Global digital business transformation agency

2018 - ongoing

New to analyst relations in 2018, with no internal expertise or resources to create or manage an analyst relations program, Victor, Inc.* has been in more than 40 reports, including a Leader position in its first Forrester Wave™.

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Challenge

In late 2018, Victor, Inc. had a problem: Forrester had invited the company to participate in its first Forrester Wave™, but with only one week left, the company had yet to start putting together a deck for the incredibly important three-hour briefing. Victor had engaged only a handful of times with industry analysts and, with service capabilities spanning many categories, lacked the focus and internal resources needed to support a successful analyst relations program. Compounding Victor’s limited analyst relationships or analyst relations expertise was the fact that the company held no existing contracts with any analyst firm.

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Solution

With Spark 180’s help, Victor was adequately prepared for that first Wave briefing, and they earned a coveted Leader position. But the company was still far from being a known commodity among analysts. For this client, Spark 180 developed a tiered approach. In phase one, Spark 180 worked with Victor executives to first lay the foundation for analyst relations, which included determining which of its many capabilities to focus on, negotiating an initial contract with an analyst firm, and conducting training for leadership teams and subject matter experts. Using established relationships and connections with the analyst community, Spark 180 led more than 80 initial interactions over that first year.

In phase two, Spark 180 helped Victor to narrow its focus in terms of analyst reach, concentrating on four service lines to establish deep (vs. broad) expertise and analyst relationships. Regular ongoing analyst engagement led to a significant increase in research inclusions, including another Wave in which Victor was the smallest vendor by five-fold. Spark 180 was also able to successfully renegotiate an analyst firm contract to maximize benefits and minimize cost.

Now in phase three, Victor has decided to increase the overall scope of its analyst relations program, in response to positive results and investor feedback. The broadened focus aligns with Victor’s overall growth, expanding capabilities and numerous acquisitions. Victor is also working on better targeting specific results through a focus on quality—not quantity—of analyst interactions.

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Results

Spark 180 worked with Victor to develop an analyst relations strategy tailored to its commitment level, goals and budget. Victor has established strong visibility through report inclusion (23 last year), direct analyst referrals and public mentions, including two conference keynotes last year. As Victor’s capabilities and portfolio has broadened, so has its analyst relations program, directly contributing to more client wins and quality research.

*Pseudonym used to comply with client NDA