Purpose and vision

How thought leadership provides value to business

DuPont's Thomas Oury (left) and Hanane Taidi (middle) in discussion with Maeve Gallagher (right) of Zurich Insurance at an EACD anniversary event

The age of quarterly capitalism demands that businesses provide evidence of return on investment to their shareholders more often and more promptly than ever before. However the ideas that can drive strong results through differentiation, market penetration and overall brand reputation have traditionally been based on long-term thinking. Thomas Oury, global business director DuPont Performance Solutions and Hanane Taidi,  EMEA marketing communications director at DuPont Performance Materials explained to Communication Director how investing in thought leadership programmes is integral to the strategic positioning of their company and how the outcomes add value to the brand.

How would you describe the value of thought leadership to business?

Thomas: Thought leadership is one of the most exciting communication tools these days. However, the questions surrounding thought leadership pose a great dilemma for business managers and communicators alike. In a time of high financial pressure and fast change, how to justify investment in long term positioning programmes? How to convince the management board and the shareholders to invest in thought leadership programmes? There is really a big question around what the value of these programmes is and how they help make a business successful. Nevertheless, I am a strong believer that the financial pressure and the accelerated change are an opportunity to deploy a thought leadership programme in a a company provided it is combined with a strategic positioning approach.

"There is always an opportunity to deploy a thought leadership programme in a company."

Beyond strategic positioning, a thought leadership programme has the power to enable the businesses to rebalance their focus on employees and customers, not just on shareholders. It helps federate and align all stakeholders around a shared vision and a common purpose. Thought leadership also provides a great opportunity for long-term investment in cutting-edge innovations, which in turn lead to a strategic positioning of the company and a differentiation from its competition.

Do you have a favourite example of thought leadership from another organisation?

Hanane: I am a fan of the BMW brand. Not only related to technology but also to the way they have shifted their brand positioning from a machine that functions extremely well to an emotional identity brand. In Belgium there is almost a feud between those who drive a BMW and those who drive an Audi! There is something like an identity aspect linked to these brands. BMW stands for thought leadership in terms of investing in new technologies – as far as I know they were the first to look into hydrogen fuel engines, they are looking into completely electric vehicles in Formula 1 cars. These sort of projects cost them an arm and a leg and there is absolutely no guarantee on return on investment. They’re positioning themselves really as leaders in terms of innovating at the technological level. They reconcile the exploration of new technologies with a love of driving to making a car journey an experience! That’s why they’re my favourite brand and why I see them as thought leaders in their field.

Thomas, you mentioned long-term strategic positioning. Is this even possible in a time of short-term financial pressures?

Thomas: Despite the amount of short-term financial pressures, if you want to be successful in meeting your shareholders’ expectations, you need to engage with your customers and your employees. To do so, you have to provide a vision and a purpose. This is going to serve for successful long-term strategies but it is also going to serve for actually aligning and motivating all your forces on the short term as well. It is a great tool to fully engage your employees. Also, if you are talking about younger employees, Generation Y or millennials, they want to work for a meaning. If you can’t offer a purpose and a mission beyond that of making a living, you don’t have an appealing value proposition for your employees.

"If you can’t offer a purpose and a mission beyond that of making a living, you don’t have an appealing value proposition for your employees."

So yes there is a component of long-term company positioning but there are also a lot of short-term benefits in being able to attract external companies to collaborate with you. Innovation is getting faster and faster and it’s less and less something you can do alone in isolation from the rest of the world. You need to create an ecosystem of companies working together. That is easier to do if you can position yourself as a company with a purpose and with a vision through being a leader in thought.

Hanane, Thomas has invited communicators to take part in thought leadership. As an executive communicator, could you provide an insight into how that works in practice?

Hanane: It’s really the profile of the person that shapes how the interaction is going to be with the rest of the business and the leadership team. When you position yourself as the ear to the external world, those who have an impact on the company’s licence to operate and licence to market, then you become credible and you earn the executive seat. A communicator should not shy away from embracing the business language (mind your target audience!) to be able to pass on valuable information that can help the strategy, which can ultimately benefit the bottom and the top line. That’s how I have approached it at DuPont, and it’s really working. I have put in place a couple of programmes that are supporting the business strategy and are supporting the purpose of the company in its mission. My role is to translate that purpose into a vision for the key stakeholders we are interacting with to create a desire to collaborate with us, so that together we can genuinely solve issues and position ourselves as a credible societal partner.

"My role is to translate that purpose into a vision for the key stakeholders we are interacting with."

My belief is that any company needs to work along the three pillars of sustainability, people, planet and profit. There is nothing wrong with making profit as long as it goes hand in hand with the other two pillars. That’s what I brought to the leadership table at DuPont.

Thomas: Thought leadership needs to be done in the proper manner. If you want to do really solid thought leadership, first it can only succeed if it originates or is supported by the top management of a company. The CEO or the business manager has to be on board. It is also crucial that the programme is fully aligned with the corporate strategy. Fundamentally you need to have a thought leadership programme that is thought provoking. Run-of-the-mill or incrementally-focused thoughts are not going to be appealing. It has to be substantial, credible and the content has to be there. As you are representing your company’s image in thought leadership, it is very important that the approach is thoughtful and credible. A good communications team is required to carry out these campaigns with the purpose of the company and the business strategic intent always in mind.



Thomas and Hanane both spoke at an event held on April 25 in Zurich to mark the 10 year anniversary of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). To find out more about the series of anniversary events – #eacd10 – taking place across Europe this year, visit the online calendar here.

 

Thomas Oury

Thomas Oury is global business director DuPont Performance Solutionsglobal business director DuPont Performance Solutions. Since he joined DuPont in 2002, Mr. Oury held various global positions in sales, marketing and business management across several DuPont Business Units in Europe and North America. His previous position was managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Hanane Taidi

Hanane Taidi is regional marketing communications leader for DuPont Performance Polymers. In this new role that Hanane took on as of February 2015, she leads, develops and directs integrated marketing communications strategies for the Performance Polymers Business in the EMEA region. Before joining DuPont, Hanane was director of communications at PlasticsEurope where she led PlasticsEurope’s communications and public affairs efforts in Europe together with a team of regional communications managers.