It’s Time To Engineer Analyst Relations

October 8th, 2010

With contributors:

Laura Koetzle , David Morrison , Drew Zalucky

Summary

On the surface, the primary aim of industry analyst relations (AR) — to influence analysts — is unachievable. The analysts say vendors can’t influence them, AR can’t buy desired influence directly, and AR confuses analyst influence with analyst knowledge. Many AR professionals end up settling for analyst briefings and any other contact they can conjure — perhaps via a traditional analyst subscription. Then, they hope that contact will magically transform into the forbidden influence despite the analysts’ determination to ensure that it doesn’t. In practice, AR can engineer very deep influence, but the first step is to clarify the obstacles, options, and available tools.

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