The Boardroom

The Full Story

Overview

SAS Software turned to Seraph Science to help them build a community of senior executives to establish better relationships within their priority accounts. They strategised to create a community, The Boardroom Club, that helps senior executives of the FTSE350-sized organisations make better, more profitable decisions. This strategy produced 143 appointments, 102 report interviewees and 385 event attendees. The community has now expanded to a dynamic group of 650 members.

Who is SAS?

SAS Software is a leading provider of analytics and business intelligence software solutions. With more than 12,000 employees and revenues of $3.2Bn, they are at the forefront of one of the most exciting technology developments, Artificial Intelligence. With their client list including 88 of the Fortune 100 companies, SAS recognised the need to deepen existing relationships, and also build new ones as more and more players enter this lucrative marketplace, which is projected to be worth $1.8Tn by the end of the decade.

The Challenge

Engaging senior executives is one of the hardest aspects of B2B Marketing. They are high-value, yet highly elusive people, and most Tech brands struggle to engage them. With “84% of executives saying being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business”1 the key to engagement isn’t just effort. You need to be authentic. To achieve this, SAS Software turned to Seraph Science to help them build a community of senior executives in order to establish better relationships within their priority accounts.

Despite SAS’s strong reputation for innovation, quality, and customer service, its positive reputation is mostly upheld by a core group of advocates. Outside this core audience, and especially at a senior executive level, brand perception is weaker. And with senior executives spending less than 2% of their time with solution providers2 it’s hard to change this perception. Consequently, SAS Software needed a differentiated and effective way of cutting through, gaining access and winning time with these elusive senior executives.

The Strategy

To cut through the noise and build relationships with senior executives, SAS turned to Seraph Science. Together we devised a strategy to build a peer-led community of senior executives. The community was designed to engage CxOs as they determined their strategy. By giving them access to their peers, they could bench test their thinking, find new ideas, and learn more about SAS’ expertise as well.

That community idea became The Boardroom. Its mission is simple: to help senior executives of the FTSE350-sized organisations make faster, better, more profitable decisions. We explore this through the perspective of people who’ve been forced to make difficult decisions in business and life - business leaders, special forces operatives, poker players, to name a few.

The success of the community is grounded in the psychological principle of “give-to-get”; giving value to the members up-front with no expectation of an immediate return. This ‘value’ includes exclusive events, industry reports, and content such as peer interviews. And when the time does come to request a meeting with these executives, they are willing to give back.

The Solution and Desirables

The Boardroom produced;

650 members.
385 event attendees.
102 report interviewees.
143 appointments scheduled.

“I really enjoyed the Boardroom meeting and the debate. I was disappointed not to be able to stay later so it must have been good! I look forward to the next time”

COO, Barclays Wealth

“It was a very successful Boardroom event last night. I appreciated the topic, the venue and the open constructive conversations with a diverse peer group”

Board Member, Willis Towers Watson