It's a mission that takes time. But it's one worth every minute invested. Because once you've captured the imagination of your proponents, you create zealots who share your passion and vision—allies in the struggle to shape your market.

But touching customers at this level is not merely a question of hiring a third party to write a whitepaper in their name that validates your company or worldview. We all know that game. Nor is it about spinning product collateral as a point of view—you might as well give your prospects a sleeping pill.

You create zealots by changing market perception. A campaign of this nature might involve molding a new category of application or sector. Or perhaps it’s merely introducing a new and improved take on an old way of doing business, communicating the point of view on the right level to the right audience. But regardless of whether you’re creating a new ecosystem or co-opting another, you’ve got to change the basis of competition from product to vision, becoming the master of your domain by becoming eminent from within.

The good news is that eminence in a given market has little to do with size or reach—or a gargantuan marketing budget. It's all about perception and influence.

Azul Partners works with technology vendors and professional services organizations to develop thought campaigns that persuade and influence the market. This might be as simple as a campaign to influence the leading analysts in your sector with persuasive content that changes their perception, or it might involve a series of whitepapers and analysis that examine market challenges from an informed point of view—in your name, designed to build your brand, not ours.

Azul Partners founders have carried out campaigns of this nature for vendors large and small. We’ve helped shape and mold markets from within. If you’re tired of competing on the basis of product and capabilities alone, we would love to tell you more.