About us
Press
Corp Comms Magazine: Casting the Web
15/02/2007
Casting the Web
By Joanne Hart
FEBRUARY 2007 http://www.thecrossbordergroup.com/
Last year, for the first time since the medium was invented, there was a decline in UK television viewing figures – but not because people are spending less time in front of a screen. On the Contrary, they are just swapping the TV for the PC.
This revolution in viewing habits has even prompted David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, to set up his own informal web site, webcameron. It has also had a dramatic impact on business communications.
It was not that long ago that companies relied on television, radio and the press to reach consumers, while conferences, roadshows and the written word were used to reach investors. Today, companies can use the web to reach both.
“Webcasting is free to air and it is completely unregulated so you can do what you like, when you like, and for as long as you like,” says Stephen Watson, managing director of multi-channel production agency CTN Communications.
Companies have yet to abuse this freedom to broadcast any salacious or inappropriate material. Instead, most corporate webcasts revolve around financial results or other important announcements. Indeed, almost every company in the FTSE 100 now uses the internet to broadcast its annual and interim figures.
“Over the past three or four years, demand for webcasting has really shot up,” notes Rupert Spiegelberg, director at online corporate communications specialists Investis. “In many cases, it has actually changed companies’ communication strategy in terms of what they say and how they say it. The whole quality of the message is better through-out.”
Is there anybody out there?
Admittedly, the audience for the first webcasts of financial results were small. Indeed, there were often more analysts watching the presentation at the accompanying conference than watching it from their desks. Today, the situation has changed.
“Typically companies have about 120 analysts and investors in the room with them but a further 500 to 600 viewing online,” says Watson. “It can be really helpful even for London-based stakeholders because they don’t have to leave their office to travel to the briefing.”
Webcasting can also be useful for small and medium-sized businesses. Around half the companies in the FTSE 250 index have adopted webcasting and the numbers are growing all the time. “It can often help these businesses to raise their profile and get their heads above the parapet,” says Watson.
Many companies webcast their figures by training a camera on the chairman or chief executive so viewers can see and hear the results being presented. Several corporates choose not to showcase management in this way, however. BP for example, tends not to train the camera on its chief executive or chairman during its webcasts. Instead, viewers hear the BP speaker but see the accompanying slide presentation.
“We have lots of data to convey so this is an efficient way of doing it,” explains David Nicholas, press officer at BP. “People can see the slides as we webcast our quarterly results. For us, webcasting is a communication tool that enables us to show the same presentation simultaneously to analysts and investors around the world. It helps us disseminate information as widely as possible.”
Using the medium
Other companies agree – and not just those in the FTSE 100. “We find webcasting very useful,” says Dan Conti, new media manager at soft drinks company Britvic. “We have a number of overseas analysts and investors who have expressed an interest in seeing live presentations. We broadcast our financial results meetings so viewers can hear our CEO speaking and see the PowerPoint presentation.”
BP and Britvic believe viewers are better served by seeing information on the screen rather than a grey man in a suit. Spiegelberg says budgetary constraints can also dictate how companies use the web.
“Audio webcasts with slides are cheaper than video webcasts and often more effective,” he explains. If you have regular audio webcasts where the costs are low, you can use that budget to create more powerful video material for a wider audience. For the majority of large companies, webcasting is now almost a given. The issue is how to use audio and video tools on the web to enrich the corporate message.”
BAE Systems is a case in point. “We webcast our financial results because we find it is a useful way of reaching a targeted audience in a targeted fashion,” explains Dominic Walters, e-media manager at the company. “But we also used the internet when we launched the first of our Type 45 destroyers, HMS Daring. Some of our operations are very community-based so it was great to be able to webcast something the whole community could watch.
“The MoD was very supportive of the site, too; that showed our shared partnership, which was good PR. We had downloadable interviews with the harbour master and the chief engineer so it was interactive and informative. It helped people understand what goes into a project of this nature.”
Companies such as Home Retail Group, which owns Argos and Homebase, put flash videos on their web site, which stakeholders can click on to watch a two or three-minute film about the business. Debenhams also recently put its advertising campaign on its web site. “UK stakeholders may well have been exposed to the ad on television but overseas stakeholders would not have seen it – and now they can,” says Spiegelberg.
Webcasting can also be used to great effect for internal communications. Large companies film their chief executive speaking to the employees. Some film exceptional employees talking about a particular achievement and some use the web for training purposes. “E-learning is definitely on the increase. It is a very effective way of training people,” says Watson.
Far and wide
For companies with far-flung empires, webcasting can be used to communicate with staff for whom even telephone access can be problematic. “We worked with one company that has 40,000 employees across the world,” recalls David Dawson of webcast specialists Hugin. “We did a low-bandwidth audio presentation that people could pick up even though phone communication was not great.”
Webcasting has also become more popular as the technology behind it has improved. “The interface has got much better,” notes Dawson. “The technology has really taken off with better sound quality and better quality video. Costs are also coming down.”
Some of the companies Hugin works with use webcasting to improve their time management during roadshows. “One company had to give presentations to retail and institutional investors in five European cities; it decided to webcast the retail presentation which gave it more time to do one-on-ones with large institutional investors,” says Dawson.
Hugin works primarily with companies from the Nordic regions, Benelux, Switzerland and Germany. Webcasting is gaining popularity in all these jurisdictions but some countries, such as Norway, are more advanced that others. “It is not yet a core communication tool in Europe,” Dawson explains. “In the US, by contrast, at least 90 percent of all companies use audio or video webcasts for their financial results – it is expected of them.”
Companies also use webcasts as a statement of record. The webcasts stay on a company’s web site for a certain period of time after the event and can then be archived. “Throughout the year, students, investors and others ask to see our webcasts,” says Conti.
Experimental uses
Looking ahead, there is little doubt webcasting will become increasingly popular, and its range is likely to broaden and deepen. More and more businesses will use it for straightforward broadcasting of financial results but they will also begin to look at more experimental forms of web communication.
“The most advanced companies are already starting to use their webcasting budget for innovative solutions, creating video content to convey emotion and power, instead of having one video camera pointing at the chief executive’s head,” says Spiegelberg.
Even so, Nicholas points out that webcasting is just a single weapon in the communication armoury. “It is one medium,” he says. “Some people still prefer written work, some people still like to look the chief executive in the eye and – let’s face it – even today, not everyone has broadband.”
T. +44 (0)20 7038 9023
F. +44 (0)20 7038 9001
E. enquiries@investis.com
Recruitment:
T. +44 (0)20 7038 9000
E. recruitment@investis.com
For all our contact details visit Contact us.
