Strong brands are business drivers and can move the needle on real growth. The uplift can be seen in a number of ways, namely premium pricing, higher margins, market cap, stock performance and improved financial ratios. Yet most management teams still view branding as an image exercise and more often than not, given low organizational priority.

Jason Zweig's recent The Wall Street Journal article, "Picking a Stock for the Year 2048," explores a unique experiment where college students assemble a portfolio of stocks they can't touch for 25 years. The challenge raises questions about sustainability, investor expectations, and the importance of strong fundamentals and innovation for long-term success.

Effective vendor management though, can help small caps optimize resources and get the most out of their IR budget and strategy. Knowing “who's who in the zoo” will ensure tasks are completed on time and to a high standard, as each person or group can focus on their specific expertise, while gatekeeping so management can focus on running their business.

Our overseas client, a micro-cap (defined as public companies under $300 million in market cap) just completed their first in-person non-deal roadshow for 2023 on the East Coast this week. Here is what we learned on this esssential IR program when targetting and meeting with investors.

The markets move on unanticipated good news, not information it’s expecting. While that sounds mutually exclusive, it’s really not. It’s far better to hold off and time the news drop appropriately to gain as much exposure and bounce as possible. While no one should place an excessive reliance on forward-leaning statements, some investors may factor them in when calculating enterprise value.