Investor relations
Investor relations is a specialised practice area within the PR industry representing corporations to investors, regulators and the media.
In a two-part series on Australian corporate PR, Australian Financial Review journalist Jennifer Hewett reviews how investor relations campaigns seek to court journalists, politicians and the financial markets. "At morning conference calls, there's always a lot of talk on which journalist is a softer touch and who will be more favourably disposed and who has particular relationships with the other side," an investment banker told Hewett. "Senior journalists play a critical role in setting the tone for other journalists and they are very influential when it comes to institutional investors," one anonymous PR professional said. [1]
The spokesman for one large corporation, both unnamed, said that they used external PR consultants for "for media management of senior commentators. These guys talk to commentators about 10 projects a night and it is not necessarily evident who they are working for ... The use of an independent third party allows you to manage that relationship better or get a discussion going to ease the tension. The consultants say it in their own language and it doesn't sound like spin from the company," he told Hewett for the second in her series.
External links
- Mark Johnson, "Investor relations: Proving its worth", PR Week (UK), February 04 2005. (Sub req'd)
- Hamilton Nolan, "Study shows added focus on IR in 2004", PR Week, February 14, 2005. (Sub req'd).
- Richard Carpenter, "City hacks who cross the line", PR Week, March 11, 2005. (Sub req'd).
- Henry Byrne, "Getting the right message across at merger time", Australian Financial Review, June 16, 2005. (Sub req'd.)
- Ian Matheson, "Building bridges stops the share price being savaged", Australian Financial Review, June 16, 2005.(Sub req'd.)
- Mark Lawson, "Keeping in touch with shareholders", Australian Financial Review, June 16, 2005.(Sub req'd.)
- Tim Findlay, "Part spin doctor, part nanny, part lawyer", Australian Financial Review, June 16, 2005. (Sub req'd.)
- Richard Carpenter, "Investor relations: Open for business", PR Week, June 17, 2005. (Sub req'd)
- Jennifer Hewett, "True lies: how business is spinning out of control", Australian Financial Review, August 26, 2005.(Sub req'd.)
- Jennifer Hewett, "The manipulators", Australian Financial Review, August 27, 2005.(Sub req'd.)
- Richard Dyson, "Is Standard Life fighting fair?", This Is Money.co.uk, January 29, 2006.
