As part of a comprehensive and proactive PR strategy, analyst relations is an ongoing activity that relies on tight company branding and an experienced team. Eric Chemi takes a deep dive into AR with Bospar experts, Brandy and AJ.
Click to read transcript
00:00:10.639 Today we’re talking about
00:00:12.160 analyst relations with our two gurus
00:00:14.480 here at Bosear about AR. We’ve got AJ
00:00:17.039 and Brandy. Thank you both for joining
00:00:19.039 me here today because this I feel like
00:00:21.199 is a is a weak spot for me. I don’t
00:00:22.960 really know this. I didn’t really play
00:00:24.240 in that game as a TV reporter. I might
00:00:26.320 have talked to an analyst here and
00:00:27.279 there, but it wasn’t my everyday bread
00:00:29.760 and butter. So, I’m here to learn some
00:00:32.000 questions. I don’t even know if my learn
00:00:33.760 some answers. I don’t know if my
00:00:34.719 questions will be good enough for you
00:00:36.000 two today. So, please just talk amongst
00:00:38.079 yourselves and then cut me out of the
00:00:39.520 loop if I if I don’t keep up with you.
00:00:41.200 But, you know, Brandy, I want to start
00:00:42.559 with you. What is the biggest difference
00:00:45.840 between AR and PR? Because a lot of
00:00:49.360 firms are doing both. They’re using the
00:00:51.200 same people to do both, but a lot of
00:00:52.559 times the the strategies, the
00:00:54.399 techniques, the tactics are actually
00:00:55.680 very different.
00:00:56.960 Yeah, totally. I think it’s it’s a
00:00:59.280 similar engine, but different audiences,
00:01:02.719 right? So PR, we’re we’re doing all of
00:01:05.680 the the narratives, the storytelling,
00:01:07.920 the you really really getting that
00:01:09.520 message out there to readers, to the
00:01:13.040 individual readers who we want to learn
00:01:15.119 about these things. Um, and I think AR
00:01:17.439 the main difference is just
00:01:19.280 transitioning that audience to the
00:01:22.320 analysts directly, these these third
00:01:23.840 party analysts who are really
00:01:25.680 influencing our our buying decisions,
00:01:28.159 the tech buyer decisions um across the
00:01:30.479 enterprise. Uh, but I think it’s it’s a
00:01:33.520 similar concept um just switching who
00:01:37.680 the the target audience for it is.
00:01:41.840 Yeah. And on that note, uh so much of
00:01:44.560 analyst relations, it feels like you’re
00:01:46.320 kind of talking to essentially taste
00:01:48.640 makers, uh folks that create these
00:01:50.479 really helpful, uh research reports that
00:01:53.200 really do guide the industry in their
00:01:54.880 own silent way. Uh whereas I think media
00:01:57.119 is very much about creating a big splash
00:01:59.119 around say a news item or even uh say
00:02:02.719 commentary about an upcoming uh news
00:02:04.560 story. So ultimately similar um efforts
00:02:08.720 but ultimately very different audiences
00:02:10.720 at the end of the day. You know, it’s
00:02:12.000 funny. When I first heard analyst
00:02:13.840 relations, I I hear the word analyst. I
00:02:15.680 thought about having worked on Wall
00:02:16.879 Street, the equity research analysts,
00:02:18.720 right? The guys that say, “Hey, the
00:02:19.840 stock is a buy, the stock is a sell.”
00:02:21.840 You know, they work for banks typically,
00:02:23.360 and then they they do their sector
00:02:25.599 analysis. This is very different kind of
00:02:28.160 analyst relations we’re talking about,
00:02:29.440 right? It’s the the Garters and
00:02:31.040 Foresters and IDC’s and all all of that
00:02:33.440 kind of thing and all the the smaller
00:02:34.800 firms along the way. So, do you find
00:02:38.000 that a lot of of our clients, the
00:02:40.480 startups, the tech companies, they don’t
00:02:41.920 even understand
00:02:43.760 what to do with analyst relations?
00:02:45.440 Because I feel like a lot of times, you
00:02:46.480 know, we’re in these Zooms, right? We’re
00:02:47.599 in the meetings talking to prospects and
00:02:49.360 we’ll say, “Hey, so talk about your
00:02:50.879 analyst program.” And they’ll say,
00:02:52.160 “What? What are you talking about?”
00:02:54.959 Yeah. Or their their go-to answer will
00:02:56.879 be, “Oh, our competitor was mentioned.”
00:02:59.680 Yeah.
00:03:00.080 In Gartner or in Forester, but we don’t
00:03:04.000 know what we’re going to do about that
00:03:05.280 yet. And I think there I think there’s
00:03:06.959 actually a lot of similarity to the the
00:03:08.720 financial analysts in in that it’s just
00:03:12.480 telling your story a different way,
00:03:14.480 right? So if you’re looking at the stock
00:03:17.040 market and they’re telling the company
00:03:19.440 story of these stocks are really good,
00:03:22.000 really positive, those are what you want
00:03:24.720 to invest your money in. Um, and I think
00:03:26.400 it’s it’s similar from the industry
00:03:29.280 side. It’s just looking at the what does
00:03:32.159 your product roadmap look like? How how
00:03:34.560 confident are the analysts in telling
00:03:37.680 buyers that ask for their opinion, you
00:03:40.239 should go to this guy, you should go to
00:03:41.599 this company and check out this product.
