The shift from the attention economy to the authority economy | Marlowe Newman

Cognizant is a global technology services company that invests heavily in research-driven thought leadership, publishing studies on AI, cybersecurity, and the future of work that reach audiences from LinkedIn newsletters to Davos.In a recent episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with Marlowe Newman, Director, Thought Leadership of Cognizant, to learn how B2B technology brands are shifting from the attention economy to the authority economy, and how research-driven content earns buyer trust at both ends of the funnel.Topics Discussed:Why B2B tech is moving from the attention economy to the authority economyWhy "all press is good press" no longer holds in B2B technology marketingHow AI removed the friction that once made long-form content a competitive moatWhy a clear, differentiated, human-produced point of view is now the core thought leadership assetHow to identify and activate in-house subject matter experts, including those who avoid the stageWhat Marlowe's buyer journey research at Gartner revealed about how software shortlists actually formHow Cognizant balances societal-level studies like AI and the future workforce with service-line research in cybersecurity, healthcare, and retailWhy researchers, not CEOs, should front research-driven media pitchesGTM & Technology Adoption Lessons:Shift from attention to authority: Marlowe argues the race for attention at any cost is over in B2B. Audiences have grown savvy about opportunistic content, and bad press now costs more than obscurity. Trust and demonstrated expertise are the assets that compound.Volume is no longer a moat: The old playbook was to flood the zone and game the Google algorithm with content volume. Marlowe notes the barrier to entry was effort, since nobody wanted to grind out a fifteen hundred-word article, and AI made that barrier vanish. What remains defensible is a differentiated, human-produced point of view backed by proprietary research.Thought leadership works both ends of the funnel: At Gartner, Marlowe studied how software buyers form shortlists. Most could not pinpoint where they first heard of a vendor, but they arrived with three to five companies in mind. At the bottom of the funnel, buyers loop back to the same research to justify the purchase to whoever signs the purchase order.Time research to land ahead of the market: Quick pulse polls fielded over a couple of weeks produce rich, unique data sets. The planning question is not what buyers face today but what they will face in two months when the report ships. If the topic is current now, it is already too late.Match the expert to the format: Willing spokespeople come first. Experts who are not stage-ready can still write bylined articles, and podcasts let people who avoid cameras talk all day in one on one conversations. There is a format for every kind of expert.Platform the researchers: Pitching a big study with a CEO quote gives reporters pause because CEOs do not have time to run giant studies. Media want to go a few layers deeper with the people who dug through the data. Letting researchers speak is how a brand transmits authenticity in a market saturated with manufactured versions of it.Place bets across a fractured media landscape: A New York Times placement no longer reaches everyone who matters. Societal-level studies earn mainstream coverage, while problem-solution research belongs in trades, LinkedIn, podcasts, and niche media. Both audiences consume different media diets, so both bets are necessary.// Sponsors: Front Lines -- Silicon Valley's leading Podcast Production Studio. We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. Mention you are a listener and get a 10% discount. www.FrontLines.io/Podcast-as-a-Service