Analyst relations is a

corporate strategy In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessment ...

corporate communications Corporate communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favourable point of view among stakeholders on which the company depends. Riel, Cees B.M. van; Fombru ...

and

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

activity in which corporations communicate with ICT

industry analyst An industry analyst performs primary and secondary market research within an industry such as information technology, consulting or insurance. Analysts assess sector trends, create segment taxonomies, size markets, prepare forecasts, and develop in ...

s (also known as research analysts) who work for independent research and consulting firms such as the

Big Four accounting firms The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world, the global accounting networks Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The four are often grouped because they are comparable in size re ...

. Analyst advice is often used by

Fortune 1000 The Fortune 1000 are the 1,000 largest American companies ranked by revenues, as compiled by the American business magazine ''Fortune''. It only includes companies which are incorporated or authorized to do business in the United States, and for ...

companies and others to determine the best option for major investment in ICT - especially where the deal is complex, changing, costly or critical. Top industry analysts have the power to make or break deals, thanks to their deep-rooted, subscription-based relationships with end-user technology buyers. Some analysts also focus on helping ICT firms to write request for proposal documents. Therefore, the strategy behind an effective Analyst Relations program is known as "influencing the influencers", a phrase coined by

Omnicom Group Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer re ...

's Brodeur agency in 2002.

Types and history

Large corporations supplying technology ( hardware,

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

, networking, and

IT Services Information technology service management (ITSM) is the activities that are performed by an organization to design, build, deliver, operate and control information technology (IT) services offered to customers. Differing from more technology-or ...

) usually have an Analyst Relations person or team (sometimes called industry relations). Corporate analyst relations functions are also found in the automotive,

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

industries. In addition to in-house AR employees, there are a number of agencies offering specialized analyst relations support. In 2004, Efrem Mallach listed four types of industry analysts: *Scheduled. Market share forecasters follow set annual cycles. *Planned. These analysts plan research agendas several months in advance. *Event-driven. These analysts respond to current developments. *Client-driven. These analysts, and also consultants and advisors in the same firms, apply existing knowledge to specific inquiries submitted by clients. The remit of an AR team is to ensure that industry analysts are briefed on a regular basis about their company's strategy, products, services and solutions, as well as their ability to execute in terms of global scale and go-to-market capabilities. In addition, ARs respond to research requests, and generally try to persuade these influential third parties to represent their organization in the best possible light. Analyst Relations teams often report into a

corporate communication Corporate communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications aimed at creating favourable point of view among stakeholders on which the company depends. Riel, Cees B.M. van; Fombru ...

s function, although they can also report to

investor relations Investor relations (IR) is a strategic management responsibility that is capable of integrating finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial co ...

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...

, or even directly to the CEO. In June 2006, the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations was formed as a non-profit community of practice for Analyst Relations professionals and its members are both in-house and agency side AR professionals. Membership is closed to industry analysts.

References

External links

Institute of Industry Analyst Relations
professionals association founded in 2006 Public relations Business terms

Types and history

See also

References

Further reading

External links