VIDEOS
Webinars
Cutting edge research techniques in thought leadership
At Meridian West, we are delighted to have worked on thought leadership campaigns of all shapes and sizes in the professional services and financial services space for the last 20 years. The recipe for success is constantly evolving, highlighting the need for an ongoing refresh on the best ways of generating authentic and impactful insights.
In the latest webinar, we explore techniques at the cutting edge of B2B and professional services thought leadership.
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Founding Director, Meridian West
- Jonathan Litterick Associate Director, Meridian West
Helping British business bounce back
How professional services and financial services organisations can best help British businesses bounce back from the pain of the last 12 months. Alastair Beddow, Managing Director of Meridian West, starts by showcasing some of Meridian West’s most recent research among buyers of professional services, Business Buyers Barometer. He is then joined by a panel to discuss the findings:
Panellists:
- Simon Hack Managing Director, Watts Aviation
- Jon Garbett Founder, JRG Online
- Charlotte Cross Partner, Andrew Cross & Co
Investing in ESG
How ESG is shaping investment decisions and marketing strategies, and what this means for professional advisors and their thought leadership campaigns.
Panellists:
- Nigel Clark Global Head of Marketing and Communications at SLR
- Jolyon Ridgwell Investment Manager, Blackfinch Investment
- Matthew Yeomans author and content strategist on fintech, sustainability and ESG
- Jonathan Litterick Senior Consultant, Meridian West
- Andy Knox Independent Consultant, Knox Advisory (Session Chair)
Balancing purpose and profit
What the growing popularity of purpose-led organisations means for professional services firms and B2B organisations, and their thought leadership campaigns.
Panellists:
- Tamara Griffin HR Consultancy Services
- Nick Misquitta Senior Business Development Manager, Bates Wells
- Tim Skipper Managing Director, Totum
- David Stead Chief Strategy Officer at Maanch
- Paul Ioannou Social sustainability and strategy consultant
- Alice Francis Senior Consultant, Meridian West
Covid as a catalyst for digital transformation
COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies across a variety of industry sectors. We debate what this means for professional firms and their clients.
Panellists:
- Briege Kearney Chief Marketing Officer, Azets
- Fraser Campbell UK Head of Accounts & Business Advisory Services, Azets
- Richard Kemp Founder,Kemp IT Law
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
Your 2021 thought leadership campaigns
How to choose the right themes, plan your campaign and get buy-in from your senior stakeholders for your thought leadership campaigns.
Panellists:
Innovative thought leadership research techniques
The latest tools and techniques Meridian West uses to deliver thought leadership for our clients, including video interviews, virtual insight gathering and advanced segmentation.
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Jonathan Litterick Senior Consultant, Meridian West
Personalising thought leadership
A look at how Allen & Overy used personalised thought leadership as part of their recent Legal Innovation Benchmarking Report to drive opportunities with clients.
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Hooman Bassirian Senior Manager, Campaigns and Content Marketing, Allen & Overy
From research to conversations
Panellists:
- Professor Nigel Spencer School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
- Helen Trudgeon Head of Marketing and Business Development, Meridian West
The future of work
How will COVID-19 impact the work enviroment, office space and technology strategies, and what are the changing needs of staff and recruitment patterns? We also look at novel angles for thought leadership campaigns to gain cut-through.
Panellists:
- James Norton Director, JLL
- Kimberly Bradshaw CEO, Spotlight HR
- Tom Dobree Manager, Graduate & Early Careers Team, Freshminds
- Alastair Beddow – Managing Director, Meridian West
Brand communication and client engagement in the next normal
How can firms communicate clearly and effective while fostering brand loyalty and engagement, and maintaining their reputation?
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Richard Silbermann Creative Director, Brand Remedy
- Christina Blacklaws former President of the Law Society
- Gemma Prescott Head of Business Development: Advanced Delivery & Solutions, Allen & Overy
- Edward Peck Co-Founder, International Asset Finance Network
Your autumn communications plan: identifying the right topics
How best to plan your thought leadership communications in the wake of Covid-19, and what topics your firm might want to consider.
Panellists:
- Amir Hussain Head of Marketing CBS, Deloitte
- Suzanne Snowden Director, Message Consulting
- Matt Baldwin Managing Director, Coast Communicaitons
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
Steps for successful new proposition development
Why professional services are moving to a blended services and product business model, the steps required to embrace productisation successfully, and how to use customer research to test demand and economic model.
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Paul Avis Strategic Propositions Director at Canada Life
- Jeremy Tobias Tarsh founder of Totallylegal.com; Legistics Limited and a Director and Editor-in-Chief of web services at Practical Law Company
- Simon Drane founder of Earlsferry Advisory
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director at Meridian West
Do your KPIs reflect what’s important in this new normal?
Do professional services have the right KPIs to measure success in the post-Covid operating environment?
Panellists:
- Freddie Hospedales Global Head of Marketing, ERM
- Sarah Donnelly Maketing and Communications Director, Blick Rothenberg
- Andy Knox former Head of Strategy for Global Markets, Freshfields and now at Knox Advisory
- Helen Trudgeon Head of Marketing and Business Development, Meridian West
The impact of COVID19 on your clients’ industry sectors
What does the data available so far tell us about the impact of COVID19 on various industry sectors and how will this impact demand for professional services?
Panellists:
- Simon Hack Managing Director, Watts Aviation
- Simon Blaxill Managing Director, Kent Blaxill
- Andrew Tate Restructuring and Transformation Partner, Kreston Reeves
- Milan Dalal Director, Brook Intelligence
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director, Meridian West
Client research in a remote environment
What changes should firms make to their programme to accommodate the COVID-19 environment, how can they keep their people engaged internally around client listening and how can secondary research enhance the insights generated from client listening?
