Executive teams invest a lot of time and capital creating, designing and producing an annual report to communicate their company's prior year's results. For many companies, the annual report is the most expensive marketing expenditure that a company will have all year. Consequently, the report should reflect the best planning and thought processes available to the company. Because the annual report is a dominant information source for investors, lenders, employees, and prospective talent, information should be relevant to the readers and clearly presented.
Below are five tips to follow that will improve your annual report:
1.Accurately reflect the values of your company. This point seems to be painfully obvious, but it is amazing when you review a lot of annual reports that many companies fall short in this area. For example, if a company has innovation as one of its core values, its annual report should highlight this area in some way. SAS does a great job in highlighting their incredible efforts in providing an outstanding workplace environment for their employees. This is important to them on a daily basis and it is well reflected in their annual report.
Sustainability report designers
2.Match your brand's style guide. Do not use the annual report to introduce a new funky font or color scheme. It is best to keep the report consistent with your total brand image. A major soft drink company's annual review shows the trademarked iconic bottle throughout their report and includes a graphic representation of the bottle in their financial summaries.
3.Be brief, but do not forget important financial elements. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to file a 10K report which is very specific in what must be included. If the annual report is done separately from the 10K, it is up to the company on what to include. Although brevity is often good, it is wise to include the important financial elements in an easy to read format, preferably in charts and graphs. Any notes included in the report should be clear and easy to understand.
4.Show the diversity of your company - it is important. Diversity is an important element that should be highlighted in the photos and other information within the annual report. It is important to reflect a diverse workforce and supplier list, especially if it is a key element of your company's strategy or vision. Gap, Inc. does an excellent job showing diversity in ethnicity with pictures of employee and customers from diverse backgrounds.
5.Include sustainability and corporate social responsibility in your report. Some companies produce separate reports outlining their efforts in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. While this is a good step forward over those companies who do not address these important areas, I am an advocate of including these reports within the annual report. An example highlighting how important this global topic is, within the last two years, South Africa is requiring that these topics are included in the annual report of companies trading on the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange).
Whether you are producing your company's annual report in-house or using an outside agency, remember that your audience will include shareholders, prospective investors and employees. Having the reports created by your own team will often produce a result that more effectively tells your value story. If you have worked closely with an agency for many years, they can produce a piece that closely resembles what your team can do. It is sometimes a bit more difficult the first year you work with an outside partner to write the annual report, as you sometimes need to rework pieces to communicate in your company's "voice". Regardless of how you design the piece, tell a compelling story about your company and you will enhance your image and ultimately improve your results.