Think Think Think, a good read on looking AND thinking forward

I read an article today posted by Vistage. Vistage is a trusted source of insights and leadership for executives. My only thought upon completion, "I need to share this." 

It's a great time of year to think. Personally, I think about my life in four dimensions. Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Relational. This framework comes from the Bible. Luke 2:52. Give it a shot. I trust the source and the framework gives great perspective. 

Thinking about marketing. Yeah. It also needs a great framework. We believe in the Cognitive Marketing Framework Framework. If that is a new idea, scan our thinking. But back to the article from this morning. Props to the authors of this excerpt and article written by Longitude Research. It gives a good framework and I think it's worth a read. 

Sean

As brands look to improve their thought leadership game to keep up with ever-higher expectations of sophisticated campaign delivery and returns on investment, we forecast the top trends to take note of. From courting controversy in global politics to movement marketing and measuring metrics, here are 12 key ways for marketers to enrich their thought leadership in 2019.

1. Politics will enter the thought leadership mainstream
   Brexit, trade wars and the rise of populism are just a few of the momentous political events taking place around the world. B2B marketers have traditionally shied away from bringing politics into thought leadership but, given the potentially seismic impact of these events on business, they can no longer be ignored. Marketers will need to think carefully about how they tackle these topics and the emphasis needs to be on the business implications of these issues, rather than toeing a particular party line. But they shouldn’t be afraid of controversy – even if it means some of their audience disagree with them. If you expect everyone to agree with everything you say, then you’re probably playing it too safe anyway!
   
   
2. There will be a shift to agile thought leadership
   This is as much a hope as a prediction. Although good thought leadership takes time to produce, it no longer makes sense to spend almost a year conducting research and creating content, before even thinking about activation. The business and economic environment is just too fast-moving and volatile. Instead, companies need to adopt a more agile approach that harnesses quicker ways of conducting research and a more topical, news-driven mindset. A more up-to-date point of view will stand out from competitors and will also be more likely to resonate with an audience that is hungry for analysis of the current business and economic agenda.
   
   
3. Brands will listen before they speak
   Poor thought leadership pushes its story and its message with scant regard for what audiences want to hear. But to engage an audience of executives, brands need to invest time understanding what interests them. In 2019, smart brands will take an audience-first approach: identifying the hot issues and concerns that preoccupy their customers. From social listening to polls and roundtables to advisory panels, a variety of tools and techniques are available to help brands tune into the topics and challenges that resonate most with the corporate agenda.
   
   
4. The best thought leadership will move from broadcast to engagement
   Taking the idea a step further, most companies currently apply a broadcast approach to developing thought leadership. They conduct research, create content and then push it out to the audience, which receives it passively. But the very best thought leadership engages its audience and makes it feel part of a movement. So-called “movement marketing” is as rare as hen’s teeth in B2B marketing, but it will need to become more widely used to ensure that companies can cut through the avalanche of content that currently crashes down onto time-poor C-suite audiences. In B2C, movement marketing is a more common tactic: think Dove’s Real Beauty campaign or the Livestrong brand. As is so often the case, B2B needs to harness these powerful B2C tactics in order to create stronger engagement with audiences.

Read tips 5-12 here: Top thought leadership trends to watch in 2019