Thought Leadership
For Commercial Building and
Interior Product Brands
Thought leadership is essential for any brand. In fact, research shows brands with thought leadership outpace and outperform others that don’t. The rise of AI makes thought leadership even more essential for brands today.
AI Search
By some estimates, 95% of all AI-generated search results are from non-paid sources. This includes a large percentage from news and media sites – as well as platforms such as LinkedIn — that are seen as credible. This means brands leveraging thought leadership with a robust PR campaign are more likely to show up in AI-generated summaries.
“Brands leveraging thought leadership with a robust PR campaign are more likely to show up in AI-generated summaries.”
B2B Decision-Making
The sales cycle in the AEC and interior design industry is long and complex. And yet, research shows 60% of B2B decision-makers are willing to pay a premium for companies with strong thought leadership, according to Column Content Studio. A whopping 73% of C-suite executives from the 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report say, “an organization’s thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities than its traditional marketing materials.” If your brand does not want to compete on price – and you need something more impactful than a marketing piece – thought leadership is the key.
“Research shows 60% of B2B decision-makers are willing to pay a premium for companies with strong thought leadership.”
“Report: Thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for assessing an organization’s capabilities than its traditional marketing materials.”
Authenticity
According to AdAge, YouTube (the world’s largest search engine) is “now rewarding ‘real’ content and downplaying inauthentic AI-generated videos…giving creators a sense that authenticity still matters.” Customers desire authenticity. When brands are authentic, it builds trust. And when there is trust, it helps with customer acquisition, retention and sales. When thought leadership is done right, it is authentic, authoritative and helpful.
Thought Leadership
Development Guide
Thought leadership sets your brand apart by establishing credibility and trust. Our 1-page Development Guide provides the framework to create a sustainable program designed to drive business growth and brand value.
Examples
CEUs
CEUs are an excellent way for brands to establish their thought leadership. They not only help architects and designers earn continuing education credits, but they also allow brands to share a point of view (POV) and demonstrate expertise. CEUs offer excellent “anchor content” to fuel your marketing and raise brand visibility. Check out this CEU we developed to help establish a thought leadership position for a challenger acoustic brand.
Trend Reports
Your customers – architects and designers – yearn for insights. They want to be smarter and make better decisions. Publishing a trend report helps with this. It can also elevate your brand’s authority. Although trend reports can come in multiple formats, each must be relevant and credible. We created an in-depth hospitality market report for a client by partnering with ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW DESIGN GROUP.
Case Study
How can a brand leverage its in-house product design expertise to enter a new market, drive business growth, and be seen as a thought leader? See how we did that for one client in this in-depth case study.
Contact Us
Ready to start your thought leadership journey?
Contact Spaulding Communications President and Founder Matt Spaulding at matts@spauldingcommunications.com.
Thought Leadership FAQs
What is thought leadership?
Depending on who you ask, you may get a different answer each time. At Spaulding Communications, we define thought leadership as a brand or an individual who has developed expertise in a certain area (or areas), either through research or proven experience. In the commercial building and interior products industry, a thought leader brand or individual should be able to:
- Offer a distinct point of view
- Raise questions about the status quo
- Challenge people to think or act differently
- Show customers how you can expertly solve their problems
- Show how you offer a clear benefit over traditional options or the competition
This is different than traditional marketing in many ways. With traditional marketing, brands are mostly seeking to raise their visibility or showcase their product’s features and benefits. Thought leadership, when integrated with traditional marketing, adds another level by creating brand differentiation, credibility, and most importantly, trust.
What are the benefits of thought leadership for commercial building and interior product brands?
The benefits are many. But the greatest include increased brand differentiation, credibility, and trust. It cannot be understated how important these are when it comes to the complex business-to-business sales cycle.
With a differentiated position, brands set themselves apart. This helps customers better understand their options, reducing lengthy product comparison time. The same is true for trust. When brands are seen as trustworthy, customers are able to move faster with their decisions, further reducing the specification or sales lead-time. It’s critical to remember: Most people buy on trust, not always on price or availability.
“Thought leadership shows customers how you can expertly solve their problems or how you offer a clear benefit over traditional or existing options.”
How do you execute a thought leadership program?
This depends on where an individual or a brand is on their expertise journey. Some are farther along, while others may just be starting. But regardless of current status, a true thought leadership program should be executed to a plan and should be long-term.
Here are some questions that should be considered:
- What is your area of expertise?
- What are the goals you want to achieve?
- Who is your audience?
- How will the audience find value in the content you’ll be creating?
- How will you create the content, the cadence, and manage the marketing?
- What will be the budget and resources needed?
- What will be your strategic anchor content piece and your content pillars?
- What will be measured to determine success? And how frequently will that be measured?
- Who will be the “champions” needed to manage and integrate the program within the existing marketing framework?
What role can AI play in thought leadership?
AI is a game-changer in so many ways. Brands can use AI to help them develop content ideas, draft copy, or even create videos.
But for a brand to be seen as a true thought leader requires credibility, authenticity, and transparency. This is a huge part of the “leadership” component. AI by its very nature is not authentic (see the term “artificial”). Additionally, in today’s AI-driven world, it’s hard to tell what’s AI-generated and what’s not. This is where transparency is essential. The most admired leaders are authentic and transparent.
Like most things, we recommend AI as a tool to assist. Your brand’s thought leadership should be wholly original, core to your business, and something you strongly believe in and can defend. An AI-generated thought leadership program can never replace this.
Your brand, your customers, and the industry will be better served when your thought leadership is authentic and not AI-manufactured.
What are some strategic thought leadership content pieces?
In the commercial building and interior products industry, your thought leadership content can take many forms. Here are a few:
- White Papers
- Trends Reports
- CEUs
- Sales Presentations
- Byline Articles
- Interviews for Media and Podcasts
- Award Submissions
- Opinion Articles
- Blog and Social Media Posts
- Speaking Engagements
- Annual Surveys
- Symposiums, Webinars, Panel Discussions
- E-Books
Creating, marketing, and leveraging these items with a robust PR program can enhance brand visibility and authority, and significantly improve SEO and AI-generated search results.
How do you measure thought leadership?
Thought leadership can be measured with traditional metrics like open rates, downloads, impressions, registrations, engagements, etc. But a more valuable way is to track brand sentiment and customer behaviors over time. For example, brands should conduct an annual or 24-month survey with customers to gauge how their perception of how the brand is changing. Is it seen as more credible, trustworthy, or authoritative? Track sales lead times. If sales cycles are accelerating, that can indicate an increased level of brand trust.