Edelman Financial Communications Visual Storytelling Research

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
COMMUNICATIONS & CAPITAL
MARKETS
New Proprietary Research from
Edelman Financial
Communications in partnership
with Business Wire
MARCH 2016
Do Investors
Like Visual
Presentations
of Financial
Information?
EDELMAN

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Methodology
Objectives
Conduct a survey among Wall Street professionals, individual investors and financial media professionals to understand:
• How these audiences perceive earnings releases in terms of the current standard of function and design, and how they utilize these releases in their daily operations
• How these audiences view the new and emerging methods of presenting financial earnings (i.e. using more visuals to convey financial facts and figures) and their
opinions regarding the veracity and utility of these designs and content.
Methodology
• Launched an online survey that tested traditional and visual earnings press releases to buy-side analysts/institutional investors, sell-side analysts and retail investors
• Conducted in-depth interviews over the phone with financial media professionals regarding their experiences with traditional and visual earnings press releases
3/9/2016 © COPYRIGHT 2016 DANIEL J EDELMAN INC. 2
INTRODUCTION
*Wall Street professionals = institutional investors and sell-side analysts
WHO HOW MANY WHEN HOW
Investors, analysts, and financial media
Retail investors: 300
Wall Street Professionals:
>20
In-depth interviews: 4
January 21, 2016 – February 3, 2016 Online / Telephone Hybrid

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
• Earnings releases are considered to be an essential resource for investors, analysts and financial media
alike, and having fast, easy-to-access data is vital
• The need for traditional financial data remains. While there is strong positive sentiment for visual
storytelling among all audiences surveyed, participants emphasized that these visual elements should be
included in addition to, and not a substitute for, traditional earnings data and detail.
• Both Wall Street professionals and retail investors say visually driven earnings releases are easier to
read, make it easier to find relevant data and easier to understand (“at the drop of a hat”).
• Investors agree that getting fast, easy-to-understand information is essential to making good investment
decisions
• Ninety-two percent of Wall Street professionals and retail investors surveyed believe the future of
earnings releases will be more visual and will include qualitative content and creative storytelling;
• These investors also believe the early adoption of this style today by some companies is a step “in the right
direction.”
• Wall Street professionals, retail investors and financial media value the inclusion of a CEO quote and other
commentary in the release’s financial highlights section, and agree that presenting the information in a visual
manner makes it more accessible for readers.
Key findings

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Current & future
state of earnings
releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
All participants believe presenting financial data in a more
creative/visual manner is the future, and would like to see increased
adoption of this reporting style
CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE
Q20. Do you think the future of showing financial data in a more visual, creative way is going in the right direction or off on the wrong track?
Q21. Do you think the future of showing financial data in a more visual, creative way is something you would like to see more of or less of?
11% 89%
See less See more
8% 92%
Wrong track Right direction
Do you think the future of showing financial data in a
more visual, creative way is something you would
like to see more of or less of?
Do you think the future of showing financial data in a more visual,
creative way is going in the right direction, or off on the wrong track?

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
All participants agree that visual earnings releases portray a more
forward-looking approach, are easier to read, and support transparency
CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE
Q20. Do you think the future of showing financial data in a more visual, creative way is going in the right direction or off on the wrong track?
Q21. Do you think the future of showing financial data in a more visual, creative way is something you would like to see more of or less of?
16% 84%
Too long or easy to read?
Too long to read Easy to read
7% 93%
Stuck in the past or forward looking?
Stuck in the past Forward looking
20% 80%
Transparent or trying to hide something?
Trying to hide earnings news Fully transparent
Perceptions of Visual Earnings Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Visual earnings releases
vs. traditional methods

