1st GEAR: EVALUATION

The process begins with careful listening and probing to determine your primary messaging or positioning objectives. What does the company need to convey to investors, analysts and customers about the current and future status of the company? What are the issues facing management, and what are the strategies for meeting those challenges? We build a team, establish schedules and set overall budget parameters. Our role is one of keeping the client on course, setting intermediate targets and following a set procedure to ensure that the report is delivered on time and within budget.

2nd GEAR: CONCEPTUALIZATION

Pushing the report aggressively forward requires establishing a message strategy, visual themes and a design approach. We explore a variety of solutions at a conceptual level – generating concept sketches and mock ups to test and visualize possible solutions.

Internal perceptions are not always aligned with external realities, so we also talk with customers, analysts and employees during the process. More often than not our ideas are born from our clients’ vision. The CEO looks to us to articulate his or her vision and express it in a visually compelling way.

3rd GEAR: REALIZATION

The report accelerates rapidly when we begin developing sample concept layouts and drafting rough copy. Normally, we select several approaches and develop them into sample concept spreads to test ideas. The best ideas are refined with input from management. Progressively tighter mock ups help bring the report from a rough sketch to a solid idea that can now be realized.

4th GEAR: IMPLEMENTATION

By this time the project is travelling well on its way to completion. Copy is edited and re-edited; artwork and photography is executed; financials are typeset and the book is carefully reviewed by teams of specialists at blinding speeds before going to press. Even as it travels through the press we supervise every detail until the books reach their destination.

5th GEAR: INTEGRATION

Your annual report message is more effective when it’s leveraged across multiple channels. We are skilled at preparing digital versions of the report as Adobe® Acrobat® PDF files, interactive investor web sites, investor press kits and Microsoft® PowerPoint® analyst presentations for your laptop computer.