I realized that I have been making a lot of noise on the Fusion PR website about PR, Done & Doner – but have said nothing here. Three great episodes in, I guess it is about time.
The podcast was conceived to equip tech PR and marketing with the info needed to get the best possible results, in an informative and easily digestible format. (As you can probably guess by the title and art, it’s intended to be a fun, provocative, irreverent affair. Hopefully not too dumb; or overdone).
We publish via Anchor.fm – you can download audio-only versions there, and from all popular podcasting platforms. To check out videos, head over to Fusion’s YouTube channel.
We publish once a month, and so far, have covered:
Episode 1: I interviewed Robin Schaffer, an industry analyst relations expert. Her company Schaffer AR helps B2B tech companies maximize results with analysts and get top placement in their reports. Robin countered myths and misperceptions about analysts, and answered the most common questions asked by PR teams, such as:
When is the right time to hire an analyst firm?
What to invest and when?
Hire a big or boutique firm?
Is it pay-for-play?
They are miscategorizing us (or there is no category) – what to do?
Episode 2: Kevin Maney, co-founder of strategy consulting firm Category Design Advisors, joined me to discuss how tech companies can achieve market leadership.
It’s a noisy and competitive word in technology. How to stand apart? It gets down to creating and owning a category. Kevin offered learnings based on his many years working as a consultant, top journalist and co-author of Play Bigger.
We also got into PR tactics, explored what tech marketing can learn from infomercials, and how to reinvent the press release.
In Episode 3, which just dropped this week, guest Mark Traphagen, VP of Product Marketing and Training for SEOclarity, joined me to discuss the state of SEO and relevance for PR. Search continues to drive most website traffic, yet many in the PR field are unsure of how to leverage it for the best content and earned media results. Mark is an award-winning veteran of Internet and search marketing. He sheds light on the following questions and topics:
The latest updates to Google’s search algorithm
Blogging and website content for improved SEO and PR
Can startups displace the giants in search results?
Why good UX is so important
How to combine SEO and PR for the best results
We welcome suggestions for topics and speakers – so hope you enjoy it, and please chime in!
Many wish to continue to write off public relations and kick it to the curb – by coldly saying that the profession and/or its trappings are dead. First it was gripes about the press release, and in the latest example, a report that tech PR is dead, which I just read in Inc.
Yeah, I know, it makes for captivating clickbait. These kinds of “XXXX is Dead” hit jobs are perennial, evergreen stories that keep on cropping up, as sure as the calendar turns, not just about PR of course, but that is my peeve, so allow me to vent.
This slight may seem trivial compared to real life and death situations, but PR is my livelihood, and puts bread on the table for my family and 275K other people in the industry across the US, according to the BLS (2019 numbers; expected to grow by 7% annually through 2029, more on average than other professions). I’ve witnessed time and time again how a strategic and well-thought out PR program can bring real value to a business.
So why have a blog with “revenge” in the name if I can’t get me some? Or at least blog a strongly worded rebuttal.
Is the Press Release Truly Dead?
I was already in a crusty mood when I saw the Inc. piece because I had heard from a colleague that her journalist friend said the press release is dead. She wanted my thoughts, and is probably sorry that she asked, because I chided her and gave reading assignments from my blog (like this post and this one).
I wasn’t trying to shoot the messenger, after all, a reporter said those words. But that does not impress me. I mean, what journalist would admit to liking press releases, or relying on them, generally? Who’s going to rise to defend our industry’s punching bag, documents that seem cookie cutter, useless, all too often written poorly with trite, overly cheerful quotes and obscure buzz words?
I WILL, GODDAMNIT!!!!!!
Because just as soon as we have news without a press release, you’ll have a journalist who doesn’t think it’s real news if there’s no release. You’ll have investors pining for potentially stock-moving PR news. You’ll have industry analysts wondering what’s been announced. You’ll have end users searching in vain for the latest product news.
And last I heard, the newswire business is doing well thank you, still a hearty institution supported by an ecosystem that generates, distributes and consumes the “news.”
But people have been saying press releases have been dead for years, since the advent of social media. Since Silicon Valley Watcher reporter Tom Foremski wrote Die, Press Release, Die in 2008.
People, the press release is just a conduit, a capsule. In addition to that, it is a helpful tool for many journalists who really are asking for more information than a simple, pithy email pitch provides. Granted, there are other ways to share your update in today’s media landscape. But press releases still happen, and yes, they can be written well and tell great stories.
Is Tech PR Really Dead?
Then, I got my own unwelcome bit of non-press release news, via an Inc. piece that says Tech PR is Dead. That really hits close to home.
