Early this year I had the privilege of attending the latest incarnation of the On Think Tanks School for Thinktankers in Brussels. I came to the School from the perspective of a student thinktanker, representing The Security Distillery based out of the University of Glasgow.
The School proved to be a stimulating experience, from which I took away several key lessons and ideas. Many of these were applicable not only to The Security Distillery, but also to my broader professional career as I leave my university and enter the working world.
These insights not only came from the structured events, but also from the informal and casual conversations with other participants. Breaks, lunches and the organised evening meal provided ideal locations to engage with policy experts in a more relaxed environment.
Coming from a student think tank background, the ability to engage with professionals from across the industry opened my eyes to the sector’s diversity and possibilities. For this blog post, I would like to focus on two specific areas that I found particularly enlightening: think tank “theming” and “branding”.
Theme
When analysing the role and purpose of a think tank it is crucial to consider the specificity of its theme – that is the policy issues or topics that it focuses on.
This is especially true for the myriad of smaller think tanks across the sector. If your think tank is small, then it’s preferable to focus on one, or a small set of themes. This is not only for obvious practical reasons but also for ensuring your place in the ever-expanding industry.
When crafting the think tanks’ theme there may be a tendency to view the organisation as being in something of a bubble. An awareness and appreciation for the wider industry can help you to decipher where differentiation can and should occur – in other words, where are you adding value?
Theming does not solely pertain to the research interest of the think tank but can also concern its organisational structure. This was expanded upon in an incredibly informative lecture on the first day, with On Think Tanks’s Founder and Director Enrique Mendizabal hosting a discussion on the basic principles of the think tank model. One particular takeaway from this discussion was considering the flexibility of the model. Here there exists both risk and opportunity. Flexibility is certainly something to be utilised when considering theming, but the core tenets of what makes a think tank a think tank (rather than a purely academic institution or consultancy or advocacy organisation, for example) should remain. A core lesson here is awareness of what your think tank is, including its missions and purpose, alongside an awareness of the greater industry in which your organisation operates.
Brand
Following on from theming, a think tank must pay attention to its branding. Determining an organisation’s theming and specialisation only reflects an initial part of the creative process. It is then crucial to communicate that theming via a succinct and effective form of branding.
Branding was the topic of an interactive workshop hosted by the creative communications agency Soapbox. The ability to engage with experts in branding was truly informative. The method for identifying and articulating brand identity used throughout the workshop allowed each team to understand and learn how to market their respective fictitious organisation.
Indeed, it was during this event that I discovered a hidden talent for presentation marketing. In the interactive workshop, we had the benefit of working with a fictitious think tank to which we had no attachment. Arguably this allowed each team to be far more critical and decisive than branding a think tank that they already have prescribed views and experiences with. The ability to step back and consider branding from a more detached perspective would certainly allow a think tank to consider its branding more critically.
Certainly, this could be applied to the Security Distillery. This is especially true considering that the think tank membership changes annually. This has its benefits, with new ideas constantly being injected, but it can make it harder to establish a consistent brand held between the cohorts. I believe that the tools presented by Soapbox would help each cohort to build on the existing brand in a more streamlined way.
Overall, I have to thank the On Think Tanks team for organising a highly engaging and informative week. As I have discussed in this blog post, the lessons around theming and branding were particularly insightful to me. Beyond this, the opportunity to engage with industry professionals from all over the world, the diverse and instructive visits to institutions across Brussels, and the range of talks offered at Bruegel were also greatly appreciated opportunities.