AR Success - Creating a New Market Category

Transforming Basic AR Concepts into Market Gold

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In Medieval Europe, alchemy was a popular field of study among scholars, clergy, and early natural philosophers wherein attempts were made to transform base elements into valuable metals like silver and gold. It seems preposterous, but alchemy was even studied by well-known scientists such as Isaac Newton as late as the Renaissance era.

 

In what seemed at the time like an alchemy project, in my last role I was asked to use the AR program to help the company create a new market category: Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM). As preposterous as it sounds – transforming raw insights, emerging trends, and early product signals into a cohesive market description that feels both inevitable and groundbreaking – our alchemy project was successful. Analysts became catalysts in the process, validating the vision, crystallizing the language, and helping convert a bold idea into a recognized category. So, unlike the alchemy of old, AR alchemy can be done. And, when it’s done well, AR turns possibility into perception, and perception into market reality—much like turning base elements into something far more valuable.

 

So, how did we do it?  Here is a case study…

 

Goals and Challenges

 

In order to achieve our golden target, we had to achieve a few goals along the way:

• Key influencers in our target markets (e.g., contract lifecycle management, configure price and quote, and document automation) must accept RLM as definitionally valid.

• Analysts must use RLM in published research to define The Company’s offering

• Analyst must use RLM to define the broader category

• The Company must be named as the leader in the RLM category

 

Obviously, there were some challenges we faced in order to achieve these goals, namely:

• The Company was the only vendor pushing RLM as a category.

• Only The Company offered all the components of the RLM ecosystem we had defined.

• Very few end user clients were asking analysts about RLM in inquiries or searching for the term online.

 

Building Understanding and Agreement

 

To overcome these challenges, we established a four-step initiative to build understanding of the category definition and gain agreement from analysts that it was a valid category. With some necessary overlap in terms of timing, here were the four steps:

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1) Engagement

• Scheduled dozens of inquiries with analysts covering CLM, CPQ, eSignature, etc.

• Discussed taxonomy of research in target markets, broader ERP/CRM ecosystems.

• Refined RLM positioning based on follow-up inquiries (e.g., describe as “middle office” offering).

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2) Education

• Executed round of briefings and inquiries to unveil and further refine updated RLM messaging.

• Tailored positioning to each analysts’ individual viewpoint on RLM to gain agreement.

• Some briefings (e.g., IDC) involved multiple analysts, providing invaluable collaboration.

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3) Alignment

Focused follow-up engagement on most influential analysts to cement alignment:

• Analyst 1, Gartner

• Analyst 2, Forrester

• Analyst 3&4, IDC

• Analyst 5, Ventana

• Analyst 6, 451

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4) Influence

• Invested in webinars, speaking engagements, custom research with analysts.

• Focused activities in positioning CPQ, CLM, etc., in broader RLM ecosystem.

• Pushed references for key evaluations that implemented multiple RLM solutions.

 

This short list sums up more than a year of near-continual analyst engagement. Furthermore, not every briefing, inquiry, or advisory was specifically focused on building the market category. However, even in Magic Quadrant briefings, for example, we made sure to label our broad solution suite with the Revenue Lifecycle Management moniker. You have to beat the drum whenever you get the chance.

 

The Results

 

It took some time for the majority of analysts to accept that our market category was valid. But, once the first crack in the dam leaked through, the water began to stronger and stronger:

 

• “​[The Company] is a major player in the revenue lifecycle management space that includes CPQ and is committed to transforming and simplifying the complexities of the quote-to-revenue processes and turning them into a competitive advantage for its customers. Over the last few years, [The Company] focused on a customer-first approach companywide, made key roadmap investments, and focused on addressing key product and service issues — and it’s paying off. – Analyst #2, 2023 Forrester Wave for CPQ
   

• “Two years ago, [The Company] rolled out what it hoped would be a new solution category — revenue lifecycle management. … Two years later, that vision has gained traction with both [The Company’s] user base and its competitors.” – May 2024 IDC Recap of The Company’s Analyst Summit 2024
   

• “… [Company X] launched a new Revenue Lifecycle Management solution to provide deeper mid-office capabilities.” – Gartner Vendor Rating: Company X, June 2024
   

• “Good to see [Company X] embracing Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM), the modern version of 'quote to cash' that better reflects the realities of mixed pricing models, … . They join [The Company]] and [Company Y] marketing and selling this idea with applications.” – Analyst #5, ISG Research, June 2024

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Keys to Success

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There really is no “magic sauce” to building a market category with AR. The reality is that it comes down to simple, “gumshoe” AR – hard work and long-term commitment. That said, there are a few important keys to success that I would highlight:

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• Beat the Drum – Deliver the message every time you have a chance to engage with an analyst, even it’s a “bump into” session in the hallway of an event. When the analysts think of you, the market category you’re building should be the first words that come to mind.
   

• Tailor the Message – Of course, there should be some measure of consistency in your messaging. However, every good AR pro knows that each analyst has his/her own research agenda, focus, mindset, and viewpoint. Don’t beat your head against the wall trying to convince the analysts to shift their viewpoints to fit your positioning. Instead, tailor how you position your category to fit within their taxonomy, which is the quickest way to gain traction.
   

• Show It So They Know It – Most people are visual learners and can easier capture and retain an idea if it’s communicated graphically. In a briefing with IDC early in the process, we found that the analyst was working on a graphic that communicated the RLM message we were trying to convey. Vision sync!

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Have you had success in using your AR program to build a market category? Reach out and share what made you successful!