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Testing visual financial earnings information and infographics
In order to assess how Wall Street professionals, retail investors and the financial media view “visual” earnings releases,
a “control” (i.e. traditional) earnings release was offered as a comparison to examples of “visual” earnings releases.
VISUAL VS. TRADITIONAL
A series of releases and infographics were tested that represented two approaches to financial
reporting: traditional vs visual storytelling. In this article Edelman has included a
series of representative images from publicly available information that is for illustrative purposes
only; these items are not necessarily those used in Edelman’s research.
Illustrative Traditional Earnings Releases Illustrative Visual Earnings Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
In this age of information overload, visual earnings releases help usher
investors into a new era of understanding data
Earnings release comparison
Control and visual releases are
comparable in credibility and
trustworthiness for providing the
essential information…
However, when it comes to shareability,
ease of reading, and representing
innovation—visual earnings releases
surpass traditional reporting methods.
This earnings release…% somewhat/strongly agree
(Wall Street professionals and retail investors)
Control
Visual press
release (avg.)
Contains the information essential to managing my personal investment
portfolio (retail only)
78% 80%
Contains information I would definitely share 68% 71%
Easy to read and find the information I need 61% 77%
Represents innovation in financial reporting 56% 75%
Contains the information essential to doing my job 95% 79%
Looks credible 91% 85%
Has information that is trustworthy 86% 84%
Q13/Q18. Please tell me the extent you agree or disagree with the following statements. This earnings release...
Q14/Q19. Which parts of the release stand out to you the most?

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
In terms of ease of reading and perceived innovation, visual earnings
releases surpass traditional reporting methods
Easy to read and find the information I need
Top 2 (strongly agree and somewhat agree)
Q13/Q18. Please tell me the extent you agree or disagree with the following statements. This earnings release...
Q14/Q19. Which parts of the release stand out to you the most?
Represents innovation in financial reporting
Top 2 (strongly agree and somewhat agree)
56%
75%
Traditional releases Visual releases
61%
77%
Traditional releases Visual releases
+16% +19%

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Insight based on verbatim responses: Wall Street professionals and
retail investors agree that traditional reporting methods can be
cumbersome to read and digest
*For illustrative purposes only
“Small print that
only a CPA
would love.”
“Hard to
understand.”
“It will take a while to
digest all of the
information in it.”
“Too complicated
and long to just
review quickly.”
Illustrative Traditional Earnings Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Insight based on verbatim responses: Wall Street professionals and
retail investors agree that visual earnings press releases are clearer,
easer-to-read and find information
*For illustrative purposes only
“Very easy to read,
well put together,
clearly shows different
areas of interest.”
“Finally… short
and to the point.”
“Stunning.”
“It is much easier to
read and find what you
are looking for.”
“It is awesome in its brevity.
The use of tables and
graphs is to the point.”
Illustrative Visual Earnings Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
WHAT MEDIA
PROFESSIONALS
TOLD US
Media professionals agree that traditional formats are cumbersome
and prefer a more graphically accessible alternative
“This is colorful. Easy to read and gives me a
feeling of confidence.”
– Financial Media Professional
“I like how it's got the highlights right here. I kind of like how
it's all condensed, it's got the graphics that makes it easy to
think about what's going on.”
“Information could be presented better
- graphs/charts....”
The most important thing [in an earnings press release] is
that we can retrieve it quickly. It’s always better if the
numbers are put into one box very high up, near the top.
Illustrative Traditional Earnings Releases
Illustrative Visual Earnings Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
How Earnings
Releases Are
Used

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
4%
8% 8%
15%
36%
28%
Every day 2-3 times a
week
Once a week Once a month Only when it's
released
Never
Frequency of Earnings Release Use in Managing
Personal Investment Portfolio
Retail Investors
50%
23%
14%
5%
9%
0%
Every day 2-3 times a
week
Once a week Once a month Only when it's
released
Never
Frequency of Earnings Release Use in Normal Course
of Business
Wall Street professionals
Earnings releases are considered to be an essential resource for Wall
Street professionals, retail investors and financial media alike, and
having fast, easy-to-access data is vital
HOW EARNINGS RELEASES ARE USED
“We need to grab the key
numbers very, very quickly.
It’s very helpful when
companies have a table at the
top, or any kind of a little
chart. Somewhere very high
up that just gives us those
numbers, and we can just
grab them. It’s also important
that they’re presented, that
they’re easy to read and that
they don’t do things like flip
the table or have the wrong
years.” – Financial Media
Professional
Q1. How often do you use quarterly earnings press releases in your work?
Q2. How often do you use quarterly earnings press releases as a part of managing your personal investment portfolio?

