Thought Leadership

Higginson Strategy’s Approach

1 – Ideation 

Higginson Strategy’s team of former journalists and speechwriters will work with you to identify thought leadership angles and calls for action that will be of interest to both journalists and your target audience.  

This will be developed in line with your organisation’s objectives, whether to reach a new audience, build your reputation, make industry or policy changes, or generate new leads, as this will inform the format and destination of the thought leadership work. 

Once decided, we will create a clear strategy, demonstrating when each thought leadership piece will go live, what news or business hook it can be linked to, and what the objective of each piece is to achieve your goals. 

2 – Copywriting 

When drafting thought leadership pieces, your Higginson Strategy account team will create a first draft of engaging copy, adopting the agreed angle and implementing the key messages which have already been discussed. The copy will be tailored according to the intended destination, audience, and voice of the spokesperson to ensure that it is best suited to achieve the intended outcome. 

Following this, the team will then work with your spokesperson to finalise a draft that distils your insight into an engaging piece of writing. 

3 – Publication 

Your Higginson Strategy team will then utilise its far-reaching network of media contacts to find the best possible destination for your thought leadership piece. 

Once the piece has been published, your account team will also work with you to ensure that the piece reaches an even wider audience via social media, such as giving suggestions for resharing it on LinkedIn.   

Alongside a targeted, long-term campaign of thought leadership comment pieces, Higginson Strategy can also look for opportunities to react to ongoing industry stories and help to shape the narrative as events develop.  

Higginson Strategy consistently monitors for relevant news stories as they appear to ensure it can react quickly and maximise opportunities to lead the story within your sector. 

Brandon Hollihan

Challenge – Brandon Hollihan came to Higginson Strategy looking to increase his standing within the US property industry in order to attract more clients and funding. He is an established figure amongst New York’s real estate professionals, but sought high profile media opportunities to showcase his wealth of insight. 

Solution – Higginson Strategy developed a plan to produce a series of comment pieces about newsworthy topics in US property. The pieces would showcase Brandon’s knowledge across a range of topics related to real estate and the US economy and thus establish him as a leader within the sector.  

Following an early ideation session we established multiple topics which could inform a series of opinion pieces to be published in national newspapers. Higginson Strategy secured publication of Brandon’s comment pieces in high profile outlets including the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. 

Outcome –The thought leadership work effectively showcased Brandon’s wealth of expertise by creating thought-provoking pieces read by audiences of millions. By growing Brandon’s standing within his industry, he is better positioned when fundraising for acquisitions. 

Stop Ecocide International

Challenge –Stop Ecocide International is a global campaign to introduce the crime of ecocide, the act of causing wanton damage to ecosystems, at the International Criminal Court. In 2023, they began working with Higginson Strategy to raise the profile of ecocide an specifically to influence high-level decision makers at national and international legislatures.

Solution –Higginson Strategy worked with Jojo Mehta, Chief Executive of Stop Ecocide to author and publish a series of comment pieces tied to unfolding environmental stories in order to showcase the importance of ecocide law as a potential solution. Higginson Strategy also issued reactive comments to maximise opportunities around fast-moving global events.

Stop Ecocide International regularly featured in global media titles including The Guardian, The Times and Euronews, introducing the concept to millions of readers worldwide.

Outcome –The thought leadership work helped to build momentum for the global campaign for ecocide law, which was adopted by the European Union and several national governments during the time that Higginson Strategy worked with Stop Ecocide International.