IR is not PR
Both write words about your company for an external audience. That is where the overlap ends. An investor relations firm serves the people who price your securities; a public relations firm serves the public conversation around your brand. For an ASX-listed company, the distinction is regulatory, not stylistic.
The Orca view
Most ASX-listed companies need both, sequenced correctly. Orca runs the IR seat; we work alongside the company's PR or brand agency on the public-facing side. Where the two overlap — major announcements, leadership change, crisis — the IR discipline leads, because that is where the regulatory weight sits.
Side by side
How ir firm and pr firm compare on the dimensions that actually shape the decision.
| Axis | IR firm | PR firm |
|---|---|---|
| Primary audience | Buy-side, sell-side, retail register, proxy advisers | Media, consumers, general public, employees |
| Output that matters | ASX announcements, decks, shareholder letters, results comms | Press releases, media placements, brand campaigns |
| Regulatory weight | Every word lives inside Listing Rule 3.1 and Corporations Act s674 | Standard publicity / consumer law obligations |
| Tempo | Disclosure-driven, market-pace, on-call | Editorial-cycle, campaign-driven |
| Success metric | Register quality, cost of capital, market understanding | Coverage, share of voice, sentiment |
| Typical engagement model | 12-month embedded mandate, board-level access | Project or campaign-based retainers |
Where each model wins
When ir firm is the right call
- →When the audience is the buy-side or the register
- →When the document will be read against Listing Rule 3.1
- →When a capital raise, IPO, or material disclosure is in flight
- →When the chair or MD wants senior counsel on speed-dial
When pr firm is the right call
- →When the audience is consumer or B2B brand
- →When the goal is editorial coverage and share of voice
- →When a consumer campaign needs creative and earned-media reach
Frequently asked
Can a PR firm do investor relations?
Some larger PR firms have IR practices. The practical question is whether the team on your account has lodged announcements under Listing Rule 3.1, sat inside a disclosure committee, and run a capital raise alongside a corporate adviser. If not, the work has the wrong centre of gravity.
Can an IR firm do PR?
Orca writes the corporate-narrative work that often gets called PR — chair and CEO long-form, owned-channel content, investor day positioning. We do not run consumer campaigns; that work sits with brand-side partners.
Start a conversation
Tell us about your company and where you want the market to be. We will take it from there.