People I know who work in this area would find that statement laughable. Speaking for Fusion PR, we are in growth mode (and hiring, please spread the word!). It is not just us. There is no shortage of competitors on our new business pitches, and other tech PR shops are doing quite well thank you, best I can gather.
So why even respond, and draw more attention to the article? Well, it is Inc. And there are enough truisms and smart sounding but inaccurate statements that could convince a casual reader.
The writer builds her argument by restating things that have been widely known for years, if not many years (there are shrinking newsrooms, fewer journalists, news cycles that are dominated by big news and brands, and increasing industry noise). She throws in a gratuitous “because of COVID.” These realities make it harder to earn media coverage.
But the same trends can be applied to so many other industries. So, how to account for the bullish growth numbers for public relations more generally?
I submit that the tech PR field is growing too, due to the expansion of tech in every aspect of our lives and business. There’s an ongoing march of tech startups. Some say that every company is a software or tech company.
Indeed, Joan Westerberg writes:
“The demand for technology news is bigger than ever. There are more tech companies, more startups, and more VCs than ever before. The appetite is there. But it’s not a journalist’s job to create content for you; their job is to report on and cover the news.”
The last bit is insulting, I’m sorry, it just is. Yes, it’s harder to rise above the noise, and interest journalists who cover tech – that is why you need professional help. But no one I know thinks that it is the journalist’s job to write puff pieces for clients.
Westerberg continues:
“Your brand is not likely to cut through anymore… You don’t need to go broke on unnoticed PR campaigns when you can tell a captivating story online — and share your news with the press only when it’s news.”
The prescription? She advises to “tell better stories using owned and shared channels, like your website and social media… Make those channels shine. Appeal to more minor writers and content creators and partner with them.”
This sounds like warmed over content marketing advice from about five years ago.
Her conclusion that the tech PR model is broken seems based on an outdated view of PR as simply media relations. Since the latter is broken, tech PR is dead, the argument goes.
First, there is no monolithic “tech PR” model. Different shops offer different services. I don’t know of any agency that just does media relations, tech or otherwise. The arsenal has evolved to a service mix spanning content, strategy, digital, and others – some of the very things Westerberg advocates.
It is true: the media still are front and center in PR (see this Muckrack survey). However, the better PR shops are finding ways to deal with today’s challenges. I wrote about the enduring importance of media in the PR mix three years ago. It was true then and it is still true today.
We are proud to introduce PR: Done and Doner, a podcast that equips tech PR and marketing pros with the info needed to get the best possible results.
It is not just about mastering the changing world of earned media, although that is key part (and not getting any easier, most agree). We take a more expansive view, and understand that modern PR goes well beyond scoring press hits. To help companies succeed, the tech comms pro of today must have many more arrows in the quiver.
So, expect to see episodes that cover earned and paid media, content, messaging, reputation, positioning, branding, SEO, digital, analyst and influencer relations, and more – in an informative and easily digestible format with video and audio. (As you can probably guess by the title and art, it’s intended to be a fun, provocative, irreverent affair. Hopefully not too dumb; or overdone).
The show is hosted by Fusion PR principals (and tech PR veterans) Bob Geller and Jordan Chanofsky. We’ll interview guest who are experts – renowned authors and practitioners who can shed light on the latest strategies, tactics and best practices.
You have PR questions? We have answers: done! (And doner).
In this episode, Bob Geller interviews Robin Schaffer, an industry analyst relations expert. Her company Schaffer AR helps B2B tech companies maximize results with analysts and get top placement in their reports. Here, Robin counters myths and misperceptions about analysts, and answers the most common questions asked by PR teams, such as:
When is the right time to hire an analyst firm?
What to invest and when?
Hire a big or boutique firm?
Is it pay for play?
They are miscategorizing us (or there is no category) – what to do?
PR, Done and Doner is available on Anchor, Spotify and other popular podcasting channels.
By now you have likely heard of the biggest news from the first days of the French Open this past weekend. It was actually about no news, or rather the refusal of one of the shining stars to engage in press activities surrounding the event.
Instead of facing the media – and submitting to threats and fines – Naomi Osaka withdrew, citing depression, anxiety and fear of public speaking. She also said she did not want to become a distraction (and promptly became the main story).
The episode raises all kinds of questions. What is an athlete’s obligation to the sport that helped make her a star (she’s the world’s highest paid female in sports)? Should there be an exception to the rule that you must play the game (not tennis but the game of getting grilled by the press)? Do the media have an inalienable right to put athletes up against the wall at the pleasure of sports fans?
