Managing investor relations

How to communicate with investors?

There are several different ways for a company to communicate with its investors, these can be monthly reports containing P&L (performance and loss) information, that give detailed snapshots of the company at that time. Another good strategy is to have monthly conference calls with the investors. It would be wise to have the conference calls and reports done at the same time, so if the investors have any questions about the report, that is the time they can ask those. DUring the conference calls it is also a good time to brainstorm ideas and share ideas. The third and most effective communication strategy is to hold annual, quarterly or monthly meetings with the investors. The investors often want to meet face-to-face and see the operational side of the business and this gives them the opportunity to do so. It should be remembered that scheduling these meetings well before hand is essential and they should not be held too often. If these meetings are held on a monthly basis, it best to actually have them every 5 or 6 weeks, not 4, to give time for stuff to actually happen. It is also recommended to have about 8 meetings per year, and not hold them during august and december, because of the traveling schedules of people.

How to build trust between a company and investors

9 elements of effective investor communications:

1. Know when to disclose to the market.

2. Admit when things don’t go to plan.

3. Build relations with investors in good times as well as bad.

4. Be transparent about sources of funding.

5. Be consistent with investment criteria.

6. Give investors exposure to a broader group of individuals.

7. Bear in mind the local competition.

8. Articulate a “Plan B.”

9. Avoid surprises.

The best way to build trust with investors is to have good investor communication. Hold well planned board meetings and keep the investors up to date. Avoid surprises and be honest with the investors, let them know about any difficulties and do not keep secrets. 

How do share-/stakeholders influence corporate strategy?

Shareholders of a company have a huge say of the aims of a company. The main thing that they are concerned about is making profit, and this shows in their actions. They make clear profit objectives that they expect to be met. They are also typically short-term oriented and want to make profits quickly. The pressure from shareholders can affect the decision making of managers. Shareholders also vote on major corporate decisions. Shareholders can also influence the strategic planning of the company and for example put cutting costs before ethical issues.

Managers influence a company all the time with their decisions. They decide what to produce, and who to hire and fire. They also decide about company policies and make strategies that affect the profitability of a business.

Employees can influence the success of an organization by their productivity and efficiency in the job, duties and tasks they do everyday. If they disagree on working conditions or pay, they can also go on strike.

Suppliers can raise prices for orders and their reliability can affect production and delay the shipping of finished goods for customers. Suppliers can also change credit terms which may have cash flow issues for a company and they could decide whether or not to allow discounts for bulk orders or loyal customers.

Government can introduce new laws that can affect operations, such as minimum wage or they can raise taxes which would have an effect on firm's profits.

Customers can influence a company by their purchasing decisions 

Banks influence companies by giving or denying loans and charging interest rates.

Local Community can have an influence in a company, by for example petitioning against their new developments or building permissions.

Examples of Investor Relations communication

Twitter

Websites:

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickhull/2013/10/16/choosing-the-right-strategy-when-communicating-with-investors/

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-communicate-well-with-your-investors-between-board-meetings-2010-5?IR=T

http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Managing-finance/CFO---A-tale-of-two-markets---Top-investor-communication-tips-for-CFOs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/business_management/business_enterprise/business_contemporary_society/revision/10/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/shareholders-affect-business-65880.html

http://www.entrepreneurship.org/resource-center/managing-a-mailorder-marriage-building-trust-with-your-vc-investor.aspx

Social media as a marketing channel

How to measure the impact/ROI on social media?

To successfully measure the impact of an social media campaign it is important to firstly have a clear understanding of your goals. What do you want to do and what do you want to get. Then create metrics to measure those goals. For example if you want to get website visits, track URL clicks. After you have chosen your metrics, you have to find the right  tools to follow those metrics. There are tons of different kind of tools to measure them, like google analytics and  My top tweet. The next important step is to report and monitor the results. The results can be used for benchmarking for future campaigns. Results can be easily compared to competitors using the same tools.  The final step is of course to repeat the process to get more data and adjust the campaign according to the gained results to make it better

                                  

                                

How to choose/use the right media platform?

The most important thing to consider when choosing the right social media is to find out which platform does your target audience use. other things to think about when choosing the right platform are money and time, which platform gives the best return. As it can be time consuming and expensive, it is important to also consider wether to outsource or do it in-house. Another thing to decide is what kind of content are you going to produce. For example Instagram is only pictures, Twitter only lets you use 120 characters, Facebook has both pictures and text, but is loosing popularity. Using multiple different social medias can be too time consuming. If using multiple different social medias it is smart to choose those ones that can be integrated.

How to strengthen the brand via social media?

