From print to digital – moving the Annual Report into the 21st century

Corporate reporting - From print to digital

Jonas Jonell, KWD

KWD

1. Information overflow

· Can web technology make annual reports comprehensible and customisable to different stakeholders?

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2010

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Things were easier before

Ericsson Annual Report 1901, 6 pages including cover

Cover Report of directors Income statement Balance sheets Proposed appropriation of

earnings

Then came the avalanche

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nual

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1970Legal document

1980Adding of Company-presentation

1990Environment, CSR,sustainability sections added

2003New legal requirements by IFRS

2005Increased demands on Corporate governance reporting

2010New regulations after the financial crisis?

Avalanche example: Electrolux 1950-2008

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15 24

4856 60

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114122

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Number of pages

IFRS

Environmental reporting

CSR

Corporate governance

Why is this?

· It is the most prestigious document from the company· Its usage has broadened, but the format remains

Professional readersNon-professional readers

EmployeesSociety Small shareholders

VendorsPartners

Customers Journalists Authorities Large shareholders,Institutionalinvestors

Analysts

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Is this really the best way to communicate the corporate story?

Can we use the web format to make annual reports comprehensible and customised, like Wikipedia?

Customised information

· Different readers have different needs

What is the dividend?

I want to learn more about x

I want to know even more about x

What is the financial situation of your vendors?

What is the board’s payment?

I want to know more about your CEO

I don’t believe in this market figure!

I want a printed version!

EmployeesSocietySmall

shareholdersVendorsPartners Customers Journalists Authorities

Large shareholders,Institutionalinvestors Analysts

What are the main trends?


· Search· Quick questions are best answered with the web’s search capability· Besides quick answers, search also provides related information, like

policies for dividend or remuneration, throughout the entire report














· Drill down· Hyperlinking is the reason for the breakthrough of www in the 1990’s· Use it as internal shortcuts or to external parties, like industry press

articles, to the company’s vendors, or to third party market surveys· This will help the reader to understand your company and its context














· Rich media· There is an increased focus on the company’s management and the

CEO as an individual· The CEO’s letter to the shareholders is an effective way to address the

shareholders directly, but a video presentation makes it even more effective and personal.














· Customised print· The print media will survive, not only because many authorities still

require a physically signed document, but also because many readers prefer a hard copy.

· However, an online report can provide tools for creating your own, customised PDF file.














· Interactivity· Complex financial information is hard to grasp for a non-professional

reader· The web medium has several interactivity features to enhance

pedagogy













Interactivity increases understanding

Can you see the trend? Can you see the trend?

http://www.teliasonera.com/2009/en/AR/FinancialStatements/TenYearSummaryFinancialData.html

Summary

· The thirst for information will continue to grow, but the web medium is excellent to deal with this

Rich media Search

External hyperlinks for drill down analysis

Internal hyperlinks for additional page entries

Custom PDF creation

http://www1.sampo.com/annualreport/2009/

2. Production

· How to add another step in an already complex production cycle

A new world for both web agencies and traditional annual report producers

From the web agency point of view· The buyer is not web native· “Let’s publish next week” is not an

option· Top management have stronger

opinions than usual· Content is horizontal rather than

hierarchical in its structure

From the buyer’s point of view· Changes that appear easy might be

very difficult to solve· Changes that appear hard might be

very easy to solve· How do I keep track of interactivity and

internal hyperlinking features?· External hyperlinks, official information

from my company? Wikipedia?

But once your organisation get used to the online format, you will also find production benefits with online annual reporting!

Why don’t wait until things settle down?

· Because then the report is old news· To get best value for the investment, publish the online version

simultaneously as the printed one

Number of visitors

Average day Day of report Increase

Company X 376 838 +123%

Company Y 3 152 4 649 +47%

Company Z 12 280 21 026 +71%

H&H statistics for three Swedish, listed companies

Another example of publish timing

· Nearly 600 visitors on publish day (simultaneously published)· Note that the online annual report does not die, it is revisited on various

investor events

Number of daily visitors on an online annual report for a large Swedish company

0

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Q1 report

Investor dayQ3 report

Summer Christmas

Semi-parallel production process

· Complete the graphical design and programming of all templates and special pages in good time before the print version is final and sent to the printer house

· After content sign-off, make sure to have the right tools to fill the templates with final content

· Include a launch phase in the time plan to ensure quality

Final sign-off print content

Design Programming Content migration Launch

2-4 weeks(synchronized with

print and distribution)3 weeks to 3 months

(depending on graphical complexity)

Despite all preparations, we still suffer from dual processes.

Isn’t there another way?

Opposite approach: Annual Report 2.0

· Annual Report 2.0: · To create the annual report directly for the web medium, and get a

printed version as a secondary product

The journey towards digital reporting

Draft in MS Word

Typesetting in InDesign

Print ready PDFWeb version conversion

Draft in MS Word

Typesetting in Word

Print ready PDF and web version

Draft and type-setting in Word

Print ready PDF and web version

phase

1

phase

3

phase

2

Benefits with Annual Report 2.0

· Digitalizes your content automatically for multichannel purposes

· One single process instead of two

· Possible to use web writing style from the start

· Sends a clear message that the web is the primary medium, motivating a reduced circulation of printed copies (if any)

· A printed version is still available· But its graphical ambitions is reduced, because those who prefer

the printed version do not appreciate heavy graphics anyway· This lets you reduce your budget, or target your budget to increase the

quality of the web version

Thank you!

Jonas Jonell, KWD

[email protected]

KWD

Business

From print to digital – moving the Annual Report into the 21st century