A new breed of shareholder activists

The next major activist campaign is just as likely to start from ‘internet beef’ as it is from Wall Street. The good old days – if you can call them that – of shareholders using traditional means like AGMs or legacy media to vent their frustrations with management are well and truly over.

Now, bosses and reputation managers need to consider a plethora of platforms from which a campaign can be launched or amplified. Each new media outlet has its own quirks and rules of engagement – factors that IR and communications leads need to understand before any campaign is activated.

YouTube is the new TV, recently overtaking ITV in the UK as the second most-watched broadcaster, according to media regulator Ofcom.

Like Facebook in its heyday, the Alphabet-owned platform has a broad audience, catering to children, teenagers, and adults alike. The content is equally diverse: there are generalists, specialists, and everything in between. If you can think of a sub-genre, it’s probably covered on YouTube.

The same applies to business-focused creators. You’ll find historians, trend spotters, and YouTubers who focus solely on one company – Tesla, Apple, and other mega-cap US firms are common subjects.

As with the rest of the ‘creator economy’, there’s a blurring of editorial and commercial boundaries. Some YouTubers take a more journalistic approach, while others integrate sponsorship deals into their business and content strategies.

Elsewhere, Substack is attempting to become the YouTube of the written word by giving creators a substantial share of the revenue they generate. The insurgent newsletter platform recently joined the $1bn valuation club after a fresh investment round.

The most popular content is typically long-form and, like YouTube, spans a wide range of genres and niche offshoots. Substack is gaining traction, with an exodus of established journalists and writers from X (formerly Twitter) joining the platform over the past two years. Naturally, its influence in politics, media, and business is growing.

Its unruly cousin is Reddit – a forum where self-styled investment ‘degenerates’ share their ‘stock tips’, if you can call them that. Reddit caught Main Street’s attention during the pandemic with the rise of Wall Street Bets, but the platform also hosts sophisticated and semi-secretive corners that the business community would do well to monitor.

Finally, TikTok and Instagram dominate short-form video and shouldn’t be overlooked. If you want to engage Gen Z and Millennials, these platforms are essential. It’s no surprise that some of the world’s largest investment brokers and companies are increasingly directing their marketing budgets here.