• Reputation management
• Consumers talk about everything in social media and it is important for companies to be able to participate in to those conversations. Possibility to turn negative things in to positive.
• Customer service
• Social media has become one main methods for customer service and consumers often contact companies through their Twitter and Facebook
• PR
• Send your messages directly to your target groups
• Brand communities
• Activate customers and fans and interact with them

Trends and examples

Successful social media campaigns: 

Sources:

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/social-media-measurement/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2012/08/22/4-ways-to-measure-your-social-media-success/

http://www.inc.com/michelle-manafy/how-to-choose-the-best-social-media-sites-to-market-your-business.html

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/how-do-you-choose-right-social-media-platform-your-business

http://blog.wishpond.com/post/72672192941/social-media-marketing-which-platform-is-right-for

Why companies use media agencies?

What is the process of interaction between a client company and a media agency?

No two media agencies have exactly the same work flow process, but according to multiple sources they do follow usually the same pattern:

1. Receiving a brief or a project assignment from the client
1. The clients marketing department details their marketing and business objectives to the agency
2. Strategic development. Seek understanding of the key group they need to influence.
1. Can be done for example talking with the customers, conducting questionnaires and market research.
2. Research consuming and media usage behavior of the key target group
3. Working closely with the client to develop and idea and a media plan for them to use

How do media agencies make use of big data to get consumer insight? 

Using Google Trends can be used easily to get to know trending topics and to know how often a specific searches are made in google. With this tool marketers and media agencies can easily see what is trending in different parts of the world at the moment.

Using digital information in defining an ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Many sites give an option to sign in with your social media account to define your age, gender nationality, etc. This information is then linked to your behavior on the site, and when this kind of information is collected from all the users using the site, the company can easily define their ideal customers.

Media agencies can also use data collected by another party, such as Facebook. This year researchers from the University of Cambridge and Stanford university did a research that concluded that Facebook can actually predict our personality and behavior better than our family and friends. This is why using Facebook advertising can be really effective.

What is  PESO?

Paid Media: Includes media a company paid for, like google AdWords, Facebook sponsored posts, outdoor advertising, website banners, TV commercials, etc. As paid media costs money, it should be well planned and implemented. Using accurate key words and content. Paid media is mostly used to gain visibility and attract new customers and strangers.

Owned Media: Includes company websites, blogs and other content created by the company like news letters. Owned media is mostly used to keep control of the brand and to inform and attract existing customers.

Earned Media: Includes social media reviews, blog posts, written articles. Companies can hire a PR agency to create an ad campaign that becomes viral and people start to talk and write about it online. These articles, blog posts etc. resulting from the campaign are called earned media. 

Shared Media: Includes social media activity and the sharing happening there. Can also be a marketing campaign that includes customers or fans, for example to pick a new flavor etc. for a upcoming product. Gets existing customers, followers and fans to share and do advertising on behalf of the company

Programmatic advertising article:
http://digiday.com/platforms/what-is-programmatic-advertising/

Sources:

http://www.mediacom.com/en/what-we-do/our-industry/media-agencies/how-does-a-media-agency-work.aspx

http://www.marketing.org.au/?i=EYK/Z0vgN6Y=&t=jZS6ngCVPug=

http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2014/11/5-ways-marketers-can-actually-use-big-data-gp.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2015/02/24/big-data-why-facebook-knows-us-better-than-our-therapist/

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/january/personality-computer-knows-011215.html

http://www.matternow.com/news-views/prwhiteboard/whats-the-difference-between-paid-owned-and-earned-media/

PBL 6: What does a communication plan involve?

Definition of communication plan by business dictionary:

Step by step process to ensure that the intended message is received, understood, and acted upon by the recipient. It involves: determining the objectives, choosing the audience, and selecting appropriate channels to reach them.

Different communication models

According to wisegeek.com, there are typically three different kinds of communication plans 1.  Internal business communication plan - Only for stakeholders inside the company, like owners, managers and employees. Different communication methods in this plane could be telephone, email, conferences and face-to-face meetings. Might contain sensitive information. 2. External business communication plan -Opposite of internal, used by external stakeholders who need information. 3. Crisis communication plan -Only used when a crisis occurs to inform stakeholders about the crisis, how the company is going to handle it, and maintain normal business operations.

Trends in communication

Business communication follows normal communication trends, such as social media and instant messaging, but on top of that it also has its own trends. Some of the trends mentioned online are:

• BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
• Many people work and need to access company information remotely, so communication should be seamless with all devices, such as smart phone, tablet, computer.
• JOC (Join Our Cloud)
• Follows BYOD, as companies are not device centric, they focus on improving their platforms.
• Transition from print do digital
• Videos in internal communication
• Can be watched when ever. Many companies taking a YouTube kind of approach with a video library with the possibility to comment, tag, share and upload.