00:03:44.560 So, I think there’s I think there is a
00:03:45.840 lot of overlap, but I yeah, a lot of
00:03:48.560 companies don’t really know where to
00:03:50.640 start.
00:03:51.440 But why should an early stage company
00:03:53.200 really even care about AR? Because I
00:03:54.799 know a lot of them will say, “Oh, that’s
00:03:56.319 for bigger companies.” Like, we’ll grow
00:03:57.680 into that later. We don’t need it right
00:03:59.040 now.
00:04:01.280 I would say it’s for anyone anyone who
00:04:03.760 wants to start shaping that category
00:04:06.400 and ultimately it’s a matter of building
00:04:07.920 on these relationships, right? So, as
00:04:09.680 you continue to grow and as you continue
00:04:11.360 to talk to these analysts, uh they’ll be
00:04:13.360 sure they’ll be more likely or more apt
00:04:15.120 to include you into the reporting. So, I
00:04:17.199 think it’s an ongoing effort that
00:04:18.560 certainly um applies to really any
00:04:21.279 company whether small or big.
00:04:23.680 Yeah. And I will say for a smaller
00:04:25.120 company, for these startups, um
00:04:26.560 especially if you’re, you know, somewhat
00:04:29.040 of a a disruptor in your industry, in
00:04:31.840 your market, um it’s so much easier to
00:04:34.960 start talking to analysts early and and
00:04:38.160 proactively, like letting them, you
00:04:39.840 know, hear from you rather than about
00:04:41.280 you. Um versus having to like, you know,
00:04:44.800 couple years in, maybe your name starts
00:04:46.720 getting mentioned in these reports. um
00:04:49.440 having to go talk to these analysts and
00:04:51.440 say, “Hey, maybe a 100% of the story
00:04:53.600 wasn’t captured.” Um you know, we’re
00:04:56.080 we’re actually working more on this side
00:04:57.759 or we’re we’re doing things more in this
00:05:00.880 market. Um I think for for the the B2B
00:05:04.080 startups, getting it on the ground floor
00:05:06.000 just helps shape that messaging um as
00:05:09.680 you grow.
00:05:11.360 What about Oh, go ahead. Go ahead,
00:05:12.880 Andre. You’re gonna say something.
00:05:14.240 No, no. I I I think Brandy hit all the
00:05:16.639 notes there. Ultimately, it’s a matter
00:05:18.400 of uh showing face and showing these
00:05:21.360 analysts that you you are growing, your
00:05:23.680 company is growing and you know
00:05:25.600 continuously being involved in the
00:05:26.960 conversations that they’re putting
00:05:28.080 forward. Um but also just want to
00:05:30.080 recognize that analysts in addition to
00:05:32.080 you know covering trends but they’re
00:05:34.160 they’re also about focusing on
00:05:36.240 innovation as well. So if you’re on the
00:05:37.919 ground floor and you you have something
00:05:39.360 interesting or worth sharing to the
00:05:41.360 world, I’m positive that analysts would
00:05:43.199 find that interesting as well.
00:05:46.240 What about a lot of people who feel
00:05:48.639 like, hey, analyst programs are corrupt?
00:05:52.080 Not the not the program, but like the
00:05:53.759 analyst companies. They’re corrupt.
00:05:54.880 They’re payforplay. They only cater to
00:05:56.960 their, you know, big multi-million
00:05:58.800 dollar paying clients and and they don’t
00:06:01.120 mean anything. How do you bust that myth
00:06:04.240 or is that actually true?
00:06:06.960 I’m happy to jump in on this one just
00:06:10.400 because I know the the you know Forester
00:06:12.880 and Gartner partnerships can can be
00:06:16.639 upwards of you know a six figure number
00:06:20.560 um and I know that’s not realistic for a
00:06:22.880 lot of companies u but there are always
00:06:27.199 like earned opportunities even with the
00:06:29.440 bigname players like Forester and
00:06:31.440 Gartner they they want to hear what’s
00:06:34.240 upcoming
00:06:35.759 what’s new, what they need to keep on
00:06:37.600 their radar. But there’s also
00:06:40.560 thousands of analyst firms,
00:06:44.400 you know, smaller, often led by a former
00:06:46.800 gardener or a former forester um
00:06:49.360 analyst, but that are really really like
00:06:53.120 deeply connected to whichever industry.
00:06:56.560 Um, so it it might not be a case of
00:06:59.039 getting in front of the biggest names,
00:07:00.639 but getting in front of a really really
00:07:02.479 niche, targeted
00:07:04.560 firm uh that’s really well versed in
00:07:06.720 your industry.