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
43%
39%
38%
36%
35%
32%
30%
29%
28%
26%
22%
This quarter's financial highlights
Earnings per share trends and factors influencing bottom line
Capital allocation update
Financial tables
Segment information and trends
Management quotes and qualitative backdrop about performance
This quarter's operational highlights
Key strategic initiatives and accomplishments towards stated goals
Comparison to historical periods
Forward-looking guidance and management's perspective on future results
Update on competitive environment
Essential Components of Financial Earnings Releases
Wall street professionals and retail investors
Financial highlights are the most sought after information in earnings
releases; management highlights also considered highly important
Q3. Which parts of the earnings press release are the most important to your work?
“People definitely want to know how companies perform from
quarter to quarter. I mean that’s one of the most important
factors they take in making a decision about investing.”
“I use them [earnings releases] to get the core information
that we use when we do earnings stories. It’s the reference
point for getting the numbers.”
“If I were a total numbers person it would be wonderful. I'm
not a total numbers person. I would prefer a much more
narrative "total picture" perspective on the business.”
– Retail Investor

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Wall Street professionals review earnings releases within minutes after
publication, while retail investors review releases over a longer period
of time
Q4. How do you access financial earnings press releases?
Q5. How long after reading an earnings press release do you use or act on the information?
40%
47%
35%
14%
5%
4%
64%
73%
45%
77%
5%
0%
Company's website
Direct email
Financial News Sites
Financial data products (e.g., Bloomberg
terminal, eTrade)
Social media
Other
How Earnings Releases are Accessed
Retail investors Wall Street professionals
4%
8%
16%
19%
8%
45%
36%
9%
23%
18%
0%
14%
Within
minutes
Within the
hour
By the end of
the day
In the next
couple of
days
By the end of
the week
In the long
term
How Long After Reading Earnings Release
Information is Used
Retail investors Wall Street professionals

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Wall Street professionals and retail investors agree that getting fast,
easy-to-understand earnings information is essential to making good
investment decisions
All Wall Street professionals surveyed said…
Q6. How important is getting fast, easy-to-understand earnings press releases to doing your job?
Q7. How important is getting fast, easy-to-understand earnings press releases to managing your personal investment portfolio?
Q8. How important are earnings press releases to doing your job?
Q9. How important are earnings press releases to managing your personal investment portfolio?
26%
31%
46%
42%
Importance of earnings
press releases for
managing personal
investment portfolios
Importance of getting
fast, easy-to-understand
earnings press releases
to managing personal
investment portfolios
Very important Somewhat important
Top 2
(Very important, somewhat important)
72%
73%
Importance of Earnings Press Releases Among
Retail Investors
“[The visual earnings
release] is much
easier to read and find
what you are looking
for [than the control].”
-Retail investor
Getting fast, easy-to-understand earnings press
releases are essential
Sharing and discussing earnings press
releases are essential

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Recommendations
for Companies that
Implement Visual
Earnings Press
Releases

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Implementing visual earnings releases
STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS
Collaboration is key for success
Investor relations/financial reporting teams should work with corporate
communications and marketing executives to evolve financial reporting
in a way that will effectively incorporate brand image, style, strategy
and business content and your overall corporate narrative.
Think holistically
Organizations should think holistically about the earnings release
process. It is not only about reporting quarterly financials, it is also
about using the quarterly reporting cycle as a chance to tell your
financial story to various stakeholders important to your organization
such as customers, employees, and investors. What type of
documents can you create to evolve your financial reporting and
provide an opportunity to talk about the future of your company?
The world is getting smaller
Many companies are starting to realize that the line is blurring between
internal and external communications, where “peer-to-peer”
communication is the primary way individuals gather information. Try
thinking of your earnings release as a touch point on the health of your
organization.
Know your industry/ peer reporting trends and content
Be in tune with your peers and your industry to make sure that your
reporting is done in a way that can help you tell a differentiated story
while at the same time make your company easily comparable to your
peers. Developing a visual release requires identifying the most salient
information that is relevant for your audience. Don’t make Wall Street
or the media’s job any harder than it is already.

