Creating a Competitive Edge in Consulting with Thought Leadership

Our client is an independent corporate governance and executive compensation consultancy that advises businesses on the design of compensation programs for leaders.

Ever since it became a requirement in the U.S. to disclose executive compensation, executive pay has become a hot-button topic for corporate boards as they face investor scrutiny. Our client saw an opportunity to leverage expertise and thought leadership to become the go-to advisory firm on compensation – and that required engaging research content and the ongoing, high-profile media exposure to make it stick. That’s where Stern came in.

Over the course of a more than 10-year partnership, by leveraging the executive voice of the founder and CEO and various specific subject matter experts with the firm (most recently their ESG Leader), we have helped differentiate our client from its competitors and establish both the CEO and the firm’s leaders as experts on issues surrounding how much executives are and should be paid, as well as other issues pertaining to corporate governance and strategy.

OBJECTIVES

• Position the firm’s CEO and its leadership team as governance and executive compensation authorities, gaining media attention and interest
• Distribute a steady stream of branded content through a recurring Forbes column and through various owned channels, including newsletters, social media and website blogs
• Differentiate the firm from its competitors through distinct messaging that explicitly ties into the leading news stories and themes of the day (such as executive pay and ESG metrics, or responding to various new disclosure rules from the SEC), to ensure an “always current” posture

OUR APPROACH

Beginning with the launch of a seminal book on pay-for-performance alignment, Stern positioned the client company’s CEO and partners as the top authorities their field, bolstering our client’s ability to compete in a highly competitive market for executive compensation and corporate governance consulting services.

RESULTS

• Our client is regularly quoted in top-tier business media including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Reuters and key boardroom-focused media like Agenda and Directors & Boards
• Developed relationships with key reporters who now regularly contact the firm directly for interview commentary, having established our client and the firm as a “go to” resource for data and commentary
• Secured and helped sustain a recurring column for the CEO on Forbes.com – one that did not require sponsorship
• Advised on the creation of several digital tools and data trackers, which serve as resources for journalists and result in additional media attention
• Advised on and implemented a content and media strategy each year for the client’s seminal research report on trends in the use of ESG in executive compensation metrics and policy, which consistently results in placements in the world’s leading business media