As a business supporting clients around their Public Relations (PR), B2B marketing and thought leadership activities, we need to constantly be assessing the media landscape and identifying trends to help clients with their communications strategies.
Each month, we analyse a variety of quantitative and qualitative data to assess trends and share them with our stakeholders to help with better decision-making.
Here are the PR and B2B Marketing trends we are picking up in March 2025.
Financial PR awards season in South Africa:
The past 4 weeks in South Africa have been dominated by a variety of asset management industry awards including:
- FundHub
- Personal Finance
- ProfileData
- Morning Star
The key question for the market is whether or not the industry can sustain such a high number of awards – remembering that a contributor to this situation is the parting of ways between ProfileData and Personal Finance around the “Raging Bull” awards.
While the space is crowded, it does give some of the smaller asset management businesses the opportunity to raise their profiles. These include the likes of Remo Investment Management, Contrarius Investment Services and Amplify Investment Partners.
There is a good summary of these awards prepared by Justin Brown and Ruan Jooste from the Citywire South Africa team.
“Risk-off” sentiment weighs on the JSE and Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) liquidity:
February and March continue to be challenging trading periods for both the JSE and Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) as they are buffeted by a variety of factors.
At a global level, equity and crypto markets in the US have sold off heavily as the world attempts to analyse and understand re-alignment of global trade tariffs.
South Africa has further been impacted by the fallout from deteriorating relationships with the US. Foreign selling of South African equities (at 7 March) was an average R6.2bn per week year-to-date. If we consider that this figure sat at R2.8bn per week for the corresponding period in 2024 – going into the elections – this suggests a lack of confidence in the South African market.
To highlight valuations on the JSE, market commentators highlight 9 shares which are trading on a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 7 and forward dividend yields of greater than 7%. These are:
- African Media Entertainment (AME)
- Exxaro
- Absa
- Investec
- Old Mutual
- Nedbank
- Oceana
- Tsogo Sun
Liquidity on the Cape Town Stock Exchange (CTSE) is non-existent and the bourse operator is going to need to ramp up efforts if it seeks to attract new listings.
Impact reporting is topical when analysing digital data and website trends:
Each month we analyse website traffic, Google Trend reporting and media articles to look for specific trends.
This month, the two standout trends for us in terms of website search trends are:
- “Impact Reports” / “Impact Reporting”
- “Corporate Communications”
In terms of Impact Reporting, there was an interesting article on the Daily Maverick recently from Gita Maharaj, CEO of the Impact Institute which looked at ESG reporting.
A key takeaway from this article:
“This uncertainty is costly. According to International Data Corporation, private sector spending on ESG business services is projected to reach $65-billion by 2027, with sustainability reporting consuming a significant portion of this investment. Despite the rising costs of reporting, the benefits are unclear and many companies fail to realise meaningful returns on their substantial expenditure.”
Warren Buffett continues to set a standard in investor communication
When it comes to Investor Communications and stakeholder engagement, there are few people who have been better than the “Oracle of Omaha” – Warren Buffett.
Each year, Warren Buffett releases an annual shareholder letter which is one of the most anticipated in the market. Not only does Buffett provide an update on the investment strategy of one of the world’s most valuable businesses, but he is also renowned for cutting through the jargon and being a superb story-teller which makes investors feel like they are taking a journey with the leadership team of the business.
The most recent letter from Buffett again continues this trend and early on he discusses the subject of owning up to mistakes.
The below is an excerpt from the latest letter which is well worth the read:
“During the 2019-23 period, I have used the words “mistake” or “error” 16 times in my letters to you. Many other huge companies have never used either word over that span. Amazon, I should acknowledge, made some brutally candid observations in its 2021 letter.
Elsewhere, it has generally been happy talk and pictures.
I have also been a director of large public companies at which “mistake” or “wrong” were forbidden words at board meetings or analyst calls. That taboo, implying managerial perfection, always made me nervous (though, at times, there could be legal issues that make limited discussion advisable. We live in a very litigious society.)”
Buffett continues to be a master of the art of high-quality investor communications and well worth following if you are looking to strengthen your ability to engage with stakeholders.
Looking for a Public Relations (PR) partner in Gauteng?
If you would like to connect with our team, we have a proven track record of assisting businesses with their B2B Marketing and PR strategies. Please do not hesitate to connect with us to discuss in further detail and we would be happy to host you for a coffee or lunch at our offices in Rosebank.