Investor Relations update:
Print is not dead
When it comes to leveraging the web for Investor Relations, no one is a bigger advocate than Big (see our post here, for instance). And given the efficiency with which the web can handle the communications and regulatory requirements of annual reporting, we certainly appreciate the trend toward minimizing the scope of the printed version. But, we have to admit, we’d hate to see it go altogether. And not only for nostalgic reasons. As a tangible, hold-in-your-hands artifact of communication and creativity, as a vehicle that makes message and meaning tactile, the printed annual report offers an engagement between a company and its shareholders that even the most bleeding edge of websites can’t quite match.
As it turns out, we’re not the only folks who think so. In the most recent issue of Graphic Design USA, top ten design firms talk about a changing zeitgeist in which clients of all kinds and sizes are using annual reports to address how their organizations affect the lives of all their stakeholders, not only employees and shareholders. In fact, the article is titled “A Change in Spirit,” and asks if Investor Relations might be on the verge of an evolutionary transformation making annual, corporate, and social responsibility reports more relevant than ever. In this new age, an age of broadened messaging and accountability, an actual printed-on-paper report returns to prominence, because “online reports may be cheaper, but printed pieces imply greater credibility,” according to Lynda Decker of Decker Design.
Echoing this sentiment, Darren Namaye of Ideas On Purpose recognizes that the internet is a critical tool as companies seek to report annually on topics that now range from responsibility to strategy to talent development to innovation, but he believes that the printed component will not disappear. He says that “companies who see the document as an investment in marketing/corporate communications will continue to print.”
Critt Graham, of Critt Graham + Associates, perhaps puts it best: “…the majority of annuals have become barebones. However, selected clients still value the annual report as the best place to address company challenges, communicate strategies, evaluate performance, and provide strategic outlook. We believe it’s also the best source for communicating a company’s most important assets—human resources and brand strength. No other document communicates so much to so many.” (Photograph licensed by Willi Heidelbach under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.)