Like a bad movie, no one comes away looking good. Many observers expressed sympathy, but as the New York Times reported:
Few of Ms. Osaka’s colleagues have shown unequivocal supportfor her stance.“Press and players and the tournaments comes hand in hand,” Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, said. “I think it’s very important in developing our sport, in promoting our sport.” She added that there were moments when the media did need to be more compassionate…
“Above all, it’s just really sad: for her, for the tournament, for the sport,” said Martina Navratilova, a former No. 1 who has seen plenty of tennis turmoil in her 50 years in the game. “She tried to sidestep or lessen a problem for herself and instead she just made it much bigger than it was in the first place.”
New York Times
I agree it is hard not to sympathize, Naomi Osaka is still young and is obviously suffering from some issues.
The sympathy is tempered by the fact that, while it seems she is taking a stand at great personal expense, others might not so easily be able to afford to do this. Plus it seems a bit disingenuous to shun some media Q & A about the game, yet embrace brand endorsement deals that add to her public profile. The Times wrote that she became a favored spokesmodel who doesn’t shy from using her platform for activism.
Another wrinkle: the newspaper reported that poor communications played a role. An agreement could have been negotiated quietly rather than the whole thing becoming a spectacle where a young champ felt as if she had no option but to unceremoniously leave the event.
Perhaps the one positive takeaway is the attention brought to mental health issues (especially in a COVID era) and the stresses that athletes face beyond competition.
What do you think? I asked the Fusion PR team. Here were some of their responses (their views and mine don’t necessarily reflect the agency’s).
I don’t think she should have to face the press. She’s an athlete, not a public speaker. It’s ridiculous. Plenty of athletes crave the media attention; let THEM speak to the press.
Mark
At this stage of professional sports – being a public figure comes with the turf. She wouldn’t have had a chance at the endorsement deals without the pro career behind her – at this point though she can set the terms of her media engagements. She’s become bigger than any one tournament. That said, it’s probably a balancing act and she couldn’t go completely dark for too long.
It’s like Elon Musk: there’s no shortage of press interest around him and he makes his own rules ; media won’t stop being interested.
Olga
My personal thoughts on this are that, while it does come with the territory of being a pro athlete, she is suffering. Most athletes are not like pop stars, or companies trying to build an audience. They are talented individuals who usually get thrust into the limelight and do not know how to handle it. I cannot imagine what it is like to go to work, do physical labor for hours depending on the match, and then having to get in front of a completely different audience and answer questions about your every move. It must be exhausting! I don’t think any athlete should have to speak to the press after a game. Let the ones who want to speak do so, but it should not be an obligation.
Morgan
This whole thing reminds me of Marshawn Lynch (NFL running back, currently retired). As an NFL player, you are contractually obligated to speak to the media (or should I say “be available”). Lynch’s antics in this regard are well known…as there have been numerous times, even during the super bowl, that he would show up for press conferences only to just sit there for the minimum required amount of time and not answer any questions. The league made a lot of money fining him for this.
Brandon Marshall, another NFL player, is an advocate for mental health as he had his own issues with bi-polar disorder, ADHD, and anxiety.
I had blogged a while back about all those time wasters we sometimes run into; e.g. the deluge of pay-to-play offers you get right after releasing news over a wire. There’s another that has been bugging me and my teams: obscure analyst reports.
Luckily, our friend Robin Schaffer, of her namesake analsyt relations firm SchafferAR, helped us better understand the situation and avoid spinning wheels. See the Q & A below, from recent email exchange:
We track various segments our clients compete in, and want to know of and get into the right reports. But a challenge is wading through Google alerts triggered by report mills, like (I’m assuming) this one (in the area of quantum computing).
Some sites seem to just aggregate, syndicate, resell reports – but are there real analysts and research behind these? Is it worth it to wade through and find out if it is real research?
Question
Nope. These are crap and not relevant. AR folks ignore them. Very tempting because they provide insights on every possible market.But I have no idea where they get their data. You have to go to the reputable analyst houses to identify the real research.A slog, but you need to.
Answer
Thanks, Robin!
Please check out my interview with her about maximizing analyst relations. Also, I am pleased to report that she’ll be one of the first guests on our upcoming video podcast series.
“I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”
Groucho Marx
The club, or field of PR, can disdain those who want to join; particularly people so entrenched that they lack little “real world” experience.
For example I started interviewing for PR gigs in my late thirties, after taking a circuitous route through various sales, marketing and IT consulting roles. When all was said and done PR seemed to be my thing, so I set out to interview for client-side and agency gigs while picking up some freelancing business.
I had no idea what kind of opportunities awaited for someone with my eclectic background. But the comments were mostly positive. “Refreshing!” “We like to see other kinds of experience, not just PR.” One in particular, the owner of a boutique tech PR agency was thrilled that I was an electrical engineer and former IBM-er like him. Fusion CEO Jordan Chanofsky made me an offer over 20 years ago – and I am still here today. (The funny thing was, that soon after I joined, I felt out of my element, due to lack of experience working for an agency).
