PR agencies still failing the analysts

I was recently thinking about how much the AR market in Europe had matured over the past few years. PR agencies were seeing the light and recognising the importance of analysts. A crucial audience to target, worthy of dedicated communication and serious effort.

Then I read Andy's post and it makes me think, "Ummmm. Perhaps not."

An analyst's life is never dull...

You see, this is what I love about the Quocirca guys - life with them is always fun and never dull. And I learn something new (sometimes helpful, usually interesting) whenever we chat.

From Jon Collins ...

Great presentations to analysts

James Governor talks about why brief is best. It's an approach we wholeheartedly endorse.

James Governor's MonkChips: Great analyst presentation by a vendor: SealedMedia

James Governor on the future of the analyst market

Check out James Governor's latest blog

How Gartner competes with IBM. we all do?

It throws an interesting light on how the analyst market could look in the future.

Justifying an Analyst Relations budget

What is the value of communicating with analysts?

The answer changes depending on whom you ask. The success of analyst relations is often seen as intangible. There is no guarantee of coverage in the media or in research reports. Trying to track commercial leads is difficult.

One thing is certain though. If you don't dedicate resources to analyst relations, your competitors will gain a greater share of voice in the technology sector.

Dedicating more resources to AR is no guarantee of good relationships. You need the right tactics for the right audience. The companies that gain the most from AR are not necessarily the ones that spend the most - they just know how to do it properly.

We have just completed the latest paper in our "Analyst Insight" series. Written by Amjad Khan, it explains how the success of an analyst relations programme can be measured in a number of ways using perception audits, research tracking and the use of statistical criteria.

For a copy of the article, please drop me an email at analyst.insight AT gmail DOT com

Off Topic: Free wine promotion

I feel priviledged to have taken part in Hugh (Gaping Void) Macleod's recent blog promotion for Stormhoek (http://www.stormhoek.com/)

Although Hugh made it very clear that there no obligation to write anything, I feel kind of obliged anyway. Perhaps that was part of the plan ;-)

So would I buy it again? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Would I ever have tried it without the promotion? Definitely not.

Nice marketing Hugh. And thanks for the wine. It went down very well!