Using AI to win the battle of intelligent brands
Effective thought leadership – based on a big idea, backed up with substantial data – is an invaluable tool for delivering growth in the AI economy.
AI is an indomitable disruptive force, transforming industries, changing the way we live and work, and reshaping societies before our very eyes. What does this mean for professional services firms?
As an intelligent brand – a company that provides high-value, critical services – your firm needs to be able to seize the growth opportunities AI brings, and help your clients do the same. Where intelligent brands can win is with their thinking; the knowledge, expertise and insight that make them distinctive.
In this new, tech-accelerated context, you need to be able to position your firm as a true AI thought leader, helping clients navigate what’s next. But in a world of content overload, this is more challenging than ever.
How can marketing and business development professionals deliver growth in the AI economy, and win the ‘battle of intelligent brands’? Effective thought leadership – based on a big idea, backed up with substantial data – is an invaluable tool.
The AI “dream-delivery gap”
Generative AI is currently at the “peak of inflated expectations” on the Gartner Hype Cycle of technology adoption, predicted to spend a spell in the “trough of disillusionment” before it reaches “the plateau of productivity”.
We are still a long way from realising generative AI’s potential. Many companies are still experimenting with AI, working out how they use the technology to deliver real business value. Others are hesitant because of ethical, regulatory and privacy concerns, or are held back by a lack of skilled workers. As a result, the huge amount of discussion around AI is not matched by implementation and true business gains. We call this the “dream-delivery gap”.
Businesses must bridge this gap to realise the AI growth opportunity. And this is exactly where professional services firms can help. Working with clients to close the “dream-delivery gap” is fertile ground for advisory firms. To position your organisation as the right partner to help prospects and clients with their AI strategy and implementation, you need to establish yourself as a thought leader in the AI space.
Thought leadership that cuts through the noise
For intelligent brands – organisations that are built on knowledge, selling high-value strategic services and technologies to the C-suite – thought leadership is the smart growth strategy. This is because it showcases the intelligence and expertise you are selling. This is particularly important in professional services, where effectively differentiating the intangible services on offer can be especially challenging.
Ironically, however, AI itself is making it more challenging to get your messages heard. While AI is making content creation faster, cheaper and sometimes more personalised, it is also contributing to a blizzard of information and misinformation, which is ultimately leading to a mass of waste content. There is more and more content being created by AI and an increasing amount of content about AI.
“To position your organisation as the right partner to help prospects and clients with their AI strategy and implementation, you need to establish yourself as a thought leader in the AI space.”
Hybrid intelligence: artificial and human intelligence
Your clients have great expectations of you and of your content. They want to see you take your knowledge and expertise and use this to help them navigate what’s next. Professional Services firms can play a pivotal role in driving success, mitigating risks and ensuring growth from AI.
Recent research from Man Bites Dog shows C-suite buyers of large companies expect their strategic partners to share their thinking, and that thought leadership has a significant impact on buying decisions. The research also reveals that, in a world of high-volume, low-quality content, much of which is generated by AI, business leaders are specifically looking for organisations to demonstrate their human expertise and credibility. Clients want the coming together of artificial and human intelligence.
Generating your AI-dea
The challenge is how to find a new angle on AI in a world of ever-increasing noise, and ensure your firm is fast to market to seize the opportunities presented by AI-related advisory.
You need a big idea that will help you cut through the low-quality content and make you stand out, winning attention and engagement for your firm; thought-leading content to demonstrate your competence to navigate this world.
Coming up with this idea – or “AI-dea” – can be challenging. And for professional services marketers, there is an additional layer to this challenge: rallying resources and getting buy-in across a complex, matrix organisation, and developing ideas and campaigns that are relevant across all your practices, sectors and geographies.
A great way to cover most of your matrix organisation is to pick a diagonal thematic – a cross-cutting theme that seizes on a challenge or opportunity your clients are facing, and that stretches across your practice areas or sectors, linking neatly to many of your service lines. This needs to be a highly topical idea that answers a client demand and taps into a growth area.
AI thought leadership to propel your growth
AI disruption presents unprecedented growth opportunities for professional services firms as clients across different industries grapple with its promise.
Developing thought leadership with a big “AI-dea” at its heart, supported by substantial data and linked to a problem you solve, is the smartest way to position your firm as a leader in this hyper-competitive space.
As a marketing or business development professional, you need to lead the charge, promoting your firm’s AI-related services and capabilities and winning the battle of intelligent brands to deliver growth for both your clients and your firm. Your prospects and clients expect no less.
About Ally Sharpe, Divisional Director at Man Bites Dog
With more than 25 years’ experience in professional services marketing, Ally Sharpe is an experienced and values-driven strategic marketing and thought leadership professional. As a Divisional Director at Man Bites Dog, Ally is responsible for the consultancy’s professional services practice, leading the development of award-winning campaigns. Previously, Ally held in-house roles at two of the ‘Big Four’ firms, PwC and Deloitte.
Ally holds professional qualifications in research and marketing. She is an RSA Fellow and an active member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.She is driven by a belief in the power of authentic stories – well told – to teach, inspire and mobilise change.
About Man Bites Dog
Man Bites Dog is an award-winning global B2B thought leadership and strategic marketing consultancy. For more insights from Man Bites Dog’s latest thought leadership research, which will be published in the autumn, please sign up here.