All these years later I can safely say that, if you want to work in PR, sure, it is great to have related experience. But thinking outside the PR box can make you better at your job, as I find many myopically see every situation as a PR challenge that demands a PR solution.
What does this mean, and why should we think out of our “bleeping PR heads?” Which other POVs can be valuable?
The Gatekeeper
One of the most obvious POVs to consider is the gatekeeper, or journalist. Yet too many PR people don’t do this well.
Why? Thinking like a good journalist is critical for PR; it’s important to be inquisitive, a good storyteller, and yes, often skeptical.
Why is it a challenge? It is much easier to mass blast a pitch than take the time to read their stuff and personalize the approach. Also, we like to be optimistic and not focus on the long odds. That said, sending and praying, optimistically, is not good; or is falling in love with your own ideas and pitches.
Howto do better? Read their articles. Follow them on social media. Be as skeptical as they are. Realize you have to be smart and creative, and work hard to earn their attention. Dig for something press-worthy. Get to know them, this makes it easier to understand their story appetites and sourcing criteria.
Results: Pitches that hit home, better PR outcomes, stronger journalist relationships.
The Buyer and User Audiences
Unsplash, Martino Pietropoli
It can help to see things from the perspective of the audiences we target: the personas who use the company’s product or service, and those who influence the purchasing decision. We reach them directly on social media or through gatekeepers.
Why? If the news and content we promote does not resonate, our PR efforts will fall on deaf ears. And, guess what: aligning with the hot topics and pain points of end users can be key to journalist buy-in, because ideally you are targetting those who write for these audiences.
Why a Challenge? Most PR people don’t have hands-on experience with the often esoteric technologies. We’re not steeped in the lives, routines and perceptions of users, CIOs and other decision-makers.
Even if you work on the client/industry side, it’s a fair bet that you suffer from the isolation of the marketing department. The result is an overreliance on jargon and copy-and-paste writing, a challenge that I described in Finding the Words that Work in Tech PR:
There’s a trap I think some of my tech PR colleagues fall into. In an effort to sound savvy and speak in the language of the targeted audience… they rely on recycled, empty (but “safe”) prose that may have originated in the marketing department… Add to this that internal marketing staff and the agency may well not have the technical knowledge or familiarity of the markets they are serving to pick the words that resonate with customers and prospective customers.
How to See it from their PoV: Try to understand the worlds they inhabit. Bounce ideas off of friends who work in the field. Try out the tech, if you can. Take in demos, attend conferences. Avoid gobbledy gook puke, use words and tell stories that are more meangful and impactful.
Results: Better stories and business outcomes.
The Strategist
Our PR programs are part of the larger marketing and business picture for our clients. Our clients and employers compete in the larger world. So if you don’t heed the bigger picture, your counsel and programs will be less effective. It is important to think like a CMO or military strategist – to be aware of tools in the arsenal, the playing field and plan accordingly.
Why a challenge?
From Pixabay
It takes research and effort to stay up-to-date, with the competition and other marketing tools and strategies. And, let’s face it, most of us do not have the POV that comes with working as a CMO or military strategist.
How to do better
Get smart about other marketing tools, tech and tactics. Understand how PR interplays with others in the mix. Research the market, follow the plays of the competition.
I thought I’d wrap the series with a few final thoughts, as well as one more case study.
To Brand or Not to Brand
If your secret sauce is so special, and can really make your company a market beater, why not give it a name?
You need to call it something. In the second post, I explained how to describe your IP in simple and clear terms (see the case study below for another example). But you will not always have the chance to use a long form description. Some companies use brands, i.e. trademarkable names, and others, more general terms.
Google PageRank is an example of the former. Regarding generic phrases, consider Amazon’s one-click ordering, and Identiq’s provider-less trust network.
There are tradeoffs regarding branded names vs. generic labels. Startups need to weigh the overhead of establishing and supporting multiple brands vs. the potential benefits of a catchy term that they can own.
And don’t think a great name alone is enough (see my example about Certs and Retsyn in the first post; giving a fancy name to a common ingredient worked for breath mints back in the day, likely not for tech companies today).
Making it a Verb, Playing Bigger
The ultimate is when your product or technology is so widely adopted that it becomes synonymous with that function or kind of product – sometimes even becoming a verb. Think Google or Xerox. This NY Times article explains how a brand name becomes generic.
In my first installment, I mentioned companies that parlayed core technologies into market leadership – like Cisco, with routing tech, Google, with Page Rank, and others. How did they do this?
Sure, it starts with great technology, of the proverbial disruptive variety. But you also need steadfast, focused execution and marketing to become a category king. I blogged about this approach, that was inspired by the book Play Bigger.
