When it comes to getting out financial information, companies
can no longer operate without a net. The Regulation Fair Disclosure
(Reg FD), an SEC mandate that took effect on October 23, 2000, says
public companies must make their financial information available to
all investors simultaneously. To comply with the regulation the
vast majority of publicy-traded companies now webcast their
quarterly earnings conference calls. (Different rules apply for the
over-the-counter stocks). Webcasts are cheaper to broadcast than
leasing a conference call for hundreds of analysts and shareholders
four times each year. More important, however, is that they help
bring "transparency," the current mantra among corporate
communication executives grappling with IR. "[Webcasts] are an
accepted way of doing things," says David Jacobson, PR manager of
Shareholder.com, which manages thousands of webcasts each quarter
for its 700 clients, including FedEx Corp. Microsoft Corp and
Tiffany & Co. "If you don't do it people will wonder why." Some
companies are starting to move beyond garden-variety Webcasts to
include more information on their Web sites, such as company bylaws
and information on the board of directors. An increasing number of
companies are also starting to webcast their annual shareholder
meetings. The more features a firm can use, the more credible with
shareholders and Wall Street, says Jacobson. "Used to be you only
had to communicate what you wanted," he adds. No more. Following is
a series of recommendations created by Shareholder.com for PR NEWS
to make the most out of Webcasts divulging financial
information.
Archive Your Old Webcasts: Some companies remove the webcast
from their investor relations (IR) website soon after the event
concludes. To accommodate investors who could not listen to the
live event, companies should archive all their earnings calls for
at least one year. A few companies have never removed any of their
archived webcasts, supplying investors with a huge trove of
information and history.
Extend Webcasting to Other Events: Many companies are now
familiar enough with webcasting that they are using it for
additional IR events. Events that are now webcast include analyst
days, special shareholder meetings, media conferences and more.
Use New Webcast Features: Many webcasts are audio only, but a
growing number of companies are including PowerPoint slides. The
costs of upgrading to PowerPoint are small and slides can be
advanced either by the company or a webcast provider. Other
upgrades include:
- An attendee registration page to capture details of webcast
participants - An accompanying agenda and news release for participants to
view - Speaker biographies with photographs
- Real-time audience Q&A (one-way instant messaging)
- Investor kit fulfillment request
- Searchable, closed-caption transcript of archived webcast
Consider Video: There is no better way to raise the company's
profile and accessibility to investors than using video webcasting.
Seeing the company's CEO and CFO speak directly to shareholders is
a powerful medium and message for communicating credibility. Many
companies are using recorded video as a lower-cost alternative to
live video by adding the archived video to the archived webcast.
Live video events are also possible - they require an on-staff
production crew and live satellite hookup. Fortis NV, a major Dutch
financial conglomerate, has video webcast the bulk of its earnings
for years.
Webcast the Annual Shareholder Meeting: Two leading companies,
Microsoft and Walgreen's, have used video at the most important
shareholder event of the year - the Annual Shareholder Meeting.
Both companies webcast the audio and slide portion of the event
live, then included archived and synchronized video of the event a
few days later. Both companies also added a searchable transcript
and closed-captioning to make the experience truly interactive.
Video also brings the company executives directly into their
shareholders' homes, a powerful message for companies trying to
restore investor confidence in a rough economy.
Contact: David Jacobson, PR Manager, Shareholder.com; [email protected];
978.461.3143
Note: For more PR advice on federal disclosure, visit PR NEWS'
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