Technology companies are motivated to create categories for two primary reasons: to separate themselves from their competitors and increase company valuation with investors. In both cases, vendors expect analyst relations (AR) to influence analysts and generate favorable research coverage, frequently in the form of major evaluations and market-sizing content. Although successful category creation initiatives may generate benefits, they’re also risky. This report, the first in a two-part series, helps AR professionals understand the motivations for, value of, risks of, and obstacles to AR supporting category creation.