Check out the good folks at Category Design Advisors and Play Bigger; two consulting firms who can help your company turn your core tech into market leadership.
Mipsology’s core tech, built into its Zebra software, makes it possible to run neural network deep learning models developed for popular Nvidia GPUs on other kinds of chips.
This means models that have been “trained” (fed large data sets to teach computers how to make decisions in “the wild” from new data) on Nvidia can run flawlessly on FPGA (field programmable gate array) chips– which offer certain advantages in terms of flexibility, lifespan, and tolerance of environmental factors.
Challenges
Most who work in and write about AI understand the importance of inference acceleration. That’s because the NN models are ineffective if they’re too slow making decisions in real-world situations (just consider the need for speed when it comes to vision intelligence for real-time guidance in robotics, telesurgery and autonomous vehicles).
However fewer understand the nuances of neural network models on GPUs vs. FPGAs. And it seemed a tall order to explain how Mipsology can take a model developed for Nvidia and accelerate inference on a Xilinx (or other) FPGA – without the need for any additional programming. Plus, the Mipsology executive team was concerned that the company would tip its hand to the competition by trying to explain this.
Instead, we focused on the functionality and drew an analogy to CUDA, Nvidia’s own, wildly popular translation layer that makes it easy to run programs on their own chips, as covered in EE Times:
“The best way to see [Mipsology] is that we do the software that goes on top of FPGAs to make them transparent in the same way that Nvidia did Cuda CuDNN to make the GPU completely transparent for AI users,” said Mipsology CEO Ludovic Larzul, in an interview with EE Times.
To summarize, “secret sauce” underpins a solution or component. This almost magical ingredient has given bragging rights to scores of companies over decades.
But promoting the underlying tech is not the same as hyping a finished product. It may be unclear how it can advance your PR goals.
Secrets can build curiosity if you toss out a few crumbs. But the tension must break at some point. Even if you convince a journalist that there’s something pretty cool under the hood, they will get weary of the dance unless you show more cards (am I mixing enough metaphors here?) Say too much, and your competitors can rip it off.
In this post, I explore the steps needed to overcome these challenges and turn this asset into a PR advantage.
1. Take Stock of Your IP and its Potential
The best way to understand the tech is to just ask. The answers from this kind of discovery can inform everything from messaging, positioning, branding, website, collateral and so on, not just press releases.
E.g., when we sit down with a tech startup we ask:
Tell us about your core tech
How/when was it developed?
What was the “Eureka moment” that led to it?
How does it reflect your team’s expertise?
Does it build on anything else (like open source)?
Has your team published academic papers about the IP?
Does it give you a competitive advantage?
Is it patented/protected?
You need to ask, because the founders may take their core tech for granted and want to jump right to telling the world how great their product or solution is.
It is not just about fact finding – but teasing out the cool, to help turn a dry story about technology into something really interesting.
2. Hitting the Sauce
Hopefully you are realizing that this kind of info can be very helpful – and not just for hyping the secret ingredient.
The IP often reflects the company and team’s DNA. Knowing more about their R&D and tech chops can inform story-telling and thought leadership efforts and become part of the larger company narrative.
From there it depends on how relevant the technology is to the company’s goals. If it is aligned and provides a competitive advantage, all the more reasons to double down.
Like real sauce, the tech has a shelf life. If the company has pivoted, then the original tech may be less relevant. Or perhaps the vendor has gone on to conquer new markets and launch different offerings – then, the original IP may be less relevant.
It is hard to cover all possibilities but let me list a few ways below to overcome challenges and leverage secret sauce in your marketing.
3. How Much to Say and When (To Baste or not to Baste?)
The best time to flaunt it is at the beginning and throughout the first few years of a startup’s journey.
How big a deal should you make over secret sauce, vs. other things you could be talking about? Why say anything?
To the extent that IP explains your advantages vs. the competition, then it boosts credibility. Plus, there’s the good old “gee whiz” factor, if it’s just really cool tech and a breakthrough.
Some are afraid to talk about the core IP for competitive reasons. I think that fear is overblown. First, if you’ve gotten patents, it is for all intents and purposes public info that anyone can look up. If you haven’t, you need to weigh the risks of discussing the tech vs. holding the cards close. Assuming you are willing to share details, they should be woven into the messaging and storytelling.
It is not a binary decision, either. You can dance around it and share some details without giving so much away that it can be reverse engineered.
4. Explaining the Unexplainable (Simmering the Sauce)
If you are with me so far, and want to open up the sauce spigot, the next question is how to do this, especially when the underlying technology may be very hard to explain and understand.
All kinds of content can help. PowerPoints, white papers and academic papers should be provided to those who want to dig deeper and really understand. But it is not a great idea to leave this to chance. Your success in communicating with journalists, who may not be tech wonks, will hinge on breaking your tech down in simpler terms.
