Latest campaign examples of real thought leadership: Autumn 2021

What’s new in thought leadership and B2B campaigns? Here, with your quarterly digest of the latest campaign examples, we’ve got plenty to share. Check out last quarter’s campaign launches here.

From hot topics and timely insight to creative ideas and inspiring content, we showcase a selection of recent campaigns that pass the test for real thought leadership: thought-provoking content that engages, educates and influences hard-to-reach audiences.

If you’d like more information on any of the latest campaign examples featured, please get in touch — we’d be delighted to tell you more about them and help find ways you too can innovate with your next campaign. And if you’re particularly interested in audio content, sign up for our upcoming webinar here.

Movers and shakers in Financial Services

Adapt and thrive
Vontobel
Joe Dalton, group editor

Trends like digitalisation and e-commerce, the threats of global warming and rising pollution, resource scarcity and social imbalances provide investors with huge challenges, but also with exciting investment opportunities.

With thematic investing often touted as a solution to this uncertainty, working in partnership with investment management group Vontobel we surveyed 300 investors to find out what investors really think about thematic investing, and how they are implementing thematic strategies in their portfolios.

From Recovery to Prosperity in Central and Eastern Europe
Erste Group Bank
Sean Kearns, editor-in-chief

Central and Eastern Europe continues to rebound from the impact of Covid-19, but the pandemic has exacerbated a number of underlying issues in the region, from jobs to housing. Whilst structural support from the government and the EU is on its way, Erste Group asks how banks and investors can play a role.

To help answer this crucial question, FT Longitude surveyed 3,500 consumers in the region and interviewed trusted experts in the field to shed new light on this timely debate. Erste Bank CEO, Bernd Spalt, and Alena Kudzko, director of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute shared their perspectives as part of qualitative insight for this campaign.

A New Wave of Payments Innovation
FIS Global
Rob Mitchell, CEO

The way in which organisations make and receive payments has changed dramatically during the course of the pandemic. Will the old model return, or has it changed for good? To find out, FIS Global and FT Longitude surveyed 1,500 public and private sector organisations across Europe and the US. The survey was supplemented with interviews with carefully selected industry experts to get fresh perspectives on the topic.

The research found that not only had the pandemic accelerated change in the payment industry, but that change is continuing at pace as firms become even more determined to invest in new technology. As the real-time payments model matures, businesses will increasingly see benefits beyond speed and cost, and a more diverse range of innovative use cases.

Sustainable finance for the real world
ING
Hasan Chowdhury, senior editor

For businesses, the challenge of sustainable transformation is balancing the need to keep operations in motion while making changes to reach their sustainability ambitions. To better understand the realities of putting this into practice, ING set out to produce a series of detailed insights that would shed light on different aspects of sustainability across businesses in specific key sectors.

We helped ING to develop a multi-format, multi-channel content programme including audio interviews with industry and topic experts such as ING’s global head of sustainable finance Leonie Schreve, and director of sustainable finance Roland Mees.

Technology trailblazers 

Beyond Boundaries: Innovation for a changing future
Lenovo
Piers Tomlinson, editorial director

Technology company Lenovo responded to the Covid-19 disruption with what they know best – innovation. Intrigued as to how other businesses had adapted, Lenovo wanted to take a temperature check on the global state of innovation and provide those businesses with the tools for the next ‘golden age’ of innovation.

Produced in collaboration with FT Longitude, Lenovo’s Beyond Boundaries report features a survey of 300 global senior business leaders and insights from leaders at the forefront of innovation from businesses such as Boston Consulting Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Fung Group and more.

How Pharmaceutical Firms Can Use Data and AI with Confidence
AspenTech
Desi Kozareva, writer and editor

Pharma and biotech companies face a pivotal next step in addressing the increased complexity of production while balancing mounting cost pressures with the need to ensure product quality, security of supply and regulatory compliance.

Findings from our recent study with AspenTech reveal that digital culture and technology adoption provide a competitive edge – but adoption is slow. The report explains how these companies are responding to the unprecedented volatility and increasing complexity of their industries.

Automation Maturity Index
Appian
Steve Edwards, senior editor

What does mature automation mean for a modern financial services firm? Appian’s new Automation Maturity Index program sought to find out.

To learn how the best-performing firms are transforming business models and core operations using technology and automation, we surveyed 500 senior banking and asset management executives from around the world to get their views. The research insights fed into a suite of content headlined by an interactive benchmarking tool, enabling readers to compare their own business performance against those of their peers.

Leading in a Digital-First World
Tata Communications
Laura Adcock, senior editor

Confronted with rapid change during the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses have raced to establish a digital-first operating model that connects employees, customers, partners and suppliers. Whilst some organisations have struggled with this transition, others have made fast progress.

New research from FT Longitude and Tata Communications reveals why the leading firms are performing better than the rest. The study shows that companies with mature, digital-first operating models – The Digital Trailblazers, as we called them – outperform two less mature groups of companies.

Leaders in Industrials and Manufacturing

Why wait to pursue net zero?
Centrica Business Solutions
Sonja Caymaz, group editor

Decarbonisation puts pressure on organisations at a time when uncertainty is widespread and good financial performance is vital. Some organisations are eager to announce and accelerate net zero targets but are unsure about where to start. Thought leaders interviewed for this campaign believe there is no perfect time to act – but the sooner companies start, the greater the benefits. Others risk being left behind.

Working with Centrica Business Solutions, we surveyed 1,000 executives across nine industries and benchmarked their sustainability efforts in five key areas. We also interviewed six experts to get their views on how businesses can get ahead.

Where next for UK Defence in an era of climate crisis?
Frazer-Nash Consultancy
Meg Wright, senior editor and head of audio

When defence accounts for 50% of central government’s emissions, decarbonisation must be top of the agenda. The UK Ministry of Defence’s first steps have been impressive, but to build on them it must consider its next moves with care.

Together with Frazer-Nash Consultancy, we convened four outstanding experts in the area of defence and sustainability, including the standing chairman of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, to discuss the issues in a breakthrough panel discussion released as an exclusive podcast and a thought-provoking feature article.

Decision Time: Oilfield services is at a crossroads
Protolabs
Sonja Caymaz, group editor

What does net zero mean for Europe’s oilfield services companies? It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the transition to renewable energy requires another transition: to a new breed of oilfield services companies.

A report based on a survey of 180 senior oilfield executives reveals how the oilfield services industry will have to innovate, how these companies are planning to keep up in the next 12 months, and their opinion on whether they can seize the opportunity that sustainability presents.

Making Shipping’s ‘Decade of Action’ a Reality
Lloyd’s Register
Meg Wright, senior editor and head of audio

For shipping, an industry that accounts for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions each year, the imperative to decarbonise is urgent. Not only that, but the pace of change needs to accelerate. The industry is no longer asking ‘if’ or ‘when’ decarbonisation should take place, the question that remains is ‘how’ will the maritime industry deliver meaningful change during this crucial decade of action.

Together with Lloyd’s Register, we brought together expert views and insights from right across the global maritime sector – and beyond – to discuss what the industry must do to make this decade of change a reality. The result is a crafted series of insights from the world’s premier experts hosted in a beautifully designed ebook.