This earnings season, comms teams have been tasked with either explaining poor performance or, much harder, minimising big profits. In straitened times, making money can be bad news.
Financially stretched customers and low-paid journalists might take a dim view of a cash bonanza, but some very important audiences are hanging out for good news: shareholders, potential investors, staff, Government.
We encourage companies to break the format of traditional earnings announcements by putting the profit in perspective. Many of this year’s profits have come after several years of losses due to lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, and weather events.
For example, say the $120m profit comes after some hard years: “After two years of $50m losses, BlacklandPR have brought their 3-year net profit to $20m.”
Or, in the more likely event that the result is simply no longer a loss: “Long term PR investors rewarded with best-ever profit, Blackland to invest $70m in punctual newsletters.”
A profit is always better news than a loss. After all, the company stays solvent, shareholders get a dividend, staff get paid, investments can be made, and customers stay customers. That’s worth a contextualised but confident press release.
