The title of this blog was one of my Nan’s many words of wisdom. Although she was Welsh, her work as a cinema usher meant she was exposed to the repetition of many phrases uttered by movie stars from Hollywood to Leeds, hence the slightly northern phraseology.
Having a Nan working in pictures had a similarly indoctrinating effect on me. As a kid, I knew all the stars from the ’40s and ’50s, and I still love watching a good Bogart flick on a rainy day. My Nan is largely the reason I’m such a film buff, so I’m sure she will be looking down on me with pride as I make my foray into the glitz biz of media…
No, I haven’t been cast in a film yet – one step at a time – but our multi-asset investment team has launched a podcast. The Sharpe End lets you be a fly on the wall for frank and informal conversations the team are having on the desk about recent events and how they impact our funds.
In the first episode of our new monthly podcast, The Sharpe End, we discussed Cristiano Ronaldo’s impact on Coca-Cola after he slid its bottles out of frame during a press conference. Sensational headlines reported a big drop in Coke’s share price, although in truth it fell little more than 1.5% and provided a top-up opportunity for our multi-asset portfolio funds.
More interesting was Coca-Cola’s measured and nonconfrontational response. This effectively ended the story. Brilliant PR and also confirmation of something we had been told by the company during a recent meeting that they were going to say less in future.
This new strategy was due to the uproar in response to Coke’s comments around election processes in Georgia following the ill-tempered elections last year. Its comments incensed Donald Trump’s supporters. Their stance was congratulated by many in the media. However, Coke quickly realised they wanted to sell soft drinks to everyone, not just Democrats.
Engagement vs posturing
Coke were honest with us. It was the first and last time they would be getting involved in politics. They made a mistake and had learnt from it. The response to Ronaldo showed me they meant it. How refreshing, no pun intended, in this day and age when companies are falling over themselves to be liked on social media.
Personally, I may or may not like to see big corporates taking leading positions on controversial topics. Like most people, I guess, my opinion on each example probably depends on whether they agree with my world view. As a shareholder, however, it makes me very uneasy. This new trend, possibly seen as a way to attract money from sustainable investors, brings potentially big risks to customer retention. It’s better if companies engage with policymakers in conference rooms, rather than through the media. That is the way to make change, rather than create a circus.
Companies that sell soft drinks, trainers, soap, bleach, cars, widgets, etc, should have equal focus on all of their stakeholders, not just those that follow them on Twitter. This is a serious point and one we raise in meetings with management. Social media risk is real and can seriously damage your share price.
So, you won’t hear any virtue signalling on The Sharpe End. You will get some strong opinions and sometimes more questions than answers. That’s half the point, we’re trying to challenge our own views – it’s the antithesis of an echo chamber. Oh, and we will have additions to the multi-asset team mix-tape at the end of each episode if the investment chat doesn’t get you.
As my Nan would say, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”. Bloody cinema.
You can listen to The Sharpe End on our website and or on all major podcast platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Anchor, Breaker, Castbox, Pocket Casts and RadioPublic. New episodes monthly.