put on my own blog… http://www.marketingsavant.com/2008/11/20/thought-leadership-marketing-attaining-vs-claiming/

By: Shannon Zaher

Shannon Zaher — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:47:19 +0000

Dana,
Would you also say that ‘true’ thought leaders don’t need to tell people that they are thought leaders? So often I see b2b companies staking claim on thought leadership. I know they want to jockey for that position, but such status is determined by your audience, eh?

By: Dana VanDen Heuvel

Dana VanDen Heuvel — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:45:18 +0000

Paul,
Thanks for the comment! You are 100% right on. Neither thought leadership nor social media are meant for the episodic marketer. Commitment and consistency are required to succeed in either. I submit that if one (or a firm) does commit to either (or, ideally, both) that the rewards are significant and long lasting!
As for initiation and feeding – I agree – but also feel that thought leadership is well aligned with being a ‘good’ company with ‘purpose and usefulness’ in the marketplace. True thought leaders lead with a point of view that accounts for the industry challenges and their keen perspective on how to help their clients meet those challenges (which requires an equally keen understanding of the clients, the industry and the respective challenges). I don’t know that I can make a case/claim that thought leaders are “better companies” on an empirical basis, but I sure do believe that they are!

By: Paul Barsch

Paul Barsch — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:23:02 +0000

Dana, this post coincides really well with Dunay’s post from yesterday. As a B2B marketer for nearly 10 years, I believe that thought leadership is definitely a differentiator, but it’s also very challenging to initiate and then feed such a program.
There are also similarities with a social media strategy in that with a thought leadership program you really cannot go half way and expect significant results.