Case Study: Thought Leadership

A manufacturer wanted to strengthen its reputation as a thought leader in building a circular economy. As sustainability claims from manufacturing companies have come under intense scrutiny, the company wanted to highlight the expertise of its employees and generate positive media coverage surrounding its circular solutions for the materials used in a wide range of everyday products from food packaging to e-commerce mailers. 

To effectively communicate its message, the company needed an expert in thought leadership and trade media relations to identify impactful opportunities, work with priority publications and coordinate with the marketing teams. The vice president of communications brought in Kirkpatrick Group to develop and execute a holistic thought leadership earned media strategy. 

Kirkpatrick Group followed a five-step process to refine key messages, develop content and secure media opportunities for the company:

1. Discovery and analysis
2. Development and approval of strategic approach
3. Development and approval of a detailed plan and timeline
4. Ongoing execution and overcoming challenges
5. Monitoring, tracking and maximizing

Step 1: Discovery and Analysis

Kirkpatrick Group interviewed company executives and subject matter experts (SMEs) on industry trends, customer pain points, data and innovation for the purpose of generating interesting content angles for trade media in the manufacturing, packaging, sustainability and chemical industries. 

Step 2: Strategic Development 

Kirkpatrick Group developed several new media angles and identified specific opportunities within media editorial calendars to pursue. The team also set goals for the thought leadership strategy: 

• Establish the company as a thought leader in circularity 
• Secure 20 feature media placements positioning the company as a thought leader
• Establish strong relationships with target media

Step 3: Detailed Plan and Timeline

The team created a detailed timeline for a 12-month period with the goal of 20 trade media placements. The team used a master media opportunities grid, media lists, moments in time, trade show schedules and product launches to develop a holistic planning calendar. Copy development and approval processes were developed and aligned to.

Step 4: Ongoing Execution and Overcoming Challenges 

The Kirkpatrick Group team worked with the relevant internal SMEs to gather details and refine messaging. The team led the copywriting process and worked with the client to modify articles as needed and ensured all materials received the proper internal client approvals, keeping the client on track with deadlines and deliverables. 

The team also worked closely with editors to ensure articles met publication guidelines and were, in fact, published. When articles published, Kirkpatrick Group supported the client with developing materials to promote the media on owned channels including the company blog, social media, commercial team tools, as well as employee channels. 

Step 5: Monitoring, Tracking and Relationship Building

Over the course of one year, feature placements totaled 21, surpassing the prior year’s 12 placements. The circularity placements secured by Kirkpatrick Group delivered:

• 2.2 million impressions
• $88,000 in advertising equivalency

The sales team also reported that customers noticed the increased presence in the media and on social media due to the sharing of thought leadership articles, leading to strong post engagement metrics. 

The client was satisfied with the results of the thought leadership strategy and renewed their contract with Kirkpatrick Group.

Conclusion

The client understood that being recognized as an industry thought leader would positively affect customer and stakeholder relationships, and devoted resources to the effort. Kirkpatrick Group’s targeted thought leadership media strategy resulted in significant positive coverage that positioned the company as a leader in the effort to accelerate a circular economy. The diligent research and planning also resulted in strong relationships with editors and publications that will continue to impact future placement and news opportunities.