Aimia (previously Group Aeroplan) is a global leader in loyalty management and listed on the TSX.  Yesterday, they launched the new brand and a new corporate website running on Q4. The new site is a great example of the capabilities of the Q4 web system. I did a 5 min video below to walk through some of the more interesting aspects of the site, specifically the flexibility of the design and social media integration.
Thanks to the fine folks at Aimia for their tremendous work and their agency, Interbrand for the fantastic design. …

Over the past few weeks, my colleagues and I here at Q4 have been sharing some articles that reiterate the importance of driving traffic to your website.  For example, the article ‘Why you shouldn’t send your traffic to Facebook?’ was short and sweet and in a sentence underscores the value of using social channels to cast a wide net to bring visitors to your website instead of driving them off.
Driving traffic back to your website will obviously increase the number of visitors.  But it can also make people aware of …

In this second part in our series of whitepapers concerning public company use of social media for investor relations (the first addressed Twitter) we have found that Facebook has quickly become a popular channel used by companies – with 45% using it to provide investor-related material compared to 37% we cited in July 2010.
IRO’s continue to use Facebook to provide greater context to the company and its markets by sharing industry-related information and using multimedia to showcase assets.  We are seeing emerging trends, such as increased engagement with investors and …

This is the second part of an interview I conducted with PotashCorp.  If you missed part 1, you can read it by clicking here.
C: Often I hold your site up as a best practice example for other companies but the response I get from some IROs is, “We don’t have the same size team as a company like Potash – we don’t have that kind of budget.” What’s your response to that?
T: People think we have a much bigger team than we actually do. We have only just recently hired …

Through my involvement over the past 10 years as a panel judge in the ‘Electronic Disclosure’ category of the Canadian Institute of Charted Accountants (CICA) Corporate Reporting Awards, I have become very familiar with the PotashCorp website (www.potashcorp.com). In my work with Q4, I often refer to it as an exemplary model of best practices.
Recently I interviewed Tim Herrod, Director, Treasury (C.A.) and former Manager, Investor Relations with PotashCorp, who was instrumental in helping to plan both the award-winning former site and current redesign, which was launched in January of …

Rivel Research is well-known for their ability to gather, analyze and interpret investment community feedback.  Their work spans many industries and is used by a broad range of executives from boards of directors, to C-Suite executives, marketing teams and investor relations and corporate communications professionals.
To this end, on a quarterly basis Rivel issues best practice reports based on topics of interest from members of the Rivel Intelligence Council (comprised of senior level investor communications executives) and assessed by buy-side investment professionals in both the US and Europe.
What follows are some …

We are pleased to announce that Ryder System, a client of Q4 was presented with three major awards for Best Overall, Best First Impression and Best Innovative Idea or Concept in the IR Website category on June 30 at the NIRI Orange County 2011 Investor Relations Achievement Awards Program.
The Orange County NIRI Chapter awards program is in its 17th year and is recognized as one of the oldest and most renowned annual report and IR competitions in the United States. You can read more here: http://bit.ly/nXAIVt
Ryder System is one …

Q4’s fourth whitepaper on social media shows an enormous ramp-up in the number of companies using Twitter for Investor Relations – from 80 early adopters reported in our August 2009 whitepaper to over 600 companies analyzed here.
And IRO’s are increasingly Twitter-savvy, using strategic tweets to deftly drive traffic to their website, share their message, and leverage other social media channels in a coordinated strategy.
In nearly 180 examples, complete with screenshots and discussion, we give you a comprehensive look at how IRO’s are taking advantage of Twitter. The maturing use of …

Financial blogs, social networks and other social media sites are changing the way investors conduct research and collaborate on investment ideas.
Join Darrell Heaps, CEO of Q4 Web Systems on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EDT as he moderates a panel of experts behind some popular financial blogs and social networks including:
Howard Lindzon, co-Founder and CEO of StockTwits®
Zack Miller, a professional investor and author of Tradestream your Way to Profits: Building a Killer Portfolio in the Age of Social Media (Wiley, 2010)
Mick Weinstein, Head of Editorial …

A recent #irchat topic focused on ‘why it’s important for IR and PR to work together and how this can be achieved. A lively discussion ensued. Click here to read the complete transcript.
A few key ideas emerged from the conversation:
NEED FOR COLLABORATION
All participants agreed that it is extremely important for the IR and PR departments to work together.
It doesn’t matter whether the departments are separate entities or are housed in one department; there is a general consensus that all stakeholders have to be considered when crafting messages. An integrated approach …