Do this well and the IP becomes shorthand for the company’s differentiators.
How to explain at a high level depends on what you have. Typical tools include demos, explainer videos, analogies and metaphors. While a deep dive into translating technology is beyond the scope of the post, perhaps a couple of mini-case studies will help.
ThetaRay: Threat detection for banking
Secret sauce challenges:
ThetaRay is on the cutting edge: their proprietary machine learning and AI algorithms process massive amounts of data, and glean intelligence about the “unknown unknowns” – threats that are anomalous – without historical context, regardless of the type of data.
How it does this is hard to explain. The claims sound almost too good to be true. Plus, there is much noise, competition and growing skepticism about AI. Most solutions are “black boxes” that are inscrutable and sometimes accused of bias.
Solutions:
We provided many ways for the media to validate and better understand ThetaRay’s tech, ranging from videos to white papers and even demos (unlike many others, their solution is “explainable AI” and not a black box).
It helped to flaunt the reputations and academic papers of founders and world-renowned mathematicians Amir Averbuch (Tel Aviv University) and Ronald Coifman (Yale); and highlight the years of research behind the secret sauce.
To explain at a high level, we positioned their tech as Artificial Intuition, as written in this TNW piece.
[Artificial intuition] … enables computers to identify threats and opportunities without being told what to look for, just as human intuition allows us to make decisions without specifically being instructed on how to do so. It’s similar to a seasoned detective who can enter a crime scene and know right away that something doesn’t seem right, or an experienced investor who can spot a coming trend before anybody else.
TNW
Identiq: Anti-fraud privacy protection for e-commerce
Secret sauce challenges:
Identiq aims to stop the rampant propagation of personal info and combat consumer fraud through a “provider-less trust network” that validates customer identity for e-commerce companies without sharing, sending or storing PII (personally identifiable information).
They employ cryptography to make sure the person applying for a mortgage or setting up a customer account is who they say they are. Identiq obviates the need for third party data clearinghouses (like credit bureaus) to do this.
If members of the Identiq network validate the ID it can be proven, to a high degree of mathematical certainty, that the person is the real deal, and not a fraudster with stolen credentials.
The problem is that it is maddeningly difficult to explain cryptography, and convince people that Identiq can help e-tailers confirm a person’s identity – without sharing or storing any details.
Solutions:
We used a number of tools to explain Identiq; from videos to comparisons with online auctions to dumbed down explanations, like “Bob and Bill both have a number in mind, and they want to know whether it is the same, but they don’t want each other to know what number they have. So, they tell Steve, a third party. Steve can then tell them whether they have the same number, without telling either of them what each other has.”
The idea is to make it easy for companies to identify who their new customers are through a “network of trust”… They can do that without sharing the customer’s personal information… “We looked into a branch of cryptography called multi-party computation, which is over 30 to 40 years old,” Arad said. “This branch deals with the question of how multiple parties can calculate some function together without revealing their own individual inputs.”
For example, if you were conducting an online auction, every participant can make a bid and multi-party computation can allow the participants to find out who the winner is without revealing individual bids, he said.
Ran Canetti, professor of Computer Science at Boston University and the recipient of many awards including the RSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics and the IBM Research Outstanding Innovation Award, explained the cryptographic context behind the anonymity of the [Identiq] network. He discussed why a technique which had been established in academic circles for decades had recently emerged to tackle real-life challenges.
We know Robin from our work on former client NICE Systems. She managed analyst relations there, and since then went on to other related gigs and eventually launched her own A/R practice, Schaffer AR
I reached out and we struck up a dialog. It was great to catch up, as I enjoyed our work together at NICE.
Fusion PR helps clients with analyst relations too. As most in B2B tech marketing know, industry analysts are key influencers, and it is important to get their validation and ranked and categorized in the right reports.
That said, we most often help clients leverage unpaid relationships. Robin’s book and firm cover every facet of the field, and I thought it would be great to interview her about getting the most out of A/R.
Robin graciously agreed, and answered the following questions.
Why industry analysts?
Industry analysts from firms such as Gartner can have a strong impact on a tech vendor if you know who to engage and how to engage them. Analysts sit at the intersection of customers and competitors and they follow market trends. They know a lot, have a voice, and can be great influencers on opportunities, help amplify your brand and messages, and provide input on strategy, products, go to market, or other important aspects of your business.
What should we expect out of an A/R program?
A great AR program is tied directly with business objectives. AR can easily become a cauldron of meaningless tactics unless all activity starts with a tangible business goal. AR programs can help grow revenue, expand into new markets, fine-tune your products and strategy, help raise investments, and build attention for your brand and messages. I start with targeting the business goals I want the program to impact and then build the specific analyst engagements to achieve that.
