Comments for SageCircle Blog

Comment on Ovum Announces AR Community Call by joel wecksell

joel wecksell — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:14:19 +0000

how do we register for the Ovum analyst event?

Send an email to Carter as listed in the post above.

Comment on Efficient Briefing Idea other firms should consider by Dave Eckert

Dave Eckert — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:18:24 +0000

The Vendor day at an analyst firm office is a great idea, but have firms considered appending them to a theme conference with a focus on a specific area of research?

Comment on Efficient Briefing Idea other firms should consider by Trisha Mirel

Trisha Mirel — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:31:08 +0000

If the success we’ve enjoyed with Briefing Days held over the last four years at Forrester offices around the world is any indication, I’m sure the Ovum equivalent will be very well received. It’s a great benefit to vendors of all stripes for the reasons you outline here, and especially those who otherwise might not have easy in-person access to their key analysts.

Comment on Merv Adrian Joins Gartner by Steve Gandy

Steve Gandy — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:32:30 +0000

merv plays a mean guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EycMl4Si6Y

Comment on Checklist of simple tips for AR starting with Twitter by MatthewRay

MatthewRay — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:01:56 +0000

I suggest an avatar that is larger than 48×48. Desktop applications such as tweetdeck display a 100×100 image, so at least that size should be used. As long as it is a square image, you can use even larger; the application with auto-shrink the size, but the large size can still be viewed if one uses the web and click on your image to display actual size.

Comment on Analysts can use Social Media to Bypass AR so AR needs to be Ready by carterlusher

carterlusher — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:34:20 +0000

Hi Eric, Thanks for the comment.

Agree with the issues you mentioned about outsourcing AR to PR agencies. Another issue is PR staff who do not have AR skills and end up treating analysts like reporters. The two audiences have very different information and timeline needs, thus treating analysts like reporters frequently frustrates the analysts.

Comment on Analysts can use Social Media to Bypass AR so AR needs to be Ready by carterlusher

carterlusher — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:31:56 +0000

Hi Jan, Thanks for your insights.

Agree with you on the need for vendors to use analysts as advisors. In fact, our 2nd AR strategic objective is “Drive Analyst Usage to Improve Decision Making.” However, it is important to distinguish between client-advisor and vendor-analyst roles. If the goal is to get certain information out in front of a pending announcement, then being “on message” is critical. The savvy AR team will be working with trusted analysts that they contract with well in advance of announcements to get the analysts input on strategy, marketing, messaging and so on. Another important point is that some analysts do not want NDA information, they only want publicly available information that they comment on immediately.

Comment on Analysts can use Social Media to Bypass AR so AR needs to be Ready by Jan Dawson

Jan Dawson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:31:10 +0000

I agree with Eric – with a good AR team this is somewhat unnecessary, because they’ll give you the access you need. But the worse the AR team, the greater the need to work around them.

Comment on Analysts can use Social Media to Bypass AR so AR needs to be Ready by Eric Goodness

Eric Goodness — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:38:00 +0000

I agree with Jan 100 percent. His response goes straight to the heart of the matter.

I’d add on to his response that AR structure is important. Increasingly, AR functions are relegated to outsourced-PR-as-AR. That magnifies weaknesses in the communications chain: lack of empowerment, lack of visibility to executives and time-to-respond.

If I have a good relationship with AR, I will never go to executives directly. If I don’t have a good relationship, I’ll always go direct.

Comment on Analysts can use Social Media to Bypass AR so AR needs to be Ready by Jan Dawson

Jan Dawson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:54:25 +0000

I think the reason that’s missing from your list (or one of them) is that AR can sometimes be so focused on staying on message (and the spokespeople they hook analysts up with staying on message) that it’s hard to get at what’s really going on. Analysts are often most valuable to their clients when they can go beyond the official messages and provide real insights into what’s going on behind the scenes at a company. Almost by definition, AR is not going to provide that kind of access, and AR managers understandably feel threatened by it. However, the correct response is to be more flexible about the kind of people analysts can talk to and the frankness exhibited by spokespeople (off the record if necessary). Otherwise, analysts will continue to try to find ways around the official channels out of frustration.