Deborah L. Cox, a 20-year veteran of the software industry, has led corporate communications programs for both large and emerging growth companies. She currently serves on the board of TAG FinTech with Scott Mills.
Since the ‘80’s, industry analysts have evolved as critical influencers of technology purchase decisions, resulting in fear and concern in the executive suite. The CEO worries that the company will be left out of research or not recommended, while competitors are showcased. The CTO is uncertain as to when to validate product innovation plans with analysts since they constantly talk to competitors. And the CMO is charged with making sure that analyst relations (AR) efforts are directed at the analysts with influence so not to waste precious executive time.
To reduce the uncertainty around dealing with the industry analysts, AR needs to be a part of a company’s DNA. Every strategic business and product decision should consider analysts’ perceptions, what information to share with the analysts and when, who is best suited to deliver the message, and ultimately how to measure success.
Traditional AR activities such as briefings and outbound communications increase market awareness for a company and its solutions. But to grow revenue and gain market share by leveraging the influence of analysts, a strategic AR program is needed. Strategic AR provides (1) consistent dialogue with analysts – building trusted relationships, (2) tools to leverage analysts’ influence and mitigate risk and chaos during the sales process, and (3) a reliable source of market and competitive intelligence to guide product development initiatives.
Delivering a strategic analyst relations program requires….
Aligning AR activities with corporate goals.
Extensive knowledge of research/analyst landscape, including insight into the level of influence of target firms and specific analysts.
Innovative communications practices that resonate with analysts.
AR liaison to communicate benefits of complex technologies, as well as discuss business model objectives and operating results.
Constant monitoring of analysts’ assessment of market dynamics and competitors’ solutions.
Timely delivery of information, demonstrating high level of commitment to relationship.
A sales team trained to recognize analyst influence at each stage of the sales process.
Established metrics to evaluate the ROI of AR activities.
If you are considering a dedicated AR effort, consider including the following services:
Development of 6-month Rolling Strategic AR Plan
Internal training of sales and marketing teams
Resources to leverage analyst involvement in sales cycles
Timely response to RFIs from analysts
Briefing support, including executive coaching, presentation development and post-interaction evaluation
Development of inquiry sessions on a quarterly basis
Business case methodology for evaluation projects such as Gartner’s Magic Quadrant or Forrester Wave
Monitoring of research agendas that secures inclusion in reports
Monitoring coverage of competitors and alerts to new trends
Brand/message testing
Securing quotes and media references for marketing collateral and press announcements
Analyst conference/summit strategies
Analyst audits
Analysts are often in a position to validate new concepts, make recommendations and provide valuable industry insights. Successful AR requires building relationships and providing superb, timely content.
We posted an earlier blog post on trademarks on May 26th. We have some additional thoughts on the use of trademarks and servicemarks in helping to build effective FinTech brands. First of all, to be clear, a “servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms ‘trademark’ and ‘mark’ are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks,” (from the US Patent and Trademark’s website). So when we say trademark (™) it could be a SM as well.
Many companies fall short when thinking through the opportunities to distinguish themselves from competitors, especially when it comes to the use of trademarks and servivcemarks. If trademarks are pursued, they are usually restricted to company or product names. However, there are additional opportunities for creating distinct marks, including:
Logos and taglines
Product families or service lines
Product features
Customer groups, conferences or communications
We often see service companies in the mortgage and banking industry fall short of implementing an effective trademark strategy. When you think about it, how a company delivers its services is often times more important than what they actually deliver. Developing a highly defined process and set of systems for service delivery is critical for creating differentiation, especially against lower cost competitors. Developing marks for these processes and systems, especially when they contain proprietary elements, can go a long way towards establishing a premium position within your industry.
Few companies have the resources necessary to build multiple brands within the markets they serve. FinTech companies need to understand their resources and make wise investment decisions when it comes to developing trade names for products and services. Creating a unified and integrated set of trade and servicemarks that collectively reinforces the company’s overall brand is a strategy that yields the highest returns.
Alex Shorter, an account agent at our agency, recently attended a dinner event hosted by the Community Bankers Association (CBA) of Georgia. The event was titled, “If I Knew Then What I Know Now,” and provided insights from three former CEOs of banks seized by the FDIC within the past year. The discussions were led by Ray Stanford, an attorney with Taylor English, and featured former CEOs: Marvin Cosgray, Buckhead Community Bank; Mike McPherson, Unity National Bank; and Bill Gafford, McIntosh Commercial Bank.
Here are Alex’s observations from the evening.
The discussion was especially insightful for the community bankers in attendance as the panelists shared unique insights on strategies in responding to sideline capital, negative media coverage, regulatory handcuffs, and opportunities in the current market environment.
Additionally, for bankers currently in “survival mode,” panelists recommended how to approach a variety of items such as employee and customer communication and dealing with regulators.
Some primary pieces of advice included:
Focus on communicating and developing relationships with regulators
Shrink balance sheets
Consider third-parties for validating/verifying information on small business and construction loans
Develop a crisis communications plan—for customers and employees
It is not easy for former bank CEO’s to discuss their mistakes. They earned my respect by offering their stories in order to help other bankers. CBA of Georgia, keep up the creative programming.
I had two events recently that have shaped how I look at trademarks and why FinTech companies should care. First, I heard about a company using an acronym of its longer name finds itself faced with a larger company announcing a new division with the same name. Secondly, I spent some time with Ms. Mary Margaret “Mo” Ogburn, a partner at Blanco Tackabery in Winston-Salem, N.C. discussing key concepts about what you can and cannot protect. Both left me with a distinct impression that our industry does not do enough to protect our brands.
To understand what is protectable, you have to know what trademark is NOT, namely, copyright, patents and trade secrets, which are covered under different areas of the law. A trademark identifies the source of goods and services and distinguishes one source over another and signifies control over quality. Trademark law protects your investment in a brand, prevents competitors from getting a free ride at your expense and protects the buyers from confusion.
What does a trademark look like? They can include:
Letters, example: EXXON
Numbers, example: 7-Eleven
Abbreviations, example: IBM
Words, example: Tide
Taglines, example: “you are in good hands…”
Symbols, examples: Nike’s swoosh or other distinctive logo
Trade dress, example: shape of Coke bottle
Sound, example: NBC chime
An important legal concept is that the mark is distinctive, not descriptive. “Super Glue” is not protectable because the name is descriptive of the product. Two concepts for developing company names are: 1) “arbitrary” use of common words, such as, Apple for computers and 2) “coined” words, such as, Google for search engine.
The bottom line is to consider protecting your company brands that have value and developing new company brands that can be protected.
Recently, Scott Mills sat down with Trey Reeme, director of channel integration of TDECU. They discussed the credit union’s social media strategy, his role at the company and why people should be looking at 4Square.
More about Trey, the credit union and his efforts –
Trey leads social media campaigns and corporate blogging efforts and launched Young & Free Texas (youngfreetexas.com) in August 2008. Prior to joining TDECU ($1.5 billion), he was a successful entrepreneur and the main contributor to the acclaimed credit union industry blog Open Source CU.
A highly rated speaker at national events for CUES, CUNA, the Filene Research Institute and the NCUA, Trey lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and daughters. He is a graduate of Centenary College of Louisiana. Trey can be found at twitter.com/creeme.