How to measure success of communication plan

How to evaluate a communication plan:

• Transmission
• Was the information received by the right party?
• verifying that the message was received.
• Understanding
• Was it interpreted the way the sender wanted?
• Avoid "broken phone" or "grape vine" effect
• Satisfaction
• Where the receivers/customers satisfied?
• Timing, mode of communication

Some experts also say that communication should be 

• Minimalist (As short as possible without losing important things)
• Automated if possible (Easier to monitor and share)
• Local (meet the needs of specific target audience)

Sources:

http://www.isae.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Crisis-Communications-795x1024.jpg?821bdd

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-business-communication-plans.htm

http://www.newsweaver.com/5-internal-communication-trends-watch-2015/#.VQiKsmSUeso

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/slideshows/top-five-business-communications-trends-for-2014-03.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communications-planning.html#ixzz3Ug3AEVZE

http://www.commpro.biz/marketing/integrated-marketing/planning-success-14-top-pr-integrated-marketing-communications-trends-2014/

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/744865_7

http://toolkit.pellinstitute.org/evaluation-guide/communicate-improve/evaluate-your-communication-efforts/

PBL 5: How to create a brand strategy?

What kind of brand strategies exist 

From the website cpfq.com I could find the following different brand strategies:

New model strategy

a system to promote both products and services by way of a new brand. Used a lot for example by mobile phone manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung (iPhone & Galaxy)

Line extension method

A method where a new variant of an existing product is added, for example shampoo manufacturer may have different shampoos for dandruff, greasy hair, etc.

Brand extension system

A method where a brand with a well developed image uses the same brand in a different product line. A good example of this is the Virgin group, that started as a record label and now manages also transportation, food and drink and telecommunications. It has more than 100 companies under it.

Multi brand name strategy

A company launches multiple different brands with apparent competition with its own existing products to get more of the market share. The best example of this is Procter & Gamble (P&G) 

When to outsource/not to outsource 

In an article written by Ilya Pozin in forbes.com, mr. Pozin discussed outsourcing marketing with marketing expert Erik Huberman. In the article it was said that when you do not have the talent or the possibility to hire needed talent for marketing and branding, then is a good time to start thinking outsourcing. When building a company, and this goes especially for young brands, it is important to stick to your core competencies, the things you are good at.

On the contrary if you have in house talent and a marketing/branding team that is dedicated, skilled and you trust, then there is no point outsourcing, and it can even be harmful. The people in the company know the products the best, so if they have what it takes, they should be the ones responsible of branding.

Pros and cons of brand outsourcing were listed in designshack.net:

PROS:

Saves time

Gives a fresh perspective

Saves from errors if you are not good in branding.

CONS:

Credibility issues

It isn't "you"

Costs a lot of money

What is the interrelation between brand strategy and brand portfolio

Brand strategy and brand portfolio usually go hand in hand. The company decides the way they want to go and create a strategy to support their portfolio according to that.

Flemming Hansen and Lars Bech Christensen mentioned in their book Branding and Advertising (2003) that the bigger the brand portfolio gets, usually the importance of the corporate brands lessens. A good example here is P&G. Most of the consumers using P&G products may not even know that they belong to the P&G portfolio.

On the other hand there are some companies, such as Virgin, that uses the brand extension method, and keeps its own name on the brands it creates, so that everyone recognizes the brand.

Sources:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-strategy.html

http://www.cqfp.org/2013/04/types-of-branding-strategies/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/04/23/leave-it-to-the-experts-should-you-outsource-your-marketing/

http://designshack.net/articles/business-articles/outsourcing-your-own-brand-pros-and-cons/

Hansen, F. and Christensen, L. (2003). Branding and advertising. [Copenhagen]: Copenhagen Business School Press.

How to manage brand identity

Brand Identity

Brand identity is how a business wants its logo, communication style and visual elements to be seen by consumers. Brand identity shouldn't be confused with brand image, which is what consumers actually think. (1)

What is the interrelation between brand identity and brand image? 

Brand identity is placed on the company's side and includes everything that makes a brand meaningful and unique. These things influence the customers brand image. For the consumer to fully understand the meaning of the company's marketing communication, it is important that the brand identity and the brand image match each other. (2)

When and how to rebrand? ­ 

There are a lot of different situations when a company has to start thinking rebranding.

When a company starts to grow and becomes a mid-sized or a large company and wants to be taken seriously, it should try to make its brand more professional, as it expands in to more aggressive markets.

If there is a change in the product or service, for example switching in to a more greener solution, it should show also in the company's brand.

When a company wants to differentiate itself from competitors, rebranding can help significantly.

When the markets change and the company wants to stay relevant.