How do you choose an analyst firm?
The prioritization of firms and analysts, depends on the goals you are aiming for. Analysts play many different roles and you need to know who does what. Gartner, for example, is the strongest at influencing enterprise deals and driving revenue. But they have thousands of analysts and you need to get down to the individual’s specialty area and focus on the right ones. Depending on the space, there may be boutique analysts who are very influential in a certain region or technology area. If your goal is primarily to amplify brand and message, you would go to a 2nd or 3rd tier firm who offers marketing services.
Once you define the type of analyst you need, it takes a lot of good old research to find the right ones — searching the internet, asking customers, checking with partners, reviewing media sites, etc.
What is the best way to communicate with and brief them?
Every analyst is a human being with their own POV and communication preferences. For those you have prioritized, it’s important to know them well and engage accordingly. Some are formal, others very social. Some have a very strategic view of the market and want to hear your business goals and direction from a top executive. Others are more product specific and want to see speeds and feeds from a spokesperson who can roll around with them in the weeds. The same analyst may need different information at different times. Read what they write and understand their research agenda to understand their thinking. Tailor your messages to their perspective of the world.
A briefing is the basic engagement you will have. Briefings are free, but you have to “sell” the analyst on giving you the time based on the merit of your message.
Regardless of what you present, people respond to stories rather than facts and figures. Make sure to use good storytelling techniques to convey your message, featuring customers who have been positively impacted by your technology.
Be sure to create a clear and effective deck that communicates who you are and the value you deliver. Analysts save the decks and refer back when needed. Make sure it stands alone without the talk track.
How can we influence them?
That’s the million dollar question! First you need a clear definition of what you want them to think. With that in mind, influencing is a complex, nuanced activity that combines educating them, showing them proof points, seeking their insights, holding advisory sessions, etc. If you do that right you will move, engagement by engagement, to the perspective you want them to have. Every engagement has to have a goal along the journey.
If you want to change an analyst’s mind, you need to go beyond briefings, to incorporate inquiries and advisory sessions. This takes investment, but the give and take of a two-way dialogue builds relationships, and strong relationships are key to influence.
Is it “pay for play”?
Pay-for-play is a very common misconception in the analyst industry. “The more you spend, the more they like you.” Any analyst worth his salt is not influenced by a commercial relationship. At the big firms, analysts usually don’t even know how much you spend. But investing buys you time, attention, and access through advisory or working together on a project. Spending more time with an analyst can dramatically affect the nature of the relationship and can impact their perceptions… but it’s not the investment itself, it’s the time.
What should we expect to invest?
Analyst investment is tied back to the goals. You can influence an analyst without spending a dime through free briefings, but you have to have a very compelling story. Every firm should maximize influence in this way. If you want to get analyst advice and feedback, you usually need a commercial relationship. And for them to help amplify brand and messaging almost always involves investment in white papers, webinars, custom research, etc. I do “guerrilla WAR” – I help my clients get the most value possible with the least investment: no investment at first. Then investing in 2nd and 3rd tier firms before you spend a minimum of $60k on a Gartner subscription. Investment is just one part of a holistic plan.
How do you earn the desired Gartner MQ or Forrester Wave positioning?
MQs and Waves are the most visible ways that analysts can impact a business. But getting a good position is the tip of a very large iceberg. While the intense report activity happens once a year or so, the perceptions that feed into the evaluations happen every day. Analysts form opinions talking to customers and prospects, interacting with your competitors, listening to partners, following market trends… and through every single engagement you have with them during the year. The day after a MQ or Wave publishes, a goal must be set for the next year and you need a plan to achieve it.
How do you get the analysts to recognize/report a new category?
Getting analysts to acknowledge a new category is like trying to sell ice to Eskimos. Analysts consider themselves the establishers of categories and are resistant to attempts by vendors. This is because most vendors try to establish self-serving categories that position themselves in the best light. The best category creators come up with a strong and legitimate way to categorize the market in a way that helps end user organizations make good decisions. They avoid cutesy marketing names. They suggest categories that are broad enough to include at least a handful of vendors, but not so broad that “everybody” would be considered. Then, they embark on steady programs to gain adoption over time.
It can go by various names. IP (short for intellectual property). Or proprietary tech. Or keys to the kingdom.
I like “secret sauce”. Most who work in IT understand that this refers to the magical ingredient that sets a technology or solution apart.
If “communications” or “PR” are in your job description, you may wonder what to do with “secret sauce.” How do you message it, build it into your storytelling and news campaigns, yes, how to spin the sauce or slather it on for best results?
