Investor Relations Will Open Your Eyes, and Yes, Advertisers Too: Marketing Isn’t Just for Consumers and Power Isn't Just for Men

This past summer I interned at Sharon Merrill, an investor relations firm here in Boston. My intention was to learn about finance and PR, especially in the context of strategy. Not even excellent marketing programs like the one I'm enrolled in at Emerson College spend a lot of time on finance and PR at the undergraduate level, but professors I've had are aware of this and recommend that students investigate the topics on their own time. They're essential components, I was told, of a holistic view of what marketing does. And good thing I believed them. I did ultimately learn about finance and PR at Sharon Merrill, but perhaps more importantly I participated in concrete proof that the depth and complexity of investor relations speaks to the heart of what marketing is all about: perpetuating trust and value-creation.

One thing that became clear right away during my time at Sharon Merrill is that the best company strategies are informed by marketing strategies from the beginning. Marketing isn’t limited to managing a communication plan and running campaigns. As a “value-creation process” marketing manages collaborator value and company value as well as customer value.

Today we’ve arrived at a new marketing myopia that overcompensates for the lack of focus on consumers in the past by now focusing so narrowly on consumers that the needs of other stakeholders aren’t factored into strategy. I saw first-hand at Sharon Merrill that done correctly (and they do it correctly) investor relations is an antidote for this new kind of myopia. The perspective required to strategically communicate with investors necessarily involves considering the needs and struggles of other stakeholders, everyone from consumers to employees to advocacy groups in direct or indirect control of business resources.

So how does investor relations actually perpetuate the saving grace of trust and value-creation?

Value: Not Just a Matter of Dollars and Cents

When an investor relations firm like Sharon Merrill helps a company achieve “fair valuation” (the market valuation as a calculation of returns) it’s because their strategic seat at the table and communication practices result in credible visibility and understanding among the financial community. Consequently investors don’t pay more than what they should pay and are compensated for the extra risk of investing in stocks. As with all quality marketing, the marketing done at an investor relations firm looks into the past and into the future to inform those actions in the present that bring together price and value—in this case of a stock. Zipping time up in this way can turn the bitter risks of an inclement future into opportunities for exploration and positive change.

One topic that showed up repeatedly on my radar while I was at Sharon Merrill was gender diversity on boards. This was the topic of a conference call I distilled and delivered to the CEO of Sharon Merrill, Maureen Wolff. It’s been a big year for proxy access, which refers to shareholders’ ability to vote on the appointment of board directors. Regardless of whether board diversity improves a company’s performance, if investor disposition remains assertive about influencing board composition companies that ignore the trend are left vulnerable to a crisis and a reactionary response. 

Brand equity depends on what people believe today about a company’s future. Good marketing strategy makes good on a value proposition in the long-term, in part, by earning the credibility that justifies a favorable belief about the future. Therefore, fostering loyalty and trust is at the heart of any worthwhile marketing endeavor. 

This is Maureen Wolff. After talking with her about proxy access I got the sense that if your board is entirely made up of white males and their white male golf buddies, and if you ask her for her advise, Maureen will suggest that you reconsider your approach. By thinking in terms of achieving fair valuation she thinks like a business owner that doesn’t intend to sell the business. Taking an effective long-term view that creates value and reduces unpleasant surprises necessarily involves thinking like a marketer.

Creative Departments & Overlapping Lessons

Of course it’s not just on boards where gender diversity is scarce. Karen Kaplan, Chairman and CEO of the advertising agency Hill Holliday, points out that advertising agencies need to make a concerted effort involving institutional change if they’re going to shift the average percentage of women in creative departments higher than the current 11 percent industry-wide average. Hill Holliday has reached 22%, but efforts are ongoing since the average percentage of women in every other department is 50-plus. 

The institutional changes Kaplan highlights can be distilled to listening, creating a transparent, trusting atmosphere, and taking a close look at recruiting practices. Kaplan speaks to how these distillations are productively applied to women, but in general, these are among the principles that guide successful groups of all kinds. 

Consumer satisfaction and shareholder satisfaction go hand-in-hand, but the hands are placed together through diverse skill sets. Though guided by shared principles, these diverse skill sets specialize in different languages that speak to different stakeholders with different needs.

So what can investor relations people and advertising people learn from each other? Learning about one way to do marketing enhances another. At the very least, investor relations people and advertising people can be reminded from each other’s approaches that they would do well not to get exclusively absorbed in the needs of the audience that gives them the most immediate feedback.

What's clear is that, although slowly, we're making progress. Martin Luther King Jr. said in a sermon that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe the arc of moral business practices is long, but it bends toward value creation. Good marketing shortens the arc.