Assessing creative trends in results reporting

1. Webcasting

A live webcast of the results presentation (accompanied by an archived post-event recording) is a ubiquitous element of results day communications. However, it’s interesting to note that 12% of the companies we looked at fail to feature any form of webcast recording on their website. Of the remaining 88% of companies who do webcast, 40% take a basic audio-only approach with synchronised slides, and the remaining 48% feature the management team in vision.

Video webcasting is itself a broad category, with several different approaches being taken. The most common technique, which will be familiar to most readers, remains a video recording of the in-person analyst presentation with accompanying synchronised slides. Perhaps spurred by pandemic restrictions that prevented ‘real life’ meetings, many companies now go beyond this approach, adopting several refreshing innovations. For example, many businesses now pre-record their management presentations prior to the announcement, with the dual benefit of freeing up management time on results day, while also taking advantage of additional pre-production time to add engaging animated graphics. A good exponent of this approach is Standard Chartered; its webcast features high quality graphics, which are integrated into the same screen as the speaker to complement the points being made. The talking-heads presentations are also punctuated by short, high-quality supporting films. Severn Trent also take an interesting approach to their webcast, with the CEO, Liv Garfield, presenting her sections from various operational facilities. This provides an additional level of visual engagement for the viewer while also helping to showcase key company assets. Pre-recording results days presentations does not come at the expense of live interaction with analysts, but the way that live Q&A from the analyst audience is now integrated into webcasts varies.

The impact of the ‘Zoom revolution’ is once again in evidence here, with some companies such as Croda International using the platform to take analyst questions delivered via live video feed from the participant’s office. It’s worth noting that technical challenges with this approach mean it’s currently impossible to feature incoming video within a traditional webcasting platform leading to issues with slide integration.

One final observation is that most companies fail to take the opportunity to add additional branded content into their results webcast presentations, which is something of a shame when there is a captivated audience of interested observers. If you have a short brand or purpose film, why not play it out during the countdown to the management teams’ presentations?

In contrast, some examples consist of little more than a Zoom-style recording of the CEO reluctantly delivering a pre-prepared script, which provides little engagement for the viewer and feels like a missed-opportunity.

The internally produced interview format, consisting of a two-way conversation between an interviewer and the CEO and CFO, once a staple of results day communications, has now largely been retired by FTSE 100 companies. The CEO piece-to-camera is quicker to record and edit resulting in a lighter burden for the CEO and Comms team during the hectic run-in to results when time is at a premium, stress levels are high, and re-recording is unlikely to be a possibility. However, hearing the unfiltered and unscripted words of a CEO in a conversational mode can provide a more authentic piece of content for the viewer. Aviva provides a good example of a polished interview, in which the CEO, Amanda Blanc, delivers a composed and warm performance, giving an excellent results overview and strategy update which is clearly produced with both internal and external audiences in mind.

Other companies leverage CEO results-day media appearances on financial television programmes, embedding the recordings on their own website or LinkedIn page. This content provides a level of external validation and kudos that internally produced content can’t compete with, and if the interview has gone well, sharing it across owned channels seems like an obvious and easy thing to do.

While not video content, Lloyds Banking Group’s CEO, Charlie Nunn, takes an interesting approach to results-day communication with the publication of a personal blog post, in which he assesses performance and reflects on how it relates to the Bank’s wider strategy. It’s relatively short and might be something we see more of from other CEOs in the future, especially in an era when the concept of Connected Leadership is of ever-increasing importance.

3. Video approach 2: Results animation

A smaller proportion of FTSE 100 companies (8%) produce short, animated films that forego on-camera contributions from the management team in favour of bold graphics and kinetic text treatments that capture the results highlights. This content generally provides an on-brand summary of the key facts and figures, usually combined with some more general strategic performance updates. Invariably underscored with up-tempo music, this content is created with social distribution in-mind, providing a top-level results summary suited for those looking to take a ‘paddle’ in results content rather plunging into a ‘deep dive’. A general observation is that companies creating this kind of content seem to be consumer-facing, already creating a steady stream of social content. Some good examples include NatWest, BAT, and Coca-Cola HBC.

One outlier in this category is Intertek; their year-in-review film is longer (over three minutes) and it’s the only example that employs a voiceover artist to narrate a script. This allows the film to pack in a huge amount of information but also means it slightly strays into the territory of a traditional corporate film.

4. Infographics

Looking beyond film content, a graphic factsheet features in the results communication of 12% of FTSE 100 companies. The designers responsible for creating these assets face a tricky task. Not only must they condense a huge volume of financial information into a short summary, but they also need to introduce some narrative signposting to help readers interpret what they see.

At worst, results factsheets become a dense fog of numbers, with figures crammed into every available space on the page. This approach will inevitably overwhelm and confuse the reader. Better examples recognise the impossibility of shrinking the entire investor presentation/results release into a shorter format and instead focus on pulling out the key numbers and accompanying them with a visual device to help guide the reader through the content – clear sub-headings, along with judicious use of imagery and icons is a good way of doing this.

Kingfisher’s results factsheet is a worthy example; while it’s still relatively dense, the data is well-organised and provides an insightful snapshot of performance across various metrics, while also referencing the wider group strategy.

5. LinkedIn image carousels

Results day LinkedIn posts offer companies a chance to communicate their performance to viewers who may only have a passing interest in their results as they scroll down their personal newsfeeds. This means communications teams need to work harder to capture the attention of these eyeballs. Eight FTSE 100 companies create carousel galleries inviting users to interact with the content by clicking through a number of images, each carefully designed and on-brand, featuring key statistics, numbers and pictures.  St James’ Place, Rolls-Royce and Mondi are all good examples of this approach, and given the relative simplicity of creating these assets, it’s a trend that seems likely to continue growing in popularity.

As noted at the beginning of this article, our research reinforces the view that there is no one-size-fits all solution to creative communication on results day, with FTSE 100 companies taking a wide variety of approaches. Much depends on the profile of a business; closely scrutinised, household names may feel the need to produce more collateral than more niche businesses. Regardless of market-cap or sector, it’s clear the businesses that spend time and energy developing high quality collateral have a much better chance of taking ownership of the narrative around their performance on the all-important results day.