00:07:08.160 What are you doing behind the scenes?
00:07:10.240 Like what what are you guys doing behind
00:07:11.520 the scenes that most people don’t
00:07:12.960 realize? Like so what’s actually going
00:07:14.880 into building an AR program?
00:07:18.800 Yeah, Adrian, you want to take this?
00:07:20.080 Yeah, I I think there’s a lot of uh
00:07:22.479 research, a lot of compiling of
00:07:24.080 materials and ultimately giving uh these
00:07:26.400 companies advice on the strategies and
00:07:28.400 really the messaging they should be
00:07:29.680 putting forward uh in front of analysts.
00:07:32.080 Uh for myself on a day-to-day basis, a
00:07:34.319 lot of my work really boils down to uh
00:07:36.880 doing an analysis about the company,
00:07:39.680 identifying new uh analyst opportunities
00:07:42.000 for them, and of course providing
00:07:44.160 support and really guidance on building
00:07:46.160 out uh various materials, whether it be
00:07:48.080 decks or even website messaging to
00:07:50.240 really get their point across as
00:07:51.520 effectively as possible.
00:07:55.199 Yeah, I think on the agency side it’s a
00:07:57.280 lot of
00:07:59.919 research and alignment to just make sure
00:08:02.319 everything ties into um the the future
00:08:05.840 of the industry as the analysts see it.
00:08:08.639 Um but then I think on the client side
00:08:12.319 like I think they just you know there’s
00:08:14.080 a
00:08:16.080 kind of not a quite a misconception but
00:08:18.080 it it takes a lot of intentional effort
00:08:21.840 on the client side as well behind the
00:08:23.599 scenes. It’s a lot of messaging
00:08:25.039 refinement and you know making sure the
00:08:28.639 product roadmap the the company
00:08:30.639 messaging like everything ties together.
00:08:33.440 Um, so we do a lot of working directly
00:08:35.519 with product teams, with customer
00:08:37.039 success teams. Um, we’re we’re really
00:08:39.599 trying to, you know, dig deeper beyond
00:08:41.679 the maybe press friendly or or comms
00:08:44.399 friendly sound bites um to to tell the
00:08:47.519 full picture.
00:08:48.800 You got to get a lot of people to align
00:08:50.480 up. Go ahead, AJ. Like the product,
00:08:52.320 customer success, leadership, like they
00:08:54.000 all have to be in alignment or it’s not
00:08:55.519 going to work.
00:08:56.880 Precisely. And to kind of uh piggyback
00:08:59.440 off what Brandy had mentioned, I think
00:09:01.279 if there’s a lot of value just having
00:09:02.640 say a third party, you know, team or
00:09:05.040 analyst relations group kind of look at
00:09:06.720 your material to kind of demystify a lot
00:09:08.959 of the uh messaging that you’re putting
00:09:11.040 forward. So, a lot of what we do
00:09:12.880 ultimately is making sure that the
00:09:14.959 messaging makes sense and it doesn’t
00:09:17.680 read like a different language to an
00:09:19.200 analyst firm um who’s interested in
00:09:21.680 learning more about the company. So
00:09:23.519 ultimately in some ways I consider us as
00:09:25.440 like a translators of sorts and uh
00:09:28.320 helping companies really uh express
00:09:30.800 themselves in better way to these
00:09:32.399 analyst groups.
00:09:33.440 Yeah, the translation I totally I
00:09:35.360 totally get that. So how do you
00:09:38.000 prep executives? Hey, you’re going to
00:09:39.360 meet with the analysts. It’s going to be
00:09:40.959 this is a high stakes meeting. This is
00:09:42.399 your rare chance to to give your to give
00:09:44.560 your talking points. How do you prep
00:09:46.000 them for what needs to happen in that
00:09:48.800 meeting? Say this. Don’t say that.
00:09:51.200 Here’s what they’re going to ask. here’s
00:09:52.640 what they’re going to want to say.
00:09:53.920 Here’s like landmines to avoid. What
00:09:56.080 kind of preparation goes on in there?
00:09:57.920 I mean, ideally, a lot of that
00:09:59.200 preparation is built into um kind of the
00:10:03.040 the creation overall of what we have
00:10:05.839 done. So, part of working with all these
00:10:07.760 different internal stakeholders is
00:10:09.839 making sure that all the pieces are
00:10:12.640 aligned to begin with. So then hopefully
00:10:15.279 hopefully it just comes down to putting
00:10:18.079 it all together in a in a way that makes
00:10:20.240 sense um to share with an analyst and
00:10:23.120 then you know just giving the the
00:10:24.880 spokesperson a heads up of here’s what
00:10:28.480 we’ve worked on like with with the team.
00:10:30.640 Here’s what the analyst is interested
00:10:32.640 in. A lot of them have their research um
00:10:36.480 their upcoming research available so you
00:10:38.800 you can see what they’re you know what
00:10:41.600 exact topics they’re digging into. So, a
00:10:44.640 lot of it is doing all that work on the
00:10:46.959 back end so that the the prep before
00:10:50.000 briefing an analyst is minor. Hopefully,
00:10:52.880 it’s, you know, we’re all ready to to
00:10:55.519 share that same narrative and it’s just
00:10:57.440 a matter of putting it in a in a
00:11:00.079 digestible visible format.
