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Blogvent Day 5: Apple heads the Top 5 business Thought Leaders

Business | Sponsorship | Technology

According to The Thought Leadership Index 2009, Apple has replaced Google as the most influential opinion leader in business. The top five is dominated by innovative, technology-driven businesses with Microsoft, Amazon and new entry GSK in equal third spot. Facebook and Twitter, also new entries in the top 10, appear at 8 and 10 respectively.

There is a certain logic to this tech dominance in that thought leadership and innovation are to a large extent synonymous, so perhaps the more surprising entries in the list are names such as GSK, Co-operative Group and Marks & Spencer, operating in more established and perhaps less dynamic markets. Thought leadership is about defining the agenda and as we have touched on before technology and the internet in particular are changing the way people work, play and interact. Apple, Google and even Amazon are certainly at the forefront of those changes, while the three more traditional names are still perceived as thought leaders even in the absence of such credentials.

The interesting question for marketing and sponsorship in particular is how can either of these disciplines ensure that they are relevant to these opinion formers? So far these top three names simply don’t participate on the sponsorship arena. Of the top 10 only Virgin Group, relegated from 5th position to 9th this year are active sponsors, having recently entered the F1 world with a flurry.

Media influence rankings in the study also make interesting reading. Radio comes out in top, to a large extent as result of the dominance of Radio 4’s Today programme. The BBC also fares well online at the head of the pack, followed by the online version of the Financial Times and Bloomberg. The FT also leads the print media followed by The Times and The Daily Telegraph.

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