CorpComms Magazine

Given the collapse in confidence in the financial services sector - our core focus - 2010 should mark a turning point in the way this industry needs to approach communications.

Over the last 18 months, the financial services industry has gone from being a faceless machine working in the background of everyday life to an industry that tangibly affects the daily lives of the majority of us. This change has happened with such speed and was underestimated by many in the financial services arena, which meant they were unprepared for the myriad challenges that awaited them in the wake of the crisis.

One of the main trends to emerge has been the way that financial services organisations communicate with their audiences - be they customers, regulators or, indeed, the government. Historically, reams of paper have been produced containing arcane terms understood by few and read by even fewer. Now, however, there is an increasing demand for transparency, not only in regulatory terms but also in the way financial institutions interact with their customers. These organisations need to think about delivering information in a way that is useful to those who read it, rather than simply to fulfil regulatory requirements. Language needs to be simplified, to be clearer and easier to understand while documents, such as annual reports, need to be more than simply figures. Digital media, already embraced by those outside the sector, needs to form a key part of this strategy.

Online communications are becoming an ever-increasing part of the way all of us communicate. Those financial services companies that already deliver information this way may not be exploring its full capability. Embracing this change and simplifying their language will go some way to rebuilding the confidence has been so spectacularly lost.

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