00:11:02.640 Yeah. And I honestly find analysts to be
00:11:05.120 very particular groups of people. um
00:11:07.600 they often do focus on a particular area
00:11:10.399 and it’s really on us to identify what
00:11:12.399 their subject matter expertise looks
00:11:13.920 like uh if they have any planned
00:11:15.920 scheduling for future reports and
00:11:17.760 further compiling that uh to the
00:11:20.320 customer or to the client I should say
00:11:22.000 to really help them identify ways to
00:11:24.160 message themselves and really to really
00:11:25.760 hone in on what the analyst is better
00:11:28.240 most focused on. Um, but ultimately it’s
00:11:30.959 a matter of asking. It’s a matter of
00:11:32.240 researching what the analyst is all
00:11:33.600 about and then, you know, adding all
00:11:35.279 that information say to a briefing
00:11:36.720 material for the client to look at to be
00:11:38.880 better prepared ahead of briefings. And
00:11:41.360 then just a weird little uh
00:11:44.560 just things to prep for that, you know,
00:11:46.959 maybe we weren’t uh anticipating, but um
00:11:51.519 make sure everything works on the uh
00:11:55.200 presentation format if it’s Zoom or
00:11:57.040 Teams or or whatever. We we just had um
00:12:00.399 a like audiovisisual test uh with one of
00:12:04.959 our teams before a briefing before an
00:12:06.720 important briefing to make sure that you
00:12:09.040 know the video in the deck worked. We
00:12:10.959 made sure the audio, everything was all
00:12:12.800 aligned. So, I think some of that is
00:12:14.959 going to be
00:12:16.639 make sure all of your tech works. Um,
00:12:19.760 yeah,
00:12:20.560 at the end of the day, briefings are
00:12:21.839 basically like uh shows or bits of
00:12:25.120 entertainment. Uh, so having a mic
00:12:26.800 check, I think, certainly helps. And
00:12:28.320 yeah, as long as the client is ready to
00:12:30.639 really talk about themselves, I think um
00:12:33.920 that that’s that’s all ready and good
00:12:36.160 good to be shared.
00:12:39.360 How do you measure success? Like we we
00:12:41.760 talk about this from a PR point of view.
00:12:43.279 Like you can get a lot of mentions, you
00:12:45.519 can get a lot of coverage, but it might
00:12:47.360 not turn into business success, right?
00:12:48.959 So, how do you measure success from a
00:12:50.320 from an AR point of view?
00:12:53.360 Yeah. I mean, I think because so much of
00:12:54.800 this is behind the scenes, um tracking
00:12:56.880 the impact requires a little bit of
00:12:58.480 nuance. So the the short-term success um
00:13:02.480 signs like you know report inclusion or
00:13:04.720 or being invited to participate in a
00:13:08.560 report um as far as like the the
00:13:13.839 feedback you hear from analysts in
00:13:16.000 briefings like the you know being
00:13:18.880 mentioned in in various quotes and
00:13:20.639 things that they’re doing I think are
00:13:22.639 signs that this is working but longer
00:13:25.920 term yeah it’s it’s just looking at like
00:13:29.120 shifting that category perception um and
00:13:31.760 influencing buyers. So, it’s a little
00:13:34.560 harder to measure long-term success or I
00:13:37.120 guess just a longer lead to measure that
00:13:40.240 success.
00:13:43.040 So, so how do you know or what are the
00:13:45.839 early signs? How what’s the early signs
00:13:47.839 that your long-term plan is resonating
00:13:50.240 in AR?
00:13:54.240 You want me to jump in?
00:13:56.800 No, no, no. Um I I I think for I I think
00:14:00.800 more immediate ways to see success
00:14:02.560 happening is just you know to Bry’s
00:14:04.639 point seeing if you’re mentioned in
00:14:05.920 reports following conversations uh
00:14:08.000 seeing if you’re quoted say analysts
00:14:10.000 often times do you talk to media and
00:14:11.760 kind of capturing their conversations
00:14:13.760 with the broader uh you know media
00:14:15.920 landscape I think is also very ideal in
00:14:18.720 in really identifying what success looks
00:14:20.480 like. Um, and of course just continue
00:14:23.279 conversation. If an analyst like is
00:14:25.279 interested in the first convo and
00:14:26.560 they’re like, “Well, you know, we have
00:14:27.519 another report coming out. Let’s talk
00:14:29.199 again.” I think that really does uh
00:14:31.360 spell for a good sign for a good and uh
00:14:34.079 successful AR program.
00:14:35.680 Yeah. Or even taking time like having
00:14:38.480 that flexibility within a set briefing
00:14:41.360 of, you know, if one topic sparks
00:14:44.320 something with the analyst and they they
00:14:46.160 have questions and they’re really
00:14:47.360 engaged in that aspect.
