Are you sure you know the landscape of the conversations you want to be a part of?

A client asked to "own the concept of innovation." They wanted to be the conversation leader in a very crowded arena. So the first step was to show them so. Using an NLP media analysis tool, I demonstrated that the "innovation" space was swamped with conversation.

The next step was to understand where this concept was coming from. What did the client mean by "innovation", and why was it important to them?

The communication team felt that industry competitors were seen as more innovative in their approaches to recent market challenges and that the industry overall was seen as old-fashioned and flat-footed when it came to those challenges. "Innovation", from their view and the view of that sector, was competitive leadership and creative approaches to problems with cross-industry effects.

Now THAT was ownable.

I showed them the "innovation" conversation within their industry, how competitors had landed "innovation" coverage, and finally the conversation around the values they had discussed RATHER THAN the word "innovation" itself. This last analysis demonstrated major gaps, as well as potential areas for business development.

The client saw a path forward to industry-leading conversations and a creative, innovative reputation among its competitors.