Dell investor relation blog
Lynn and team have just launched our Investor Relations Blog, adding to some very successful ‘listening and conversation posts’. IR represents a pretty untouched area when it comes to blogging – in her conversation with Shel, Lynn gets at why the risk is minimal:
The ability for an investor relations department to execute this and do it well quite frankly is predicated on how well they do their jobs every day. And if there’s confidence in their ability to exercise sound situational judgement over the phone or over emails or in one-on-one meetings with investors or group meetings with investors or drafting press releases, then there should be that same level of confidence by the company in their ability to have a dialogue over the Internet.
Getting Your Information out via Google…
Some useful tips on how to get your presence on Google right.
Corporate Journalism
Stowe flags a contender for word (or phrase) of the week: Corporate Journalism.
[…] In conversations with another McKinsey colleague, Tom Hayes, a former NYT reporter, we came up with the term “corporate journalism” to describe what we were doing inside of the Firm: applying classic reporting techniques inside of an organization to determine what, if anything, was “interesting” and deserved attention. That filter, “interesting” is subjective. Through McKinsey’s lens it meant information that could enrich the firm through more client engagements and increase the effectiveness of its consultants.
This takes me back to a phrase that Mark Tolliver used lots when I was at Sun: “evidence based marketing“. In short, get rid of all the platitudes and well-worn phrases and start with the evidence – then back into they hype if you must. These two concepts together are powerful – communications, message-making, marketing, the act of business, all should start with investigative rigor and evidence. From there, a fair dose of honesty and transparency is required.
Blog vs. FTC
Wholefoods’ CEO has turned their blog into one big transparency machine.
This is another example of a broader shift in communications to direct and open dialog. I’d love to see Wholefoods use the blog to mobilize support for their position.
He pulls no punches, providing…
a detailed look into Whole Foods Market’s decision-making process regarding the merger, as well as our company’s experience interacting with the FTC staff assigned to this merger. I provide explanations of how I think the FTC, to date, has neglected to do its homework appropriately, especially given the statements made regarding prices, quality, and service levels in its complaint. I also provide a glimpse into the bullying tactics used against Whole Foods Market by this taxpayer-funded agency. Finally, I provide answers in my FAQ section to many of the questions that various Team Members have fielded from both the media and company stakeholders.
Wow… As a Wholefoods shareholder I’m thrilled he is doing this. I’d rather know what is going on from his perspective than that of the WSJ which has this to say:
Whole Foods says it will battle the FTC in court, and the case will make for some entertaining jujitsu as Mr. Mackey argues that his stores aren’t as unique as his marketing materials suggest, while the FTC pleads that the merger will make Whole Foods less unique and more expensive at the same time. Such are the absurdities of modern antitrust policy.
Make Wholefoods more expensive? Could it be more expensive? Really…
We need the FTC defining markets about as much as we need a hole in head. Maybe FTC employees don’t shop and the new Safeway store down the road from my Supermarket, or the Lunardi’s across the street. Either way, let consumers vote with their feet – the FTC appears to be operating under the premise that they as a higher intellectual authority know better what to than we do with our pocketbook and feet.
The Speechmaker
Big speeches require a massive amount of effort.
Good communicators know this and smart executives commit to it.
The Wall Street Journal has a piece this morning on how Bill Gates developed his commencement address for Harvard.
What’s intriguing is how committed Bill is to the process – this is rare in an executive.
A couple of observations:
- Pick keynotes your execs can get passionate about. As much as you want to establish a sense of importance, it can only be important to them if it is important to them.
- Pick issues, topics, themes that those same execs can get really passionate about. Chances are it isn’t the industry you are in.
- Models are useful – speeches by others provide good context and illumination. In Bill’s case: “The speech, delivered at Harvard’s commencement on June 5, 1947, outlined the Marshall Plan, the bold economic relief program that lifted Europe from the ashes of World War II. To Mr. Gates, the general was describing the challenges facing postwar Europe in terms similar to how the software billionaire sees his own, 21st-century crusade: using philanthropy as a catalyst for reducing global inequities in health, wealth and education.”
- Tone is as important as content. Don’t confuse the Exec’s tone with the tone required for the audience and speech. Bill groked that: “In late May, Mr. Gates tapped Mr. Buffett again. He wanted to press graduates to become more aware and active in helping solve global inequities but was worried about sounding “overly preachy.” Mr. Gates went to Omaha, Neb., for the annual shareholders meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Mr. Buffett’s company on which Mr. Gates serves as a board member. After the meeting, Mr. Buffett gave Mr. Gates some tips on delivery and tone.”
- The notion of the single speech writer might work in Political circles but you are going to have a greater chance of success by bringing in collaborators. In Bill’s case: “When he started working on the speech in December, he used as a sounding board a Gates Foundation staff member who had written for Slate, the online magazine started by Microsoft. The two traded outlines and drafts of the speech. By the end, Mr. Gates and his staff had met six times for brainstorming sessions, completed six drafts and traded many long emails. Mr. Gates wrote some of the longest ones himself.”
- And, no matter how good you are at collaborating and crafting the content, the exec has to be committed to molding the speech into something special. I’m not talking about the standard rehearsal the day or hour before. I’m talking about time spent on putting their thumb-print on it.
