What if your brand’s most powerful content is sitting in someone’s head?
PaperCut is a global print management company full of smart, quietly humble people who know their craft deeply. The business had a strong reputation and a loyal customer base, but had never fully tapped into the depth of thinking sitting within its senior leaders and technical specialists
Most content to that point focused on practical SEO explainers or product-adjacent advice, while the bigger ideas remained mostly inside their walls.
The opportunity was simple but powerful: help a clever, understated company share the expertise it already had, in a way that felt natural, confident, and genuinely helpful to the industry.
The challenge
For PaperCut, thought leadership was new terrain. The belief was there, but the confidence wasn’t yet. SMEs were willing to be involved, but nervous, unsure if they “knew enough,” or worried that contributing would become a heavy burden on their time.
As one put it early on, I’m not sure I have anything that interesting to say.
The challenge wasn’t a lack of expertise. It was helping people recognise the value of what they already knew.
The thinking: It’s time to have an opinion.
We began by reframing what thought leadership meant at PaperCut. Using a clear, friendly framework, we helped the team move beyond “how-to” content and into four distinct modes of leadership:
Position: fresh, stand-out insights from their personal experience
Distillation: synthesising insights to find the conclusion to save the audience the work
Abstraction: drawing from the facts to leap to a new idea or possibility
Disruption: controversial opinions to challenge the way their audience thinks
Key strategic elements:
A leadership framework aligned to PaperCut’s core themes
A bank of thought-starting content ideas to draw from for PR, the PaperCut website, and social media
Structured SME interviews designed to be fast, safe, and deeply collaborative
Content development that honoured each expert’s voice rather than forcing a single style
A repeatable process that reduced friction and increased participation across the business
The result: a sustainable pipeline of opinion-led content that feels both grounded and distinct.
SMEs moved from cautious contributors to enthusiastic participants, confident their expertise would be handled with care. Content matured from instructional SEO pieces into articles with real perspective and depth, strengthening PaperCut’s presence across blogs, PR, social channels, and partner networks.
High SME engagement: contributors felt confident, well supported, and increasingly excited to take part
Clearer strategic alignment: a shared understanding of PaperCut’s stance on cloud, security, sustainability, and hybrid work
Smoother content cycles: faster development, minimal rework, and a steady flow of new ideas
Greater external visibility: stronger recognition of PaperCut’s thinking across press, partners, and customer channels
Cultural shift: more curiosity, more confidence, and a company increasingly willing to share its point of view
Ready to push new frontiers?
We gravitate toward smart people tackling big challenges. Complex products, ambitious goals, and bold ideas pull us in. Let’s make something great together.