Panellists:
- Michelle Panayi former Head of Client Experience, Grant Thornton
- Ian Bennison Director of Marketing Operations. Intertrust
- Milan Dalal Managing Director, Brook Intelligence Centre
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director, Meridian West
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
The marketing function of the future
How the role of the professional services marketing and business development will change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Panellists:
- Jonathan Litterick Senior Consultant at Meridian West
- Nicole Bisson Head of Global Business Development and Marketing, Turner & Townsend
- Julie Mortimer Director of Business Development and Marketing, Mills & Reeve
- Susanne Pugsley Business Development and Marketing Consultant, SPBD
New approaches to journey mapping and client segmentation
How client journey mapping and segmentation techniques from consumer industries can be applied to a professional services context.
Panellists:
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Prity Kanjia Business Development – Global Markets, Freshfields
- Miles King former CMO, Arup and Marketing Director, Diageo
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director, Meridian West
Planning an effective thought leadership campaign
Creating high impact thought leadership campaigns with content that focuses on credibility and purpose, and finding the topics that will be important to clients emerging from the post-Covid environment.
Panellists:
- Matthew Yeomans Editorial Director, Sustainly
- Matt Baldwin Managing Director, Coast Communications
- Jeremy Grant formerly PwC
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
The next normal in professional services
We explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on professional services firms and discuss what it may mean for firms in the future.
Panellists:
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director, Meridian West
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Nigel Clark Global Head of Marketing & Communications, SLR Consulting
- Keith Tracey Managing Director, AON’s Professional Services Practice
- Paul Smith former Chairman at Eversheds Sutherland
How to keep the skills of your team fresh and relevant
How can organisations keep the skills of their teams fresh and relevant and maintain productivity in a time of crisis?
Panellists:
- Mandy Warnock Head of Learning & Development, CMS
- Chris Howard Director of Professional Legal Education, King’s College London
- Stephen Newton Director, Meridian West
- Alastair Beddow Managing Director, Meridian West
Transitioning to a new professional services sector
How does the professional services sector survive in a post-Covid reality and what recent changes represent the clearest opportunities for future growth a development?
Panellists:
- Christina Blacklaws former Law Society President and Chair of the LawTech delivery panel
- Mary Bonsor founder and CEO of F-LEX
- Milan Dalal Managing Director of Brook Intelligence Centre
- Ben Kent Director of Meridian West
Ideas to Impact – thought leadership is getting personal
A masterclass in best practice in thought leadership from ideation to execution and how personalisation can create an impact.
Panellists:
- Matt Baldwin Managing Director, Coast Communiations
- Suzanne Snowden Director, Message Consulting
- Richard Silbermann Creative Director, Brand Remedy
- Ben Kent Director, Meridian West
- Jonathan Litterick Senior Consultant, Meridian West
Interviews with experts
Meridian West speaks with… Mary Bonsor
We discuss the journey to founding F-LEX, an online platform that connects law firms and general counsel with flexible legal resource, how resourcing models within professional services will change over the longer-term, and the impact of technology of the professions and the likely winners and losers.
Meridian West speaks with… Simon Drane
Ben and Simon discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the professional services sector, how new technologies will provide opportunities for lawyers and accountants, and who the likely winners and losers will be for the short and long-term in our sector.
Meridian West speaks with… Richard Kemp
Richard discusses how firm leaders can respond to the current COVID-19 crisis and how technology is transforming the way professionals interact with their client. He also discuss to what extent the business model of professional services is under threat, which future business models will drive growth, and who are the likely winners and losers.
Meridian West speaks with… Mike Hobday
Ben and Mike discuss how the current crisis may provide an opportunity for professional firms to reinvent their processes, the role that AI and intelligent automation will play in the the response, and what steps leaders in professional firms should take to ensure their business model is fit for the future. AntWorks is a leading provider of integrated artificial intelligence and intelligent automation solutions.
Meridian West speaks with… Kimberly Bradshaw
We talk about how professional firms can look after the wellbeing and productivity of their staff during the COVID19 crisis. The conversation explores the skills needed by leaders during this crisis, the role HR and learning and development can play in ensuring a resilient future for the professional services sector, and how to maximise staff engagement and productivity will working remotely.
Meridian West speaks with… Andy Knox
Andy, an independent consultant working with CEOs, CFOs, PMs, Sales Heads and Boards across clients, strategy and communications. discusses how professional services firms can stay close to their clients to add value at this time of crisis. Andy considers what the future role of the professional will be and what traits will set successful professionals ahead of their peers.
Meridian West speaks with… Matthew Yeomans
The Editorial Director at Sustainly, consultant at Meridian West and author of Trust Inc.: How Business Wins Respect in a Social Media Age discusses alternative strategies for engaging audiences in a remote environment and whether long-form thought leadership content is dead. Matthew also shares some top-tips for engaging a C-suite audience.
Research tools
Client listening during and after Covid
Meridian West’s Managing Director, Alastair Beddow, discusses client listening for professional services firms and demonstrates one of the tools we use to deliver greater insights into your clients.
Meridian West’s Business Buyers Barometer
Transforming your business development strategy with a data-led approach – a review of the highlights from our 2019 Business Buyers Barometer.
For nearly 20 years Meridian West has interviewed tens of thousands of senior buyers of accountancy, legal and consulting services about their relationships with professional advisors for our Business Buyers Barometer.
An introduction to Meridian West’s Thought Leadership Dashboard
Meridian West’s Thought Leadership Dashboard creates personalised thought leadership that delivers powerful client insights and helps fee earners engage in meaningful conversations about what really matters to their clients.
Meridian West Director Ben Kent and Senior Consultant Jonathan Litterick walk you through the tool.