Author: Tom Murphy

Mon, 24 Jun 2002 21:12:24 GMT

More on the industry analyst conundrum….
Further to my earlier piece on industry analysts, the Wall Street Journal has a story today entitled “Glowing Report on Firm X Isn’t What You Might Think” (Subscription Required). The piece deals with paid research reports. However I think Lee Gomes (the author) is barking up the wrong tree. Vendors have been paying analyst firms to write research reports for years. There’s no hidden agenda here.

The real issue is the firms that HAVE a hidden agenda, who make decisions purely based on dollars – and that’s clearly NOT the case with firms in this piece. The issue is where an ‘analyst’ will only take a briefing if you pay. I’d love to name and shame those firms. They are all tiny. The established firms named in the WSJ have some of the best analysts on their books and they offer above board services – they are not the main issue IMHO – and my company doesn’t buy those services.

Fri, 21 Jun 2002 10:27:32 GMT

When communicators fail at communication….
It’s a difficult business environment out there. No question. So any new business activities are to be applauded. Recently I recieved quite a few new business pitches from PR agencies. Some were very impressive, and I have kept their details, some have been absolutely appalling.

Looking over the really bad pitches, you can’t help but marvel at the irony. Here are organizations seeking to win your communications business and they fail at the very discipline that they want you to pay them money for.

Here’s the latest example for you. Today I received two packages in the mail. (Sidenote: I think well put together, well targeted paper-based direct mail is increasingly effective in a time when most commercial messages come over the wire) One from a west-coast agency was targeted, followed up with a call, personalized, good quality relevant materials and it was obvious they have visited our site and done some research. [Details filed]

The second was paper spam from a New York agency. No personalization, just a job title, and they spelt the company name incorrectly (!) and included a range of typos in the letter. Now I had never heard of this company before, and to be honest it was more likely I’d use their services before I became aware of them! If they can’t even communicate, target, pitch a potential client effectively (or even professionally) how can I expect them to work with media, analysts, investors or staff? The mind boggles sometimes.

Thu, 20 Jun 2002 09:27:17 GMT

Journalists up in arms….According to a story in the Providence Journal, journalists at the newspaper (and the Washington Post) are currently undertaking a ‘byline strike’ where they withold their names from stories they are publishing. The ‘strike’ is to protest at no contracts since December 1999. Interesting approach…. [Comments?]

Mon, 17 Jun 2002 10:21:50 GMT

The industry analyst conundrum…
Let me state up front (and this IS important) that 98% of industry analysts I deal with and meet are highly knowedgable and professional individuals who have a very valuable insight into technology trends and market movement.

But what about the 2%? One of PR’s perennial problems was that all you traditionally needed to call yourself a PR consultant was a phone and a fax (now it’s a phone and a computer). Increasingly there are small boutique analyst firms opening up, and some of these firms are bringing the industry analyst market into disrepute.

Last week an ‘analyst’ from one of these firms told me “we don’t take vendor briefings unless the vendor is a subscriber”. Whoa! Hold on there. How can an “analyst” have a view of the market, more importantly how can they judge trends or proffer advice if they only talk with their clients?

It seems to me these tiny firms’ business plan reads something like: “Our goal is to write nice things about company’s who pay us money and to ignore, diss and bad-mouth their competitiors (unless they pay us money too)”

Is it time to blow the whistle on these people? [Comments ]

Mon, 17 Jun 2002 08:48:02 GMT

A PR blogger……..
Last Friday I happened onto a fellow PR blogger. Phil Gomes has a well written PR blog that’s definetly worth a visit and has been added to the links on the left.

I read much of his blog with a lot of interest, the only entry that bristled somewhat was his April 11 2002 piece (no permalinks) on why every company needs external PR counsel….I’ll return to that at a later date. However if you’re interested in PR definetely visit Phil’s blog regularly.