Communication professionals working in investment banking must shift from relying on experience and intuition towards research, analytics and measurable results to protect trust and sustain their operations, according to financial sector leaders.
The message emerged from a webinar on data-driven public relations and business sustainability hosted by Victor Adaha as part of the Pan-Atlantic University Project Based Internship Programme. The Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Lagos State Chapter, Dr Samuel Ayetutu, delivered the keynote address, describing trust as the primary product that investment banks sell to their clients. He positioned public relations as the function responsible for building credibility and confidence in the sector.
Ayetutu urged finance communicators to become what he called "intelligent communicators" who base their decisions on data rather than intuition. He structured his argument around three core pillars: trust, data as a predictive tool, and the need for communicators who are literate in data analysis. He defined data-driven PR as public relations guided by facts, analysis and data to inform strategy, implementation and evaluation.
Olalekan Otun, Executive Director of Minds & Brains Media & Events Limited, outlined five specific ways data-driven PR supports sustainability in investment banks. These include strengthening investor confidence through stakeholder surveys and feedback analysis, using stakeholder mapping to identify concerns about transparency and governance, and supporting environmental, social and governance responsibilities with verifiable sustainability performance while guarding against greenwashing. Otun argued that data-driven PR reinforces strategic management and excellence theory by positioning public relations as a source of intelligence for organizational decision-making.
For savers, borrowers and investors in Nigeria, adopting these communication approaches could strengthen confidence in financial institutions by ensuring transparency and measurable accountability in how banks manage stakeholder relationships.