Johnson & Company Analyst Work Proves Invaluable

Throughout its history, Johnson & Company, The Virtual Agency (TM), has exceeded client expectations in analyst relations, securing blockbuster results even under intense conditions. For instance, Johnson & Company (jo&co) has consistently secured appointments with top-tier analysts and secured appointments even when clients have had limited budgets for purchasing analyst services, one of the nuances to securing appointments within the analyst market.

Johnson & Company fosters strong relationships between analysts and clients in many ways. For example, we develop and adhere to client analyst plans, facilitate briefings and frame communications in a corporate and industry context helpful to analysts. We believe in understanding the major analyst firms, approaching them strategically and consistently, and thoroughly understanding analysts themselves including their motives and the distinctions between analyst and media relations.

Our history attests to our ability in analyst relations. For example:

• In its inaugural project with partner PR firm Niehaus Ryan Wong, Johnson & Company organized an analyst tour for Documentum Inc. which enabled Documentum to forge new relationships with e-business and Web content analysts and facilitated business expansion into these areas. Niehaus Ryan Wong (NRW PR) simply asked jo&co to secure at least eight analyst appointments and prepare tour briefing materials. Not only did Johnson & Company achieve appointments with each of the analysts on Documentum's priority list, but also with virtually every analyst approached. jo&co actually secured 13 appointments, exceeding expectations by 60 percent.
  
  Importantly, jo&co's briefing materials provided superior background and logistical detail that armed Documentum to take full strategic advantage of these briefings. Carla A. Schlemminger, Johnson & Company's NRW PR liaison on the project, relayed the client's satisfaction with the tour's quality, stating that they had ample time between meetings, were never late and had great directions. Schlemminger herself was impressed with Johnson & Company's work, describing the tour briefing book as "sweet." "This is one of the thickest briefing books I have ever seen. Better yet, the quality and comprehensiveness of it is very high," she said.
  
  Finally, the project was completed within budget, required minimal client direction and seamlessly supported NRW PR's already strong team.
  
  
• The analyst debut Johnson & Company achieved for Helius Inc., a developer of data-via-satellite solutions, achieved strategic results in spite of Helius' start-up status. Helius asked Johnson & Company to design and carry out a tour including as many interviews as possible with key analysts and specifically targeted satellite, business and computer industry publications. Ultimately the tour covered three cities in the same number of days and included face-to-face meetings with 22 analysts and editors from Business Week, InformationWeek, Inc., and various satellite and technical publications. In addition, Helius executives conducted seven pre- and post-tour interviews.
  
  Though Helius previously had made few analyst contacts, did not subscribe to analyst services and, as a private company, wasn't "watched" by financial analysts, jo&co secured appointments with Gartner, Merrill Lynch, Forrester, Yankee and Mobile Insights, a technology consulting firm. The tour paid off powerfully by initiating or strengthening Helius relationships with industry pundits, providing the client with direction for market and partnership opportunities and contributing to Helius' later well-known and respected image in the satellite industry. Myron Mosbarger, president of Helius, later told jo&co that the Gartner meeting alone was worth the entire tour.
  
  
• Niehaus Ryan Wong (NRW) client Vignette gave Johnson & Company just two days to book appointments for specific top-tier analyst briefings for the Austin, Texas-based company. Vignette was announcing its Story Server 5 launch as well as a new direction for the company to analysts on February 3 and 4. It was February 2 in the middle of the afternoon. On the East Coast, there were only a few hours until quitting time.
  
  Understanding analysts' need to follow shifting industry trends and changing strategies among companies like Vignette, the Johnson & Company team effectively pitched the briefing as an opportunity to obtain Vignette's new corporate vision. Cami Rozanas, a jo&co account coordinator, secured appointments with six targeted analyst firms, including Gartner Group, Vignette's first priority. Erik Josowitz, vice president of product strategy at Vignette, was particularly impressed with jo&co's results.

Even with obstacles such as unrealistic timeframes or little-known clients, Johnson & Company has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to secure both quality and quantity of industry analyst opportunities for its clients. In an economic climate where analysts' knowledge and opinion of companies influences customer buying decisions and stock valuations, such opportunities are irreplaceable.