Blockchain: a Thought Leadership Content Opportunity for Strategy Consulting Firms

Blockchain is a hot topic these days, across a diverse range of applications—from the expected cryptocurrency and supply chain to the unexpected, such as academic and charitable organizations. In business discussions, while often considered from the technology perspective, the use and application of blockchain is truly a strategic issue. And for strategy consulting firms hoping to provide advice on how organizations can use blockchain, getting in front of a trending topic is critical to owning that space. So we wondered, what is the prevalence of blockchain-focused thought leadership marketing among strategy consulting firms? Are they owning the issue, treating it as an add-on, or ignoring it entirely?

To answer, we reviewed the thought leadership marketing content published on the websites of leading strategy firms (drawn from the strategy category of Forbes’ The Best Management Consulting Firms For 2018 list). At a high level, here’s what we found:

Blockchain Content Overview

• Strategy consulting firms are investing in thought leadership marketing content, with the vast majority (85%) of firms featuring such content on their website.
• However, of those companies, only half (52%) provided content dedicated to blockchain (which we distinguished from other materials in which blockchain was mentioned or one of many other topics covered); and three-quarters of those companies featured fewer than 10 total pieces of blockchain content. A single firm dominated the output of content we reviewed.
• Companies are more likely to invest in superficial content such as blog posts (38%) and articles or short-form content (combined 24%), and less likely to publish more in-depth content such as white papers (21%).
• While one-third of published pieces focus on the concept and technology, blockchain’s application in financial services and supply chain represents roughly another third. The remaining third covers blockchain’s use in a wide variety of industries, including identity, energy, insurance, health care, and public sector.
• Coverage of blockchain in strategy firms’ thought leadership materials reflects the emergence of the technology itself. It received little attention in 2014 and 2015, gained traction in 2016, and exploded in 2017.  Momentum has continued in 2018, with coverage this year on track to far outpace that of 2017.

Commitment to Blockchain is Uneven

There’s a significant disparity in commitment to publishing thought leadership content: The top 10% of companies (by volume produced, as measured by the quantity of blockchain-dedicated thought leadership marketing materials provided on their website) accounted for 76% of the total blockchain content published among the firms we studied.  Those top firms were dominated by IBM, which created 43% of all blockchain content produced in the review group. With one-tenth of the firms producing three-quarters of the content, and one of those firms producing almost half of it, it seems many other firms are dipping their toes in the water before jumping in—allowing a small group to dominate the blockchain conversation.

Yet despite publishing a lot, the top 10% of firms by volume tended to focus on less-substantive blog content (47%), with more-substantive white papers (17%) and case studies (18%) being less prevalent.  Articles and short-form content represented a combined 17% of volume, while few other types of content were represented.  Much more substantive books and research studies were notably rare or absent altogether.  Encouragingly, more than half of these top firms featured a dedicated blockchain webpage or blog series, making it easier for visitors to get access to the firms’ thinking.

The prevalence of more-superficial content could be tied to the relative immaturity of the technology and a dearth of solid use cases (although that’s changing quickly). More-substantive content such as robust case studies and white papers generally hinge on being able to point to successful strategies and implementations, which are typically in short supply for an emerging technology.  But firms are missing a big opportunity—when a technology is immature and use cases aren’t plentiful, it’s precisely the time clients are most in need of guidance and education.  Exploring the topic more deeply would enable firms to more effectively position themselves as valued advisors—and get ahead of the inevitable wave of companies offering blockchain consulting and advice as adoption of the technology grows.

2016 Marked the Rise of Blockchain

The state of blockchain coverage among strategy firms shouldn’t be a big surprise given where the technology is in its evolution.  In fact, the amount of content published on the topic mirrors blockchain’s move through Gartner’s technology hype cycle: from an initial innovation trigger to the peak of inflated expectations. At this point in the cycle, early movers could reap the rewards of early adoption.  In 2014 and 2015, when blockchain was rarely addressed in dedicated thought leadership content, the technology was only at the beginning of the hype cycle.  As the technology climbed Gartner’s curve, coverage gained traction in 2016 and 2017, coverage rose accordingly.

Now, with Gartner’s 2017 assessment showing blockchain just past its peak hype and headed for the “trough of disillusionment” as early efforts experience setbacks, we expect more firms to ratchet up their publishing to demonstrate the insights they’ve gained about the technology and its use.  This will be critical to these firm’s establishing themselves as voices of authority and experts that can help companies benefit from blockchain as the technology gradually begins its journey up the “slope of enlightenment” and on to eventual mainstream adoption in five to 10 years.

What’s It All Mean?

With the exception of IBM, strategy consulting firms largely haven’t strongly embraced blockchain as a thought leadership marketing topic. The few that have are dominating the conversation, however superficial it may be.  As these firms gain more experience with actual blockchain implementations, and codify what they learn from those initiatives in the form of thought leadership insights, they will come to own the topic—and likely get the lion’s share of blockchain consulting business when the technology becomes more mainstream.

For strategy firms that want to play in the blockchain space, now’s the time for them to ramp up their blockchain thought leadership marketing—both in depth and volume.  Prospects are hungry for insightful, substantive guidance on what blockchain can do for them and how they should approach it—and they will reward those firms that provide it with their business.

Want to assess how your current blockchain thought leadership materials stack up?  Read our white paper on the seven standards of high-quality content.