Multi-year thought leadership: The value of owning the conversation

How strategic repeat transformation campaigns have long lasting benefits

In a world of constant change, consistency is powerful. This is especially true for thought leadership. Some of the most successful campaigns have evolved over ten years or more, with audiences eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Yet without the right mindset and careful thought, long-running TL programmes can too easily become repetitive. The challenge is clear: how can you build a long-term narrative around a single strategic theme—without sounding like a broken record?

In our experience, the key is balancing authenticity with innovation: staying true to the core theme of the campaign, while each year introducing a fresh angle, new voices, and even applying new approaches to research and analysis that help to elevate and deepen the insights.

The result is content that builds brand equity over time, while staying relevant to changing business priorities and audience needs.

In this blog, we explore how leading businesses have mastered the art of long-running thought leadership—and share tips on how you can do the same.

Multi-year campaigns: what’s the payoff?

When it comes to thought leadership, laying a stake in the ground can feel risky. Yet committing to a multi-year thought leadership campaign around a single topic also offers a number of key benefits:

Increasing brand authority: Returning to a theme for multiple years signals to your audience that you own this space.
Deeper insights: Tracking responses over time helps uncover real shifts in attitudes, behaviours and outcomes. Year-on-year data also creates opportunities for more powerful analysis – and stronger headlines.
Speed and efficiency: With an established campaign in place, each year’s update requires less lift to deliver strong results.
But sustaining interest—and impact—requires creativity, innovation and adaptability.

EY CEO Outlook

This annual campaign has become a barometer for global business sentiment. Focused on CEO perspectives on growth, transformation and risk, the campaign consistently delivers bold, data-driven insights.

What sets it apart?
The research evolves wave after wave, to align with the global agenda; factoring in emerging challenges like geopolitical fragmentation, sustainability, or generative AI. At the same time, some of the key questions are repeated – and EY have used these tracking questions to create their CEO Confidence Index. By anchoring their campaign around the CEO’s mindset—but flexing the lens through which they view it—EY ensures each edition feels timely, relevant and actionable.

Cytiva Biopharma Resilience Index

Now in its third year, Cytiva’s research explores how well the global biopharma industry is equipped to withstand shocks and maintain innovation. It scores countries across five industry pillars – including supply chain resilience and R&D excellence – and updates the data every two years (with a more targeted research programme in the intervening year).

What sets it apart?
Cytiva have incorporated a fresh angle into each iteration of the index: from sourcing external data and covering timely themes, to interviewing new experts. This evolution has helped to create a sense of anticipation around the research findings – industry leaders and policymakers want to understand how performance has shifted, and see where their country sits in the latest global rankings.

Accenture Technology Vision

Accenture’s flagship technology trends report has been running for more than two decades – and it continues to set the agenda for business leaders navigating digital transformation. Each year, it identifies five emerging tech trends and reveals what they mean for businesses across sectors.

What sets it apart?
Blending executive surveys with client interviews and expert perspectives, recent editions have tackled the rise of AI, the impact of the metaverse, and the ethics of digital trust—reflecting how business technology priorities evolve. By combining predictive insight with business relevance, Accenture has built a trusted annual publication that influences boardroom conversations.

Five ways to keep your campaign fresh

So, how can B2B marketers follow suit? Here are five practical tips for keeping a long-term thought leadership campaign vibrant and relevant:

1. Approach the core topic through a new lens

A broad theme can be explored from multiple angles. What new sub-theme, stakeholder group or regional angle could you focus on next?

2. Evolve your research approach

In addition to updating the survey questions, applying methodologies such as a regression or predictive analysis, and incorporating third-party and/or qualitative data, can uncover new findings, while strengthening the integrity of the research.

3. Bring in new expert voices

Sourcing a new panel of qualitative interviewees each year introduces fresh thinking and reflects the changing leadership landscape. New contributors bring new credibility.

4. Rethink how you present the story

While content is king, refreshing the format can help to breathe new life into a multi-year thought leadership campaign.

For instance, you can turn data into benchmarking tools, animate survey findings in short videos, or package content as a mini-series or podcast.

Many of our clients take thought leadership off the page and use it as the foundation for panel discussions at events. This keeps things engaging for returning audiences

5. Track change over time

Don’t underestimate the power of longitudinal insights. Highlight what’s shifted – and what hasn’t. Trendlines and year-on-year comparisons tell a compelling story of progress (or lack of it).

Final thought: Start with strategy

With the right strategic planning and editorial rigour, creating a multi-year thought leadership campaign can be a profoundly powerful way to strengthen the relationship with your target audience.

Owning a space in your industry and becoming the go-to authority on that topic is no small feat. An upfront strategy sprint can be incredibly valuable in gathering perspectives from across stakeholder groups on which topics are most aligned with your organisation’s purpose, and likely to appeal to your clients and prospects. Ensuring senior leaders are behind the topic from the outset also helps to expand the reach of the campaign, as they are more likely to promote the content across their networks.

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