00:14:50.079 Okay. like dedicating time to talk about
00:14:53.279 what they want to talk about. I think
00:14:54.800 that’s a like a very clear sign that
00:14:58.079 there is something within the industry
00:15:01.680 that they are keeping an eye on that
00:15:03.279 they really want to hear from your
00:15:05.519 company and your perspective on. I think
00:15:08.160 noticing things during briefings um is
00:15:11.279 always a good sign of like where are
00:15:13.839 they engaging and then you know tweaking
00:15:16.160 your messaging and everything moving
00:15:18.240 forward to to make sure we’re staying on
00:15:20.000 top of that.
00:15:21.199 Yeah.
00:15:23.680 A lot of companies we’re dealing with
00:15:25.760 this is their very first foray into AR,
00:15:29.120 right? They’ve never done it before.
00:15:30.399 We’re helping them. What’s the first
00:15:32.320 step they should take?
00:15:36.160 read and read.
00:15:38.880 Read what? What are they reading?
00:15:40.959 Right. I think part of it’s looking
00:15:42.160 looking at your own like auditing your
00:15:44.000 own company, your your messaging, your
00:15:46.399 product road map, like taking a look
00:15:48.160 within all the different parts of the
00:15:49.440 organization and just making sure those
00:15:51.279 are all speaking the same language, the
00:15:54.160 same narrative to begin with because
00:15:56.000 that’s probably the first step you’ll
00:15:57.920 want to align before getting in front of
00:16:00.560 an analyst.
00:16:01.920 Yeah.
00:16:02.320 Yeah. That’s that’s the first part to
00:16:04.800 read and research is internal.
00:16:07.839 Yeah, just making sure your ducks are in
00:16:09.360 a row figuratively uh ensuring that the
00:16:11.600 messaging is at least consistent in some
00:16:13.920 ways and if you do have material that
00:16:16.399 can be shared uh down the line, but
00:16:18.480 ultimately it’s a matter of getting your
00:16:19.839 information in the right spot that can
00:16:21.920 be shared to groups like analyst firms
00:16:25.839 and then keeping an eye on what your
00:16:27.920 competitors are up to, what you know
00:16:30.160 who’s mentioning them, what reports are
00:16:31.759 they showing up in because if you’re
00:16:33.759 seeing those reports like your your
00:16:35.600 buyers are probably seeing them
00:16:37.519 Yeah.
00:16:38.480 So, identifying what what’s going to be
00:16:40.079 the biggest impact like what
00:16:43.279 what firm, what report, what you know,
00:16:45.600 what are your buyers most interested in
00:16:48.560 reading? Where do they get most of the
00:16:50.399 their influence? Um, and just setting
00:16:53.600 yourself up to get in front of them that
00:16:56.240 way.
00:16:56.800 What are some disagreements that you’ve
00:16:58.880 had with with clients? Maybe it’s a myth
00:17:02.240 that just hey they don’t understand like
00:17:03.600 something where they something it’s like
00:17:04.959 they misconception or disagreement or
00:17:06.880 myth just like no this is not how we do
00:17:08.880 this like you have to listen to us like
00:17:10.720 they don’t like that the client doesn’t
00:17:12.079 understand but you’re trying to help
00:17:13.199 them get on the right track.
00:17:16.559 I think just separating the idea like it
00:17:21.760 AR and PR play really nicely together
00:17:24.240 but they you can’t take the same
00:17:26.720 approach it doesn’t translate directly
00:17:29.360 so I think
00:17:32.080 the
00:17:34.000 I don’t know the nuance of of separating
00:17:36.880 like
00:17:38.960 I don’t know I kind of lost half of my
00:17:41.440 train of thought there but um
00:17:44.240 AR so AR pair they play nicely together
00:17:46.320 but but you’re trying to say there’s
00:17:47.440 maybe a difference in nuance there they
00:17:49.360 are complimentary but they’re not the
00:17:50.720 same thing is that what you’re trying to
00:17:51.840 get at
00:17:52.320 right the approach is is certainly
00:17:54.000 different you can’t uh it’s a lot harder
00:17:56.000 to to take a budding news story and
00:17:58.960 immediately attach your your name on it
00:18:01.120 for um an analyst in the same way that
00:18:04.080 you would maybe newsjack to get in front
00:18:06.240 of journalists. It’s a it’s a longer
00:18:08.400 game.
00:18:09.200 Yeah.
00:18:09.600 Um so building the pieces in it takes a
00:18:12.160 little bit longer to fit it into that
00:18:14.160 overarching
00:18:15.760 narrative for the industry.
00:18:17.600 Absolutely. And I think the name of the
00:18:19.520 game here is just patience. Uh there’s
00:18:22.240 very much a longer lead. Uh it’s a
00:18:24.400 matter of building trust. It’s a matter
00:18:25.840 of growing influence over time and in
00:18:28.080 ways where you could have immediate
00:18:29.440 success say with PR efforts. AR is a bit
00:18:32.480 more drawn out and I think that’s
00:18:34.240 definitely a misconception some clients
00:18:36.080 might have initially for sure.
