Watching Jamie Oliver’s new ‘Dream School’ the other day, I thought it a little odd to see an advert break featuring him promoting Sainsbury’s which asks the question; where does the boundary fall between editorial and advertorial? For the TV world, the boundaries are becoming ever blurred with sponsorship of programmes and now with product placement.

But what about the print world?

Advertorial – paid for editorial – has always seemed a slightly dirty word to those in PR who like a story to stand on its own two feet. Not that a good advertorial doesn’t have its place. If it’s well written and relevant, your target audience will read it.

One thing I dislike though is the presence of a traditional advert by your advertorial piece. It’s a bit like putting up a big neon sign saying ‘we paid for it’. So perhaps the key is to be as subtle with its use as you can. It might/should say advertisement at the top but don’t frighten the reader off by making it too obviously a paid for piece.

Be bold enough to think you don’t have to be too salesy and make it an interesting read. Just because you paid for it, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put the effort in.

Actions speak louder than words they say. Quite so! And while I might not want to overplay that particular saying (I do after all make my living from words), there is no area like corporate citizenship (or corporate social responsibility) that can highlight the seemingly contradictory nature between what a company says it will do and what it actually does.

For instance, I recently received a new piece of audio visual equipment (a dictaphone if you must know). Having broken into the virtually impenetrable plastic sarcophagus shielding the dictaphone from any passing radioactive storm, I was pleased to see that the manufacturer had been thoughtful enough to include printed instructions in English. Unfortunately they had also seen fit to print out and enclose the instructions in at least eighteen other languages in separate brochures.

Turning to their website, I see they’re aiming to have a zero environmental footprint. Great words, but their packaging says something far more revealing about their approach than any expensively produced CSR report.

…is one of those phrases regularly bandied about in the communications world (guilty as charged).

“We need some thought leadership,” they cry and they are right. Any business wanting to put some space between themselves and the competition needs to demonstrate that there is more going on between their ears than between those of their competitors. Otherwise, and this is particularly the case when you’re selling the quality of your people as opposed to an actual product, why should someone buy from you rather than the firm down the road offering the same service?

But strip out the cringe making jargon and what does thought leadership actually mean?

Now there’s a thought
Well, you simply want to demonstrate to your clients and potential clients that all the marketing blurb about your creativity and innovative thinking is more than just words. You want to show them that you can have an original thought.

Why not research a particular area of your business, discuss the key trends, include some original thinking, package it up in a report or white paper and, hey presto, you’ve just sent your clients something that doesn’t tell them how good you are, it shows them.

And the great thing about thought leadership is, it’s free. It’s not like buying advertising space or sponsoring the World Cup. There’s no tax on thinking and if your people are as good as your marketing claims, there’s a willing supply of raw material and ideas just waiting to get out.