Mad Men, Web geeks and the SEC

Posted on November 7th, 2008 by Marc Micheli | Filed under: Investor Relations

Your next annual report must have marketability, usability and compliance

The three worlds of advertising, Web site usability, and the Securities and Exchange Commission have collided. The result is a puzzle, and the public companies who can successfully fit the pieces together in 2009 will capture prospective investors while living up to the spirit of new SEC rules.

The high-end printed annual report is poised to become more focused as a long-term shareholder retention tool, and is increasingly valuable as a sales tool as well. Promoting your company to potential investors and analysts, however, necessitates not just any HTML annual report, but a well-executed one. Because the prospective investor has a low level of motivation, you have a very short period of time to provide what they’re looking for, link them strategically along your IR site and collect their email address.

The shared story below, Reflections on 2008 Annual Report Season, renders a verdict on the failure of companies over the past season to execute annual reports that reflect modern models of investor relations. It was filed by blogger Dominic Jones of IR Web Report.

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Tags: Annual Reports, Investor Relations, SEC, Usability