00:18:38.320 Like they expect results happening in in
00:18:40.960 one quarter, that kind of thing, but it
00:18:42.240 might take longer than that.
00:18:43.440 Exactly. Because reports generally have
00:18:45.120 longer lead times, you know, it’s not a
00:18:46.559 matter of just like talking to a client
00:18:48.080 or a customer, just writing about them
00:18:50.000 in a week’s or two. Uh these are
00:18:52.720 conversations that happen on a long term
00:18:54.559 that do need a lot more time baked in
00:18:57.520 and it might take you know a few
00:19:01.039 briefing cycles uh research cycles to
00:19:03.760 even be considered or be invited to join
00:19:07.840 one of these reports. So it’s not
00:19:10.880 getting discouraged if there’s
00:19:12.320 immediately not like you know the
00:19:15.200 results that you wanted aren’t there
00:19:16.559 within a month or even within a quarter.
00:19:19.760 Um, but it is that longer term,
00:19:23.919 you know, slow slow build.
00:19:25.760 Yeah, they’re very much a snowball
00:19:27.440 effect. It all accumulates after a
00:19:29.520 while.
00:19:31.120 We talked about disagreements with
00:19:32.559 clients. Are there ever any
00:19:33.760 disagreements between the two of you,
00:19:36.480 strategy, your tactics?
00:19:39.120 Um, I’m going to go on a lim here and
00:19:41.039 say no. Brandy is extremely um flexible
00:19:44.720 and is very uh you know a fantastic
00:19:48.240 person to work with in so far as we have
00:19:50.320 you know disagreements is like whether
00:19:51.919 or not I want to make a deck a certain
00:19:53.440 color. Uh but ultimately I think we do
00:19:56.000 find a lot of alignment in the work that
00:19:57.360 we do.
00:19:58.720 Thanks. Yeah, I would say that the team
00:20:01.120 the team functions
00:20:03.200 brilliantly and I think a lot of it
00:20:05.440 because this is, you know, something
00:20:07.600 that we’re we’re still building out on a
00:20:10.400 dayto day um and getting more and more
00:20:12.559 involved with this like we’re we’re
00:20:15.200 figuring out how to grow the grow these
00:20:16.880 pieces together uh and to make sure that
00:20:20.160 you know the whole team is aligned with
00:20:23.200 with everything we’re doing. The clients
00:20:24.720 are aligned. Um, but no, I would say
00:20:27.440 internally it’s pretty smooth sailing.
00:20:30.559 What is the bill like? Because I we’ve
00:20:31.840 been doing analyst relations here at
00:20:32.960 Billsar for a long time. Certainly
00:20:34.480 before I got here, it’s it’s been many
00:20:36.559 many years. What’s what’s new right now
00:20:39.039 in terms of doing more with it?
00:20:42.320 Um, being able to build a bigger team to
00:20:44.480 do so, just to be able to take on more
00:20:47.200 um has been exciting. I think for a long
00:20:50.799 time it was kind of peace meal um you
00:20:54.159 know join join a PR team and you know
00:20:57.360 they if there’s an analyst component of
00:21:00.559 their scope supporting um you know I’ve
00:21:03.440 always been able to work that in but
00:21:05.679 really looking at building out a full
00:21:07.679 team for this and and separating it
00:21:12.960 from PR not full
00:21:15.520 interesting so instead of it being just
00:21:16.640 a little add-on it’s it’s it own stand
00:21:19.360 like the way social media is no longer
00:21:20.960 an add-on. It’s a separate standalone
00:21:23.280 professional team. I see what you’re
00:21:24.640 saying.
00:21:25.039 Yeah.
00:21:26.640 Yeah. Just cultivating as much man
00:21:28.960 power, woman power, they them power for
00:21:31.840 the analyst uh firm analysts work and
00:21:34.720 really making an effort for the clients
00:21:36.400 that sign up for the program.
00:21:39.600 What about AI? I feel like we can’t
00:21:41.200 leave without talking about AI. What?
00:21:42.960 It’s changing everything, right?
00:21:44.799 Everything.
00:21:46.640 Everything. I mean, it’s changing how
00:21:48.799 analysts are look like
00:21:50.480 what that market looks like. They’re
00:21:53.919 they’re having to stay on top of what
00:21:56.240 everyone in the industry that they’re
00:21:58.799 focusing on how all the, you know, all
00:22:02.480 the different components of their AI fit
00:22:05.120 together. And I think it’s just opening
00:22:07.600 more
00:22:09.520 opportunities, more doors um for
00:22:12.640 different categories if if there’s, you
00:22:15.120 know, I mean, there’s new innovations in
00:22:16.480 this every day. I feel like I’m reading
00:22:18.000 new headlines about what AI can do.
