Global marketing & technology services company

2017 - ongoing

Athena* went from a virtual unknown to an industry darling, represented in six Forrester Waves (and counting).

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Challenge

Prior to Spark 180's engagement, Athena had no analyst relations strategy in place. It had no reputation among industry analysts, except for one previous Wave inclusion (a disappointingly low Strong Performer). Athena also struggled to articulate its positioning and strengths/differentiators to analysts. With no analyst cadence, mindshare or ongoing engagement, Athena was essentially starting its analyst relations program from scratch.

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Solution

Spark 180 worked with Athena executives to first determine which analyst firms to work with and target analysts with whom to engage. Using established relationships and connections to the analyst community, Spark 180 led initial interactions – nearly 100 in the first year with 29 analysts – which led to inclusion in more than a dozen research reports to support Athena's lead generation efforts. In 2018, Athena was in that first Wave again, but this time with a 29 percent improvement in its score. Building off the momentum of its first year of strategic analyst relations, Athena enjoyed an increase in new report inclusions the following year, with significantly fewer analyst interactions because the foundation had been successfully laid.

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Results

Athena was able to establish meaningful engagement with industry analysts, resulting in more than 70 report inclusions, incoming leads and analyst referrals, and resulting in its analyst relations program being the company's primary lead generation tactic. Spark 180 continues to execute a successful analyst relations program to the mutual benefit of Athena and industry analysts.

*Pseudonym used to comply with client NDA