When a company wants to introduce a new competing product to a different market while retaining the original product brand, they might consider rebranding.

If a large company develops or acquires various products and services, it might become a confusing clutter of multiple different brands. In this situation it is beneficial to create a new brand which has all these smaller ones under it or included in it. (3)

risks and challenges? ­ 

When rebranding there is a risk that a company creates a hope of change when in reality there are no concrete changes. (4)

Another big challenge in rebranding is how the consumers perceive your new brand. There are multiple good examples of companies getting laughed at and criticized because for example their new logo. The latest that comes in mind is Airbnb, which changed its logo and it was mocked in Twitter with people saying that the new logo looks like a sexual organ. (5)

Another big risk is that when rebranding goes too far, and consumers don't recognize the company's logo or name anymore, and cant associate them with the good sides of the company. This can also be done on purpose, when the negative effects can be smaller than the positive ones.

Good and bad examples of brand management.

Good examples:

Google is using its visual brand identity well in all of its products:

25 examples of good branding:
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/identity-branding-design-part-2/

Bad examples:

Pepsi is going more boring each year:

Ikea removing women in Saudi Arabia:

References:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-identity.asp

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:530562/FULLTEXT01.pdf

http://www.inkredible.com.au/Rebranding/reasons-to-rebrand

http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/articles/experts-discuss-dos-and-donts-of-rebranding/

http://skar.com/hazards-rebranding/

Trigger 3: Visual Brand Identity

To start this subject I think it would be good to define what is corporate identity. The definition by Wikipedia states that a corporate identity is the overall image of a corporation, in the minds of public. Maintaining the corporate identity is the main task of corporate communication department. It usually shows through branding and the use of trademarks. (1)

Then off to visual identity. Again according to Wikipedia, corporate visual identity expresses the values and ambitions of an organization, its businesses, and its characteristics. It provides the company: 

(1) visibility and recognizability, 

(2) symbolizes the organization for external stakeholders, 

(3) it expresses the structure of an organization to its external stakeholders ( monolithic brands for companies with single brand, different brands for an organization, and endorsed identity with different brands which are connected.)

(4) It relates to employees' identification with the organization as a whole. (1)

Elements that create visual brand identity

Using specific colors are one of the most recognizable elements of a visual identity. A good example of using corporate color is Coca-Cola. 

Even though we do not understand all of these languages, most of us would probably think of Coca-Cola when seeing these somewhere.

Other elements of visual brand identity can be for example sound (Battery energy drink), shape (Apple products), typography, materials. These elements communicate company values and personality to stakeholders either directly or subliminally.

Creating a visual brand identity

Designing a Brand Identity by creativemarket.com

Phase 1: Research, Vision & Design Brief

Research questions: 

• How is the brand perceived against competitors?
• What is the brands positioning statement? (answer what, how, to whom, where and why)
• What is the heritage of the product type and the origin of it's ingredients and fabrication process?
• Who is the audience?
• What are the values and beliefs of the brand about business and its mission in the world? (how would it look, act and talk if it was a person?)
• What benefits do customers associate with the brand?

A design brief should contain the research results in brief, including target audience, messaging objectives, values and mission of the brand, and the brand's products/services offering.

Phase 2: Logo, Identity, & Guidelines

The designing of a logo starts here. First a lot of sketches are drawn and the best ones are chosen and they are redone digitally.

After the new logo is chosen, the identity system starts. Its purpose is to create a visual language around the logo, that can be used in marketing

Then the style guidelines are created, they contain the rules of using the logo and the visual language around it, so that they will send a coherent message and that the marketing and other media visibility will always look the same.

Phase 3: Monitoring & Rebranding

After the brand is created and the logo is set, it is time to monitor the markets and changes in it. By time the target audience will change and the brand has to change with them. The changes should be noticeable but the familiarity and consistency of the brand should be maintained.

10 tips for creating winning visual brand identities by justcreative.com

Challenges in creating visual brand identity

Good examples:

25 Outstanding Examples Of Branding, Visual Identity and Logo Designs:

http://graphicdesignjunction.com/2013/05/branding-visual-identity-logo-designs/

bad examples:

Coke Color Change

In 2011, Coke withdrew a newly-branded can in the US. Focused on their $3 million pledge to the WWF to help save polar bears, the company launched a white can. Visually, it looked too similar to the Diet Coke alternative, and of course brand confusion set in, customers complained and within one month, the red can returned.

Sources:

https://creativemarket.com/blog/2013/07/23/designing-a-brand-identity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_identity#Visual_identity

http://www.slideshare.net/asp360/visual-branding

http://justcreative.com/2012/09/11/branding-tips/

http://cottervisual.com/branding-good-and-bad/