00:22:20.880 So, I think there’s just going to be a
00:22:22.159 growth of
00:22:24.559 just more uh more markets. they’re going
00:22:27.679 to have to look through multiple lenses
00:22:29.840 and and I think we’re going to see
00:22:32.480 research on things that um we haven’t
00:22:35.120 even considered yet.
00:22:36.880 Yeah. In some ways like AI has opened up
00:22:40.400 so many like analyst practices. Uh
00:22:44.000 really to Brandy’s point tackling AI’s
00:22:46.559 focus or impact on a number of different
00:22:48.799 industries. um more recently working
00:22:51.760 with an analyst that started off um a
00:22:54.880 report around AI and the workforce like
00:22:57.280 really helping understand uh what AI
00:22:59.760 could do to the workforce. Say something
00:23:01.919 as sci-fi as the presence of um virtual
00:23:06.640 employees. These are all areas that
00:23:08.559 analysts are continuing to focus on and
00:23:10.799 AI of course is a part of that.
00:23:14.159 I know an analyst and he’s showed me all
00:23:16.159 the stuff that he’s been doing with AI
00:23:17.919 where he said I can just crank out a
00:23:19.840 30-page report, right? Like the AI
00:23:22.159 writes it. I just throw in a couple of
00:23:23.760 inputs. It does the analysis. It writes
00:23:25.600 it up. And it’s crazy to see because
00:23:28.159 we’re using AI to help feed the analyst,
00:23:30.159 but the analyst is using AI to help
00:23:31.840 write the report. Then someone is using
00:23:33.679 AI to read the report and come up with
00:23:35.360 the bullet points of what it is. So, at
00:23:37.120 some point, we’re all just out of the
00:23:40.000 loop. was just these AIs talking to
00:23:41.840 themselves and talking to each other.
00:23:43.440 The AI is making the decision because
00:23:44.960 maybe the AI read someone’s AI written
00:23:47.200 analyst report in terms of what vendor
00:23:48.799 to buy
00:23:50.240 maybe. But that’s I mean that’s why we
00:23:52.000 got to do all that work on the back end
00:23:53.440 to make sure that uh the initial
00:23:55.600 information that all of these various AI
00:23:58.559 tools will then be working with is
00:24:00.880 accurate and up to date and making sure
00:24:03.760 it’s telling the story that you know
00:24:05.440 they’ll pick up along the way.
00:24:07.200 Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:10.080 What else? What what’s like your like
00:24:11.760 last piece of advice for for clients or
00:24:14.559 or let’s say even prospects who are
00:24:16.000 thinking about, you know, should we do
00:24:18.080 this, should we not? We we have an
00:24:19.840 internal AI AR person. Do we need to go
00:24:22.240 get an external helper? Like I’m sure
00:24:23.679 that’s like a big question you see a lot
00:24:25.360 too.
00:24:27.360 Yeah. Um I think the biggest piece is
00:24:30.960 really just making sure that by the time
00:24:32.720 you are ready for uh any sort of analyst
00:24:36.000 program that
00:24:38.640 all of your internal stakeholders are
00:24:41.919 aligned. I think that’s that’s got to be
00:24:43.760 the first thing because so many there’s
00:24:45.120 so many pieces to this to making this
00:24:47.360 work. Um
00:24:48.880 do you see a lot of misalignment the way
00:24:51.120 you say that you you say it in a way
00:24:52.720 that suggests that you’ve seen companies
00:24:54.080 that want to try but they’re not aligned
00:24:55.520 and somehow it goes wrong. That’s that’s
00:24:57.039 what I’m picking up on. not not goes
00:24:59.200 wrong, but I think it can be challenging
00:25:01.360 um because until you start getting into
00:25:03.279 it, you it’s it’s hard to I think judge
00:25:07.279 how big of a lift this can be internally
00:25:10.960 um with product teams with you if
00:25:13.919 there’s customer success teams, if
00:25:17.840 there’s sales, like we work with a bunch
00:25:19.760 of different internal product like
00:25:21.760 internal teams and I know they all have
00:25:23.440 their own deadlines and projects that
00:25:25.520 they’re working on too. Um, so not so
00:25:28.159 much like, you know, it’s gone
00:25:30.240 disastrous, but it it
00:25:32.400 the thing very annoying. Is that is that
00:25:34.559 what happens instead?
00:25:36.240 Oh, yeah. We end up just sort of having
00:25:37.760 to bug everyone
00:25:40.080 every step of the way, which is
00:25:42.559 doable. We’re we’re fine to be politely
00:25:45.279 pushy about it, but um it helps just
00:25:48.640 kind of knowing going into it that this
00:25:52.480 is a this is a big lift on the client
00:25:54.240 side as well.
00:25:56.880 What about you, AJ? Any any words of
00:25:59.039 advice or final parting thoughts?
