iPhrase

Having worked with PAN Communications on successful media and analyst relations programs for nearly two years, iPhrase Technologies sought to take its relationships with the industry analyst community to the next level. iPhrase turned to PAN Communications for the strategy, concept and execution that would enable the company to meet and exceed this objective.

The Challenge

Having worked with PAN Communications to establish some solid relationships with key industry analysts, iPhrase Technologies was seeking a way to both reinforce and take these relationships to a new level.

In the crowded search market, iPhrase faced difficulty differentiating itself from a bevy of small search vendors, while trying to gain ground on larger vendors including Inktomi, Verity and Autonomy, who were most often perceived as the leaders in the space. To tackle this problem head-on, iPhrase launched an analyst relations program aimed at developing key relationships with key analysts at high-profile firms such as Gartner, IDC, Giga and META Group. After getting to know iPhrase, and the strength of their search technology, these analysts became champions of the company and the product. This small group acted as "go-to" analysts for feedback, counsel, press release quotes and media support. Through early 2002, this approach served iPhrase well.

The challenge for the second half of 2002 was for iPhrase and PAN to find a way to work together to build on the support which had been generated from these analysts and to expand that support to include other analysts covering iPhrase's vertical markets.

The Approach

PAN Communications recommended a strategy which would employ a three-tier approach to briefing and maintaining relationships with iPhrase's six key analyst firms: Forrester, Gartner, Giga, IDC, META and Yankee. The three-tier approach identified the key search analysts that iPhrase already had established relationships with, and on top of those contacts targeted tier-two analysts who were focused on areas adjacent to search including CRM, self-service and content and knowledge management. The third tier included analysts focused on iPhrase's target vertical markets including financial services and manufacturing/high technology, as well as some analysts at second- and third-tier firms.

The new strategy focused on maintaining iPhrase's relationships with the search analysts, but at the same time making headway into the tier two and three analysts to ensure iPhrase was well represented at each firm.

The culmination of this strategy took place in October 2002. PAN Communications initiated an Analyst Day to bring together all of these key influencers for a deep session discussing iPhrase, its customers, partners and vision. Held in Cambridge, PAN organized the event and secured the attendance of nine analysts from eight major analyst firms, as well as reporters from BusinessWeek and Network World who were working on stories about iPhrase and wanted an inside look at the company.
During the event, iPhrase was able to brief most of its analyst community on the latest version of its product, highlight customer and partner success stories and explain iPhrase's unique approach to search and self-service.

The Results

Results from the Analyst Day event were phenomenal, NetworkWorld ran a piece on iPhrase's latest version of its product iPhrase One Step and AMR issued a positive alert on the upgrade as well. In addition, iPhrase was included in analyst reports from IDC and Giga and four analysts requested one-on-one interviews with iPhrase customers.

Since the beginning of 2002, iPhrase has made huge strides in establishing a roster of high-profile customers in manufacturing/high technology, financial services, retail and service providers. The analyst program has supported the sales team along the way with strong support of the company's solution.

Furthermore, iPhrase conducted double the number of analyst briefings than the previous year, and the company was included in almost 10 times the number of analyst and industry reports.

Finally, the Analyst Day event was validation for the small core group of search analysts who had been iPhrase champions within their own firms since the beginning, by coming together with colleagues who have taken a similar stance with their firms.