Lessons from Past Presidential Inaugurations for your upcoming Earnings

This week, we’re featuring a well-timed piece from Mark Hayes, Partner at Breakwater Strategy and a trusted voice in the IR community. Drawing on insights from past U.S. presidential inaugurations—from Obama to Biden—Mark highlights lessons to help you sharpen your approach for upcoming earnings calls. Analyzing 4Q Earnings Calls: Key...

Is Your Broker Sales Toolkit Up to the Task?

Equipping Your Brokers for Today’s Retail Landscape If your company relies on brokers to reach more retailers, you need to arm your broker partners with a killer Selling Toolkit. It used to be that you’d just slap a few products in a presentation, talk about your company, and let the...

How Linamar Streamlined Their Earnings: Shorter Remarks, Sharper Content, Greater Impact

The Opportunity A recent perception study, combined with a leadership transition, highlighted an opportunity for Linamar to improve its earnings communications. Linda Hasenfratz, Linamar’s Executive Chair, addressed this directly as she opened the Q3 2024 earnings call: “I’m going to start us off with some highlights and strategic updates, but...

What’s Missing in Your 2025 Investor Deck?

With the year-end rush in full swing, many of you are balancing priorities while gearing up for 2025—a challenge IROs know all too well. This week, I’m excited to share an article by Mark Hayes, Partner and Head of Breakwater Strategy. Mark is a trusted partner and thought leader in...

Planning an Investor Day? Avoid These Common Pitfalls

Investor Days are high stakes, and even with solid prep, a few common missteps can throw off your outcomes. Here are five seemingly obvious, yet critical, mistakes to dodge: 1. Overlooking what your audience truly cares about 2. Missing the chance to shape media headlines 3. Prioritizing speakers over the...

Get Creative with Your Investor Day Agenda: 5 Actionable Ideas

Let’s face it: Investor Days can sometimes feel like a marathon of slides. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine an agenda that goes beyond the typical presentation format, where analysts and investors leave engaged, inspired, and—dare we say—looking forward to the next one. Here’s a guide on...

The Real Struggle in IR: Short-Term vs. Long-Term

“The reality is the market judges companies every 90 days, and companies are building great businesses for the long run. Ideally, you can find investors who are investing for that longer-term story and want to get in now versus when it happens.” ~ Debbie Hancock, a veteran IRO Debbie and...

A P&G Leader’s Nugget for Cat Man and Insights Pros

In a recent episode of Guy Raz’s “How I Built This” podcast, Jim Stangel, former CMO of P&G, delivered an aha! moment that I thought Category Management and Shopper Insights professionals would find insightful. Guy Raz: “We are in an era of massive data…I mean, you can measure everything now and...

Announcing a Brand New Campbell’s to the Investor Community

Here’s What Our Client Has to Say: The Situation: Campbell’s at a Pivotal Moment Campbell’s found itself at a pivotal juncture. Shifting consumer habits, combined with the acquisition of the highly-regarded Rao’s brand from Sovos, had strengthened its Meals business. Additionally, Campbell’s had built a strong track record of executing...

Analysts Not Getting It? Make Your Slides Visual!

You’ve nailed the narrative for your Investor Day, earnings call, or conference, but how do you ensure it sticks with analysts? The answer is simple: Make it visual! We’re hearing from a lot of savvy IROs who’ve mastered the messaging, but they’re realizing that without bold, visual slides, the message...

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