Ben Kent from Meridian West hosted this interview exploring creativity in professional services marketing, featuring Addleshaw Goddard’s innovative “Perfect Harmony” campaign. The initiative aimed to demonstrate the strategic value general counsels bring to their boards by interviewing over 100 GCs and executives, then uniquely transforming the research insights into music.
This creative approach proved highly effective, generating 80,000 video views, initiating 50 business conversations, and securing new client work. The campaign demonstrated how distinctive creative methods can cut through content saturation and market noise, particularly as AI-generated content becomes ubiquitous.
Key themes include the power of authentic brand voices, the commercial impact of creative thought leadership, and strategies for fostering innovation-friendly cultures within professional services firms. Success factors included starting with small creative experiments, using data to support bold decisions, and partnering with internal champions who embrace innovation. The campaign exemplifies how creativity and substance can combine to create memorable, commercially effective thought leadership.
Ben Kent from Meridian West hosted this interview exploring creativity in professional services marketing, featuring Addleshaw Goddard's innovative "Perfect Harmony" campaign. The initiative aimed to demonstrate the strategic value general counsels bring to their boards by interviewing over 100 GCs and executives, then uniquely transforming the research insights into music.
This creative approach proved highly effective, generating 80,000 video views, initiating 50 business conversations, and securing new client work. The campaign demonstrated how distinctive creative methods can cut through content saturation and market noise, particularly as AI-generated content becomes ubiquitous.
Key themes include the power of authentic brand voices, the commercial impact of creative thought leadership, and strategies for fostering innovation-friendly cultures within professional services firms. Success factors included starting with small creative experiments, using data to support bold decisions, and partnering with internal champions who embrace innovation. The campaign exemplifies how creativity and substance can combine to create memorable, commercially effective thought leadership.
Addleshaw Goddard's award-winning thought leadership campaign that explored the relationship between General Counsel and C-suite executives. The campaign uniquely transformed research findings into songs recorded in a music studio, generating 80,000 video views, 600 senior contacts, over 50 business conversations, and eight new pieces of work within months.
The importance of asking provocative questions that reveal both positive and negative insights, deliberately exploring gaps between different audiences (GCs vs CEOs). The approach of seeking frankness over blandness, presenting uncomfortable truths alongside solutions, and using dual perspectives to create compelling narratives rather than echo chambers.
Discussion of what makes thought leadership effective in an era of content overload. Examples included consistency and niche ownership (Deloitte's Mining Eye, Edelman's Trust Barometer), authentic expert voice and opinion, finding white space in the market, and the ongoing value of substantive reports despite claims about bite-sized content preferences.
Practical strategies for introducing more innovative approaches including starting small with pilots and A/B testing, using data as evidence, working with champions and early adopters, demonstrating competitor activity and the crowded landscape, and accepting that not every creative idea will be approved.
The disconnect between informal, human client conversations and formal written communications. The need to mirror how clients actually communicate (succinct, informal), competing against all B2B suppliers (not just professional services peers), and the importance of empathizing with audiences by actually spending time with clients to understand what resonates.