For a long time, the preparation of activity reports was seen as a tedious process by organizations subject to this obligation. Well thought-out, these reports can nevertheless be formidable vectors of communication. We’ve reviewed them for you.
SAs, SARLs and SNCs are required to draw up annual reports, which must be sent to their shareholders. In addition to accounting information, these documents generally include growth forecasts, company strategy and performance indicators. Often perceived as boring, traditional annual reports are giving way to increasingly daring, interactive and digital business reports.
The Pernod Ricard Group is committed to including works of art in its annual report. Other companies are turning away from the PDF format to create fluid, interactive works. For some years now, American eyewear manufacturer Warky Parker has been presenting its annual report in the form of an interactive calendar, recounting major events and anecdotes from office life. Visitors can alsogenerate their own activityreport using a short, easy-to-use form. This original tactic paid off: site traffic and orders peaked in the days following publication. The Safran group, for its part, came up with the idea of creating a participative report featuring employee testimonials on an interactive world map. Each testimonial can then be shared on social networks. Finally, the prize for innovation undoubtedly goes to Groupe BCPE, which had the idea of calling on a writer to subtly insert the highlights of its annual report into a detective story.
Whether their aim is to create buzz, reinforce employee commitment or project an innovative image, these reports all have one thing in common: they tell a story. Most often used by B-to-C companies, activity and CSR reports are beginning to be adopted by professional consultancies such as De Gaulle Fleurance, Gide, UGGC and Fidal. This trend is a response to the growing demand for transparency from customers and suppliers alike. Preparing a digital report, however, requires certain steps to be taken.
ADVICE FROM ELIOTT AND MARKUS
Activity reports are not interchangeable from one sector to another. Mirrors of the company, they must reflect its identity and values, but also speak to all its stakeholders. It’s your story the audience will remember, not the numbers.
So think carefully about the message you want to convey, both in terms of content and form. A mature M&A law firm will not have the same approach as a young accounting firm dedicated to start-ups. However, a few principles can be generalized to all sectors:
Including employee testimonials, along with their photos and names, personalizes the report and reinforces employee commitment. Renault introduced its latest report with a video of exchanges between its CEO and new recruits.
In the age of “infobesity”, your audience no longer has time to read entire pages. A report peppered with full-screen images, short videos, infographics or customer testimonials is more likely to attract attention.
Dedicating a web page to the report will not only improve your SEO, it will also allow you to explore a variety of presentation possibilities, such as scrolling. Adding attractive, graphic content, as MailChimp or Girls Who Code have done, is an effective way of inspiring readers to read further.
The choice of marketing and distribution channels for the report is often neglected. But that’s also where you can amaze. Most companies limit themselves to announcing the publication in the “news” section of their site, and announcing it in internal and external newsletters. Nexity shook things up by posting it on Instagram. Others, like the Conseil Supérieur des Notaires, have chosen to generate interest in advance by publishing a teaser video.
Giving your audience the option of downloading the report or browsing its digital version is a must. Well laid out, this version will take your audience straight to the section that interests them. You can also use this digital report to find out which sections are the most popular, and how much time is spent on each section.
Don’t be afraid to innovate: that’s how you’ll stand out from the crowd!
See : Cheuvreux report
See: Culture Book Actance
Further information
The annual activity report: an opportunity to share
Transparency is also a communications argument for law firms
12 imaginative annual report designs
