3. Dezember 2009
Annual Reports: From Duty to Delight
Good photos can make an annual report an attractive image-bearer. This opportunity is often neglected.
Drab, dull, dreary; many annual reports are design dropouts. Why is this the case? If you are looking for a reason why business or annual reports often present a pale picture of a company, you probably have the following explanation: annual reports are often an obligation, and the publication shows that clearly. Numbers and gray areas of text dominate the pages. A strong image section with photographs is missing.
When the Introduction Already Falls Short
Thumbing through the first pages of an annual report, you usually start with the introduction by the board of administration or the executive board. And what does the photo show? For example: men in buttoned-down grey suits, in cramped posture, with grim expressions on their faces because the photographer has dared to disturb them during work. They desperately try to find some place to put their hands, usually their trouser pockets or a railing. The colors are dull and state: “There’s nothing bleaker than our company.” How would you like to be a customer of or an investor in such a company or be greeted in such a way as a reader?
Air New Zealand: Out of the Office
Air New Zealand (photo) is one example of how to do things differently. Chairman of the Board John Palmer doesn’t have his picture taken in a stairwell or behind a desk, but instead goes out of office. He presents himself in leisure attire – emphasizing customer proximity – in the midst of New Zealand’s great outdoors. His posture is open and confident. The sky above him symbolizes high goals. The depth of the photograph and the horizon show farsightedness. The lighting and colors emphasize that he enjoys his work. Air New Zealand‘s Investor Relations Department is not afraid of showing feelings or rattling convention, which, however, doesn’t prevent them from making a serious impression.
What Sort of Image Do We Want?
Flying is obviously a more emotional business at first sight than, for example, financial or fiduciary services. All the more reason for companies with abstract products to make an effort with a presentation which touches their readers’ hearts instead of thoughtlessly cementing the image of a beaurocratic monolith. One way or another, the annual report always communicates an image. The company must determine how it wishes to be perceived.
Emotions are Decisive
Many opportunities are lost with an emotionless annual report, because a company can never express what it is about with numbers alone. Neither a balance sheet nor a profit and loss account can measure the working atmosphere, nor the work ethics or long-term effects of decisions. Such topics are discussed separately in meaningful reports, and the company should underscore its brand management with good photographs. There is a second reason why communicating feelings with pictures is so important: customers and investors never make their decisions on purely rational grounds – that’s a fairy tale.
Important: No Hectic Rush
What should you pay attention to if you want your annual report to stand out with attractive photographs like Air New Zealand? Firstly: The photographer must be able to have a say. Secondly: the people who are being photographed must disengage from their daily business during the shooting. A hectic atmosphere rarely provides satifactory results. This is where there is often a misconception: the text gets polished up for weeks on end, but the photo of the management must be taken quickly during the break at some meeting. By the way, Air New Zealand’s style does not primarily have anything to do with the sector or the national culture, but with professionalism. You can present any business in an enjoyable manner, provided that you have a photo concept, a good photographer and enough time.
This post has been authorized by Air New Zealand