Secret Sauce Origin Story
One of the secrets to building buzz, is, well, through secrets. Stealth can create a mystique that leaves people guessing and wanting to no more.
So, adding the words “secret sauce” to your solution news should make it a natural media magnet, right?
Ah, were it so easy. The phrase by itself won’t do much for you – it has become a cliche’, one of those industry tropes right up there with killer app, origin story and the more recent unicorn.
This Quora Q&A says the term became popular during the burger wars, in the 70s. I am old enough to remember McDonald’s 1974 commercial that hawked “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.” The big question that drove people nuts at the time was, what was that damned special sauce (the schoolyard rumor was “bull semen”, yeah, sorry, gross, I know)?
If you plug “secret sauce” into the Google Ngram viewer, which charts word usage in books dating back to 1900, you will see the first mentions in the early 1970s (confirming the Burger Wars theory), with rapid growth occurring around 2000 (perhaps, not coincidentally, during the dot com boom).
But there was secret sauce even before it was called secret sauce. E.g., I remember ads for Certs breath mints from my childhood that hyped a mysterious ingredient called Retsyn. The Canadian news site CBC explains, in a great piece on Words Invented by Marketers:
When I was growing up, Certs breath mints had a long-running series of TV commercials with a “Two mints in one” theme. But along with two mints in one, Certs hung its hat on one word: Retsyn. But what is Retsyn?
It was an interesting marketing strategy from parent company American Chicle – whose other product was Chiclets. [They] launched Certs in 1956, and used the word Retsyn in all its advertising for years.
Retsyn sounded vaguely scientific, and Certs framed it as a proprietary ingredient, saying that a golden drop of Retsyn was a “miracle breath purifier.” In reality, Retsyn was homogenized vegetable oil.
Going back even earlier, Coca Cola famously guarded its secret formula, as described in Wikipedia:
The Coca-Cola Company‘s formula for Coca-Cola syrup…, is a closely guarded trade secret. Company founder Asa Candler initiated the veil of secrecy that surrounds the formula in 1891 as a publicity, marketing, and intellectual property protection strategy. While several recipes, each purporting to be the authentic formula, have been published, the company maintains that the actual formula remains a secret, known only to a very few select (and anonymous) employees.
The entry further explains that the drink included coca leaves and hence cocaine.
Secret Sauce in IT
When was “secret sauce” first used to describe information technology? It is a great question, if I must say so myself – and one I asked on Quora – only to hear crickets. Please help if you know!!!
I did some digging to try to find out. A Google search surfaced the term in a 1993 BYTE magazine article about CD-ROMs (boy was that a great publication, back when magazines were real, glossy and thick as an encyclopedia). There was a 1988 BusinessWeek article that mentioned “secret sauce”, also when describing CD-ROM tech.
Those are some of the earliest mentions in media that I found; perhaps it is telling that both were about CD-ROMs.
Examples in more modern day tech are all around us, but might not jump out. Think of Google PageRank, the web indexing algorithm that helped make the company the unrivaled search leader and giant it is today; or Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm, or Amazon’s one-click online shopping and recommendation engine. Years earlier, Cisco became a giant and established the web router category via its packet routing algorithms. The TV series Halt and Catch Fire chronicled a rival team’s efforts to reverse engineer IBM’s original PC BIOS (basic input output system), the operating system underpinnings and keys to the PC clone market.
Fusion PR represents a wide range of tech startups that are bringing exciting breakthroughs to market, built from secret sauce in cybersecurity, ad tech, cloud, mobile, fintech, AI, and other spaces.
Sans Sauce
Not all technology products have a secret sauce. E.g., some are built from open-source components. Or, perhaps, they utilize public domain algorithms, like deep or machine learning models often do.
Does that mean such offerings have no differentiators, or advantages and hence no appeal?
Not necessarily. Your company can innovate in pricing and delivery models. They can build a better interface or “wrapper” and brand on processes and customer service. Just ask Zappos.
What it Means for Tech PR (IP, therefore I am)
Assuming your solution does have this proprietary IP, what can PR do to weave it into the larger product and company stories?
As I implied above, sometimes saying less can draw more interest. Being cryptic can work for a while, especially for startups, which need to play every buzz-building card they can.
However, this kind of strategy makes it hard to build credibility. The media like to dig in and understand. They want to know about the tech, if it really works or is just hype (like Retsyn). No one completely trusts black boxes.
You can try to distract by shifting attention to results, features and benefits vs. the secret sauce that helped. But stories about customer successes can get tiresome too; perhaps they could sway a buyer rather than a reporter.
Revealing too much too soon comes with its own risks, e.g., clueing in the competition.
So, what does one do, if you are lucky enough to have that secret sauce that really sets your solution apart? How do you talk about it and promote it without giving away the keys to the kingdom?
