Guesswork is not a great communications strategy

- Mark Di Somma, Strategist, Insight Communications - blog article

Just been in Sydney with Mike, speaking to investor relations managers about what to do now that the old annual report has all but died in Australia. The figures we've seen show opt-in figures (people choosing to receive a physical copy of the annual report) of as low as 6%. Andrew, one of the other presenters, had figures of around 9.5%. But that still leaves 90%+ of investors saying no thanks - we'll look elsewhere.

Mike's point during his presentation was that if you're not sending investors a copy of the Report, you have little or no control over how they acquire information about you. You're relying on them going online to get that information. Some will. Many may not. And as Mike put it, that's an information black hole waiting to happen. A hole that investors may well fill in other ways - by listening to the media for example.

During question time after the presentations, we talked about the fact that the perception of openness, and how important that was. As an example, I cited the fact that Yahoo! didn't seem to have talked to its investors enough about what it was doing or not doing and why. Reading this article, it seems to me that their approach is doing them no favours.

When an important portfolio manager slates the company in the media over its US$37 stand, and when the CEO finds himself under significant pressure to justify that assertion particularly to small investors, then there can only be two verdicts in my opinion - either there's been a shortfall of information to investors (which is disrespectful at best and liable at worst) or someone's decided that there's no need to consult the owners of the company (which is also disrespectful at best and liable at worst).

Marketing is about telling stories. The clear conclusion for me is that Yahoo should have been marketing their strategy to their investors - way back. Now, it's probably too late. Anything they say will probably be seen as reactive.

There's a wider lesson in here for all of us, not just those leading public companies. If you have a major development in play, start the marketing early and direct it carefully and specifically to those who need to hear it - big and small. So that your staff, suppliers, customers and investors feel involved, included and informed.

Otherwise, you too may well receive a "please explain" ... without the "please".

POSTED: Thursday, 8 May 2008