 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
| Annual Reports: Going beyond the Numbers |
| |
| |
What do your shareholders, employees, competitors, customers, suppliers, and the media have in common? Simply this: When your company's annual report is released, they are going to scrutinize it very closely — and they are interested in more than just the bottom line.
|
| Not Just a Scorecard, a Brand-Building Tool |
 Annual reports began as fairly dry financial records. Increasingly, however, "businesses are using annual reports as a communication tool to reinforce brand image and notoriety on a wider scale," according to Fontana Identity and Design, a visual communication consulting company. "Companies should seize the opportunity to use their annual report as an essential marketing tool to enhance brand awareness with key audiences," comments Lee Cohen, Trendlines' director of marketing communications. "Your annual report should strengthen the company's brand identity and reinforce its unique selling proposition," adds Cohen.
|
| It Was the Best of Times...
|
When times are good, an annual report's pages just seem to burst with good news, glossy images, and a grand vision. The message is very straightforward: We're doing well. Profits are up. We're happy to pass along the good news. Read all about it.
|
| ...It Was the Worst of Times |
| In their 2001 report, reinsurer Hannover Re confronted the devastating effects of 9/11 on their business by including personal stories from notables such as Rudy Giuliani and Kofi Annan.
|
When the going gets a little rough, however, as it has for a number of high-tech and telecom companies, the inclination might be to cut corners on the annual report or to gloss over the bad news to reflect the generally somber tones of the boardroom. In the article, "Annual Report Design 2001 a Beacon in the Storm," on the Graphic Design USA website, Richard Lewis, an annual report advisor, claims that companies make a mistake when they "attempt to disguise bad news." The annual report then becomes an ineffective communication tool.
In the same article, Brian Hannon, senior vice president of Curran & Connors, remarks that "it's important to 'bridge the gap' between poor past performance and a better future." Find a positive story," he says, "and tell it in the best way possible." Remember, too, that the content of the annual report and the figures must jive. If the story is upbeat, but the financials aren't, readers will surely sense something amiss.
|
|
| "You Can Fool Some of the People..."
|
In annual reports these post-Enron days, the trend is toward disclosing as much as possible and addressing the reader directly and honestly. The JSOnline article, "Post-Enron, companies disclosing more in annual reports" emphasizes this point too. Stockholders and others will be looking for "switches in auditors or management, large write-offs or major financing decisions," according to John Markese, president of the American Association of Individual Investors.
|
| Make It Memorable |
What's Inside?
Flipping through the pages of almost any annual report, you'll come across these standard sections:
-
introduction or brief corporate profile
- shareholders' letter from the president or CEO
- management discussion
- audited financial statements and full notes
- corporate directory
|
Although almost all reports contain standard sections (see box), they can be personalized to reflect your business, build your brand and tell your story in an engaging, yet compelling, way.
|
| |  | All business is personal. No matter what your business, from heavy industry to retail, business is all about people. Don't just show the "suits." Show the people — from those who make it happen to those who benefit from your product. La Jolla Pharmaceuticals interspersed testimonials from patients and doctors in the section detailing their approaches and research.
|
| | |
Images talk up your brand. Boost your brand through a clever mix of photographs, graphics, and design. Kingfisher, a London-based home improvement retailer, used bright stripes of paint rolled onto a wall (instead of the usual bar graph) to illustrate their profits. Some years ago a consumer products company reminded readers of its value proposition as a discount chain by including coupons inside its annual report.
|
| | |
Set yourself apart. Dare to be a little different in design or even size. Think "off of the page." Choose a custom size paper or stock to differentiate your report from the others on the shelf. Avoid standard clipart or graphics. The Human Genome Sciences 2002 annual report, entitled "The Face of Future Pharmaceuticals," featured details of faces painted by Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne, and other famous artists. Elbit's leading-edge technologies were juxtaposed with black and white, retro images in its 2000 report — a report that took first place in a prestigious Israeli design competition.
|
| | Putting It All Together |
Annual reports can be produced by staff members working within the company or outsourced to design or PR firms. Either way, the design of the finished report tells readers a lot about the company. Even those who don't inspect every line of the financials will glean information about the company simply by noticing the way the report looks. "Every aspect of the report from the cover to the colors conveys a message," notes Orit Oz, owner and founder of a leading Israeli design studio, StudiOz.
This message results from close consultation between the client, the report designers, and the writers, who work together to craft the report from inception to production and strive to achieve a balance between well-written content and slick design. "This balance can be achieved when the team works together like a well-oiled machine — matching graphic concepts with copy to create annual reports that reflect the company's vision and mission from cover to cover," states Cohen of Trendlines.
Reporting the past and envisioning the future is much more than just a statement in black and white. Your annual report is a critical marketing and business tool for your company — what it says and how it looks makes a statement that's just as important as your financials.
|
The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
|
|
|
|
|
©2002–2008 Trendlines International Ltd. All rights reserved.
Phone: +972.4.958.3323 | postmaster@trendlines.com
Directions |
Privacy Policy |
Site Map
This site contains material copyrighted by third parties.
This site
is best viewed in Internet Explorer version 5 or higher.
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
