Power of design in Annual reports.

Corporates moving towards creating better annual report designs :

All of us are somewhere stakeholders of some company and we keep on receiving financial report. From my experience in the good old days the first thing that a reader does after he gets his annual report copy is straight way go to the page where the dividend figure is mentioned and after that it straight away goes along with the sale of old newspapers. Companies never saw the power of annual report to communicate to the stakeholders both internally and outside the company. Most companies viewed creating a glossy annual reports was an additional expenditure to their advertising and marketing budget. That era has come to an end and trends have changed with more corporates making efforts in presenting better financial statement with good information, contents and design. Companies like Infosys have been consistently churning out good annual report, as this is one way for them to communicate to their global audience and business partners. This year the annual reports from some corporates have been tastefully done.

Unique approach :
The one annual report that is really impressive and different this year has been from MindTree Consulting Ltd. This is the first annual report after they became public limited. The idea and design for the report sprung up from the creation of the children of Spastic Society of Karnataka who designed the MindTree logo.Their creations were extensively used in the design. The theme of the annual report is "The Mind is a amazing thing."

Through their paintings, it was communicated to the world that they have a great mind that is trapped in a very disobeying body.

What is also unique about the report is that the company have published a list of resources where people can get help on cerebral palsy. MindTree consulting has attempted to use this medium to spread awareness. The first annual report of MindTree consulting after becoming public limited is a salute to the indomitable spirit that says ordinary people can do extra ordinary things. This is a great way of exhibiting corporate responsibility.

Adds value to the corporate brand: A financial report touches a lot of audience right from the stakeholders to business partners to financial institution. What’s more even new employee prospect who wants to join an organization scans through either on the net or lays hand on the reports. Now here if your annual report stands out and disseminates all information interestingly then you have managed to bring in the prospective employee a bit closer. This is one example and there are so many other situations one can look at the role and importance of a good annual report. A well thought out annual report can really create a lasting impression The contents and design must clearly spell out the goals and vision of the company which will help the stakeholders get to know in which direction the company is surging ahead.

Total planning and orchestration required: Earmark a sizeable budget right at the beginning, which will also include the paper that you use. Remember great designs may not get good results if the right quality paper is not used. There should be complete orchestration between design team and the printing company to get excellent results. Time is of very important essence and hence company should plan early to get the final printed copy on time. Since this report comes out only once a year planning should start early one must not wake up at the last moment to meet the tight statutory deadlines. This has been the issue with most corporates in our country. If companies view churning a good annual report as an investment for the brand this will only further help in strengthening the equity of the brand.

Innovative thinking: Internationally some of the companies have made their annual report interactive and have uploaded on their web page. The corporates should now capture the proceedings of their annual general meetings and post them on the web. This will help shareholders who are not able to attend the annual general meetings due to paucity of time or distance. On request from the shareholders the proceedings of the meeting can be sent through a cd or dvd. This is one way of being in touch with the shareholders and thereby building the confidence reposed on the company. It also means that the company is very transparent and honest with their shareholders.

If companies are serious and make it a point to consistently produce good annual report design every year then it will be able to get greater mileage both for their product brands and the corporate brand. Some of the software brands have this top in their agenda. And today they are commanding a premium image both in the domestic and international market. These software companies along with their focused public relation programs and well designed annual reports have achieved in building the company values and image.

Finally if the CEO of the company believes in creating a great annual report design then it will motivate his people in the marketing and corporate function to strive towards in producing an excellent annual report design.