Annual Reports & CSR Reports
Annual reports summarize the activity of the past year, while looking forward and providing investors and stakeholders with insights into the future of the business. They are the statement of record about a company's current state and fulfil a statutory obligation to provide financial information. As such a prominent showcase, organisations naturally want to use them to influence and position as well. The writing plays a significant role as it reveals the senior management's attitude to what they are reporting.
Writing annual reports and CSR reports
Corporations usually already know what they want to say in these reports. The main contribution of a copywriter is the phrasing and tone. Choice of wording is important, as it reflects the personality and character of the organisation, its managers, and their take on what they are reporting.
Writers also suggest a theme for the report that delivers the main message, encapsulating it in a cover line. They help structure information to achieve the most interesting and accessible flow for the reader. Often there will be input coming from a number of different directions across departments so a copywriter must make these sound consistent and edit them into a coherent narrative.
The importance of writing good annual and CSR reports
Despite the time lag between the period they cover and the time of being published, annual & CSR reports remain a vital source of information for investors and a key communications tool for the corporation. An annual report may well be the first encounter a potential investor has with your organisation.
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The Barnaby Benson approach
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Confident interviewing the senior team - because we’ve worked with senior stakeholders on a number of annual & CSR reports, our copywriters are able to ask the questions that will get the most out of stakeholder interviews.
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A compelling theme and narrative - a theme can set up an intriguing question in the audience's mind that makes the report a compelling read as it unveils answers.
How do clients benefit from our approach?
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Save time - some C-suite management like to draft their own pieces. For most, the hours involved are too much of a time commitment and they prefer to brief a writer and revue the subsequent draft.
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Peace of mind - we’ve written numerous reports, so we know how to present information to appeal to investors without frustrating other audiences.
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Originality - the goal is not to sound like everybody else, but to bring out the positive differences of your organisation. Because we’ve worked in a wide variety of sectors, we bring fresh approaches which can distinguish a report from those of competitors.
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