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Implementing visual earnings releases
STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS
K-I-S: Keep it simple
Remember that everyone reading your earnings release is in a hurry
and multi-tasking. Make sure that your visual earnings releases are
accessible and easily understood.
Think about social/digital applications
Visually-oriented financial storytelling is a perfect fit for digital
communications. Social media has played a key role in transforming
the way corporations and organizations worldwide convey and display
information. Many newswires today publish earnings data directly onto
social channels.
Don’t be too cute
Be sure to include credible and forward-looking quotes from your
management team. Make sure to leverage visual elements where
possible while simultaneously ensuring that you aren’t compromising
any salient data – put the numbers first and highlight key facts and
figures.

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Contact Edelman
OUR TEAM
Deb Wasser
Executive Vice President, Financial Communications,
Edelman
+1 212.704.4588; deb.wasser@edelman.com
Ted McHugh
Vice President, Financial Communications, Edelman
+1 212.819-4875; Ted.mchugh@edelman.com
About Edelman Financial Communications & Capital Markets
Edelman Financial Communications & Capital Markets is a boutique
strategic consultancy with the reach and resources of the world’s
largest public relations firm. We advise public and private companies
on strategic and capital markets communications to help position them
effectively with the financial community during transformative events as
well as during normal-course business. Clients choose to work with us
because of our specialized and experienced financial communications
team, our ability to provide the full range of Edelman’s services (such
as digital and social media, public affairs and employee engagement)
and our ability to access Edelman’s global network of 65 offices around
the world.
Jeff Zilka
Executive Vice President, Financial Communications,
Edelman
+1 312.240.3389; jeff.zilka@edelman.com

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Contact Business Wire
OUR TEAM
Michael Becker
Executive Vice President, International Business
Strategy
+1 212.752.9600; Michael.becker@businesswire.com
About Business Wire
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader
in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Investor
relations, public relations, public policy and marketing professionals
rely on Business Wire to accurately distribute market-moving news
and multimedia, host online newsrooms and IR websites, build content
marketing platforms, generate social engagements and provide
audience analysis that improves interaction with specified target
markets. Founded in 1961, Business Wire is a trusted source for news
organizations, journalists, investment professionals and regulatory
authorities, delivering news directly into editorial systems and leading
online news sources via its multi-patented simultaneous NX Network.
Business Wire has 32 offices worldwide to securely meet the varying
needs of communications professionals and news consumers. In 2015,
Business Wire teamed up with Al Roker Entertainment to create
BizWireTV, a bi-weekly Web news show.

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Appendix

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Demographics
METHODOLOGY
Gender
Male 58%
Female 42%
Age
18-24 0%
25-34 12%
35-44 18%
45-54 20%
55-64 25%
65+ 24%
Education
Less than high school 0%
High school graduate 3%
Vocational/technical graduate 3%
Some college 12%
College graduate 35%
Some graduate education 9%
Postgraduate degree 38%
Ethnicity
White 84%
African or African/descent 2%
Hispanic or Latino 2%
Asian 10%
Other 2%
Years of Experience in Field
(Wall Street professionals)
0-3 5%
4-7 18%
8-10 9%
11-15 27%
16-20 27%
20+ 14%

EDELMAN FINANCIAL
MARKETS
Thank you.
EDELMAN

Edelman Financial Communications Visual Storytelling Research

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Edelman Financial Communications Visual Storytelling Research

Similar to Edelman Financial Communications Visual Storytelling Research (20)

More from Edelman

More from Edelman (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Edelman Financial Communications Visual Storytelling Research