00:26:01.360 I I think AR is fantastic. I think it’s
00:26:04.320 very worthwhile especially to any
00:26:06.000 company that is looking to really make
00:26:08.159 their place known uh in their respective
00:26:10.240 industry. But you know ultimately if you
00:26:12.960 know you are interested in AR and you
00:26:14.880 want to pursue it, I highly recommend
00:26:17.039 what we had discussed earlier in really
00:26:19.200 refining what your messaging is looks
00:26:20.640 like. uh building out customer stories
00:26:22.480 that can be shared with analyst groups
00:26:24.080 because they really like that uh those
00:26:25.919 outcomes to be kind of spelled out for
00:26:28.240 their research and work and ultimately
00:26:31.200 be willing to share information about
00:26:32.720 how you see the future whether it be
00:26:34.480 through your own product roadmap but
00:26:35.919 ultimately how the industry you think
00:26:38.159 will be transforming. So again it’s a
00:26:41.200 great opportunity uh but keeping those
00:26:43.120 three you know areas of focus in mind I
00:26:45.279 think you could find success for any AR
00:26:48.080 program for any company of any size.
00:26:49.919 I like that. I like the way you break
00:26:51.279 that down into these sort of chunks that
00:26:54.720 help the analyst. Like I think the more
00:26:56.320 we can help the analyst, the more the
00:26:58.159 company is going to get meetings,
00:27:00.159 briefing time, and mentions. It’s not
00:27:02.240 just, hey, brag about yourself because I
00:27:04.240 don’t think the analyst needs that. It’s
00:27:05.679 like help the analyst tell their story.
00:27:07.679 So in that way, it’s very similar to PR,
00:27:09.600 right? Help the journalist write their
00:27:11.360 story and then they’re going to talk to
00:27:12.640 you more.
00:27:13.279 Yeah. It’s a matter of helping them help
00:27:14.960 themselves and making a relationship
00:27:16.720 down the line. And I think that’s one of
00:27:18.480 the best parts of working with uh the
00:27:20.080 analyst relations uh team here at
00:27:21.760 Boseark.
00:27:22.400 And then the last thing, how long do you
00:27:23.760 think people should be signing up for?
00:27:25.840 Because as we’ve seen with PR, people
00:27:27.200 are like, “Hey, I need quick three to
00:27:28.799 six months and then I’m gone.” But with
00:27:31.679 but with analysts, it might be a year or
00:27:33.520 two before it really, you know, gets
00:27:36.080 traction. But if you if you stop and
00:27:38.000 start and take pauses and bail in that
00:27:41.760 time, you probably don’t really get
00:27:43.279 anywhere. And then maybe it’s worse than
00:27:44.960 having not started. I think it depends
00:27:47.440 on what the ideal outcome is. Like for
00:27:51.440 an ongoing, you know, we we want to
00:27:53.919 build relationships with analysts
00:27:57.360 for the foreseeable future. I I think a
00:28:01.120 minimum of 6 months to a year just to
00:28:05.200 get all of those pieces in place and and
00:28:07.279 start making those moves. But I think
00:28:09.520 there is room for,
00:28:13.120 you know, a quick um
00:28:16.159 maybe we, you know, we want to work with
00:28:17.440 an analyst specifically to commission
00:28:20.240 some sort of research together or to
00:28:22.799 work on a white paper or a webinar or
00:28:24.640 something, a one-off project together.
00:28:27.039 Um, I think there’s I think there can be
00:28:29.039 room for for that, but for the
00:28:30.960 long-term, you know, category
00:28:34.240 building and and mind share of your your
00:28:38.080 buyers, um, I think I would say minimum
00:28:40.640 six months to start seeing that traction
00:28:42.480 moving.
00:28:43.279 Yeah, I I certainly can echo Ry’s
00:28:45.039 sentiment of the sixmonth minimum. Um
00:28:47.760 but also Eric to your point earlier
00:28:49.520 about the role of AI and its potential
00:28:52.320 impact on analyst uh research research
00:28:56.240 cycles could certainly kick up in the
00:28:57.840 next couple of years and that’s
00:28:58.880 something we want to be cognizant of. Um
00:29:00.720 but as it stands I think six months at
00:29:02.720 the at the at the least is a good
00:29:04.559 starting point.
00:29:05.279 Right. I like that. I like that. Hey
00:29:06.960 this has been super fascinating. I
00:29:08.559 learned a lot. Like I said this is
00:29:10.720 outside of my normal area. So to hear
00:29:13.039 what you all are doing there and all the
00:29:14.720 behind the-scenes work and and getting
00:29:16.559 companies to be aligned, I didn’t even
00:29:18.640 think about that as as such an issue,
00:29:20.080 right? Do you really need alignment? Who
00:29:21.520 would have thought, right? So so so no,
00:29:24.000 fascinating. I Brandy Asia, I really
00:29:25.600 appreciate the time today and and uh I
00:29:27.679 know you’re busy. Get you back to work.
00:29:29.360 We’ll talk to you soon.
00:29:30.880 Great. Thanks, Eric. Thanks, Eric.
00:29:34.320 Thank you to my guest and thanks for
00:29:35.919 listening. Subscribe to get the latest
00:29:37.840 episodes each week and we’ll see you
00:29:39.600 next time.