SOCIAL MEDIA

Activism goes digital Strategic use of social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn can provide a company with a powerful campaign advantage, says Brunswick’s MIKE KREMPASKY

arl Icahn loves Twitter – and you in a proxy fight. Digital media is now possibly should too. On Tuesday, August 13 the most important channel open to company 2013, Icahn’s camp tweeted that he leaders to gain and maintain control of a had taken a “large position” in Apple, public discussion. Ccalling the stock “extremely undervalued.” That Of course, the best impact for any message audacious challenge lit up the web in seconds. will be its effective integration into a broader Within an hour, Apple’s $425 billion market cap Not every communications strategy. But the significance rose 4 percent, adding $17 billion. The move gave of digital can’t be overestimated. Twitter, LinkedIn, Icahn an important advantage, tilting discussions activist is blogs and other digital channels can help provide with CEO Tim Cook, board members and preparing context, and can activate a broad base of support shareholders in his favor for weeks afterward. a bombshell either for or against the company. But smart companies learned they can give as well as they can get. In 2014, Icahn approached tweet with twitter has often been described as eBay privately, with an interest in breaking up your name the new “first draft of history,” a phrase used the company. Rather than wait for Icahn to make on it, throughout the 20th century to describe his move, the company went on the offensive, à la Icahn professional journalism. According to one recent announcing the activist’s interest on its earnings study, 78 percent of journalists now regularly use call. Tweets from executives and board members – but they Twitter and other forms of social media to keep up touted the advantages of keeping the company could be with breaking news and more than half of those CABE whole. The pre-emptive strike put Icahn on the surveyed use it to find ideas and conduct research c defensive before he could make his ideas public. for stories. The Wall Street Journal ran the headline, “Did Brunswick research shows that 77 percent of Carl Icahn Get Out-Tweeted by eBay?” surveyed buy-side investors and sell-side analysts Prodded by the eBay fight, the Securities and have investigated an issue based on information

Exchange Commission blessed the use of Twitter from blogs and social networks. When news M SEAN ILLUSTRATION:

12 BRUNSWICK REVIEW · SPOTLIGHT ON SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM breaks, a company’s social media channels are often the first place that observers and stakeholders More than just a clever meme look for information. Employees are one of the best amplifiers of company information and can provide MAP YOUR FOOTPRINT GET THE C-SUITE ON TWITTER important help in the critical moment. Workers Work toward creating a diagram of The voice of the executive is the are already using social media for work purposes the entire range of influence of your most effective way to cut through executive leadership, including any the clutter and chaos of a crisis, and talking about work with their contacts outside high-profile backers of your company. but it is challenging to launch a of the office. Networks of friends and contacts Make sure you know exactly which digital presence from scratch during see those employees as a legitimate source of leaders can reach which audiences. an engagement. Get your executives information about your company. A 2014 report YOUR PLAYBOOK comfortable in the space, well published by Indiana University noted that SHOULD BE A SONG BOOK before you need them. organizations able to guide the employee voice on The social media message of your REMEMBER THAT SOCIAL MEDIA leadership team must be convincing. social media have a clear competitive advantage. IS HUMAN MEDIA Coordinate the timing and cadence At the same time, your workers are important In social channels, it is often not of the content they share, not just stakeholders in your business. Appealing to enough to be clear and precise. the facts. Make it sing. them in the context of an activist defense can Messages also need to be personal help reassure them about the company’s long- LOOK BEYOND THE BRAND and approachable, even emotional. term prospects. Supportive employees, in turn, Closely monitor digital and social Along with confidence in your channels for early signs of activist business strategy, show the passion will boost overall confidence in your company investor interest and as a real-time you have for the company, its people among investors and other stakeholders. Involving insights tool during an engagement. and your vision. them could also help lift employee engagement generally, well into the future. given the importance of these dice about how an activist will use social media. communication channels and the high stakes in Not every activist is preparing a bombshell tweet an activist fight, no company should be willing to with your name on it, à la Icahn – but they cede the digital battlefield. The time to array your could be. In the end, what matters is how well forces is long before the first digital salvo from the prepared you and your company are to control other side strikes home. your message in the digital sphere. When considering the possibility of an activist attack, it is best to regard it as a certainty – not an mike krempasky, a Partner based in Brunswick’s if, but a when. Likewise, you don’t want to roll the Washington, DC office, leads the Group’s digital offer. eBay: out-tweeting Carl Icahn

tarting out as a fight fire with fire and, detail from one such S corporate raider, more no stranger to digital infographic, demonstrating than 30 years and 100 communication, launched management’s record of campaigns ago, Carl Icahn an aggressive, multifaceted creating long-term value has had one of the longest defense that involved for investors. careers of today’s activists. posts on Twitter and eBay’s social media He is also one of the social media. campaign helped propel it most social media savvy. eBay regularly shared to a first-round victory over Joining Twitter in 2013, content directly via social the Icahn-led challenge, Icahn has used it in more channels, including giving the company the than 10 campaigns. company statements and time to weigh its options. In 2014, Icahn threw infographics to highlight Ultimately, the eBay board down the gauntlet to eBay, the strongest points of made the decision on its proposing that it split off the company’s story. own to spin off PayPal. PayPal. eBay decided to Shown right is a — radina russell Source: eBay

BRUNSWICK REVIEW · SPOTLIGHT ON SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM 13