Case study: Thought leadership - a real business development tool
Clifford Chance's recent FT coverage of their survey of 175 businesses across the EU shows the PR value of these types of studies. But the real value lies in the new business opportunities.
Is it just us or has "thought leadership" become more spin than substance over the last couple of years? More afterthought PR than genuinely leading edge hypotheses which really do advance the community thinking around particular issues.
For years the accountancy and consultancy professions have used thought leadership to establish pre-eminent positions in new or radically changing service lines. But much of today's studies seem rather superficial. So it's good to see one of our clients, Clifford Chance, getting back to real thought leadership.
The European Commission issued a consultation paper on harmonising contract law throughout the community. Clifford Chance saw this as an opportunity to engage with the Commission on the issue, but also to position themselves among European businesses as being interested and active in helping to formulate a legal framework which is workable and commercial.
The firm first generated a hypothetical stance which highlighted many of the issues which they expected to be important and then set out to understand the views of European businesses on this complex subject and to encourage debate. Is uniform contract law even desirable? Could it be introduced in practice? The initial hypotheses were explored through a series of in depth interviews with Clifford Chance clients. These qualitative interviews were able to confirm many of the hypotheses, but were also crucial in highlighting the issues of greatest concern to such businesses. The interviews also revealed issues which the experts had not foreseen.
In order to be sure that these views were representative of European businesses more widely, a representative database of European companies - including clients and non-clients of the firm, was built. 175 businesses across 8 EU countries were then interviewed which provided a very robust analysis for the firm to use.
The results were then discussed at a conference organised by Clifford Chance and including academics, Commission staff and clients who had strong and informed views. And the outcome is a piece of leading edge thinking which has already been welcomed by the Commission. Based on the work, Clifford Chance are developing new service strategies that they are confident will appeal to clients and give them an edge over their competitors. No wonder the FT gave the study such prominence recently with 2 articles in their March 24th edition.
So what were the key factors in making this such a success?
- Selecting a topic of real current interest that fits the firm's business development aspirations
- Ensuring, through a facilitated debate around the topic, that genuine insights were tested in the research
- A robust and independent research methodology with expert interviewing to get to the nub of really quite complex issues
- A deep and thorough analysis of the resultant issues which provoked debate amongst the specialists - and it really does help in terms of quality and credibility to have external experts involved, particularly those you're trying to lobby
- Backed up by a great PR programme. It's worth remembering that journalists are attracted by reports that include some kind of business survey, provided its currency has been properly considered at the start
Oh and did we mention that we were heavily involved in this project? Gracechurch:
- Facilitated the initial partner discussion
- Structured the research and carried it out
- Analysed the findings and provoked the further community debate.
