Online reporting:
what are the trends?

Almost two thirds of the FTSE 100 — 61 per cent — now offer HTML-based reports, with companies in all sectors continuing to make greater use of the web’s interactive potential to deepen their engagement with stakeholders.

The power of video

Video is a particularly potent digital communications tool. The CEO can look users ‘in the eye’ as he or she discusses the year’s performance against the backdrop of company operations. The chairman can personally attest to the board’s commitment to world-class corporate governance. Analysts, journalists and others can visit, virtually, the communities in which CSR programmes are making a difference.

Video can be used to particular advantage by companies that have recently changed leadership or strategy, especially following high-profile crises. Humility, lessons-learned and the strength of the new leader are much more convincing and palpable via audio and video, than through a screen of text.

Some companies are also being more creative in their use of technology to enhance navigation. Innovations this year include:

• Drop-down top navigation bars that preview section content;
• Tags that enable searches on named topics, and that change to reflect individual page subject matter;
• The facility for users to specify which sections of the report do and do not appear on their screens, as part of a push to enable viewers to create bespoke publications.

More 2010/2011 reports also enable visitors to share content via social media platforms.

Boosting brand perceptions

As well as guiding users through content-heavy sites, these innovations can aid perceptions of a brand’s commitment to making life easier for investors and customers.

The number of FTSE 100 companies opting to produce a hybrid HTML/PDF report, rather than a full HTML publication, rose to 31 from 25. This may reflect doubts about the value of making less popular sections, like the notes to the financial statements, interactive. Cost is also an issue, along with the demands on in-house teams of managing and proofing separate versions of two full reports in print and online.

Bridge-building opportunities

This year, as online consumption of business information became the de facto default, the Financial Reporting Council mooted the possibility of freeing companies from their obligation to provide a printed report. In this context, it is perhaps surprising that 25 FTSE 100 companies chose to limit their online annual reporting exposure to a PDF, five more than last year. Even the additional 12 companies that opted for a ‘smart PDF’, with page-turning navigation, may be missing out on valuable bridge-building opportunities with stakeholders.

In another tangible trend, more companies positioned their annual report in an online ‘investor centre’. This year, 21 of the FTSE 100 followed this route, locating the annual report side-by-side with other investor content such as share information, quarterly updates, investor briefings and other corporate publications. This allows the context of the report to be updated on an ongoing basis — with quarterly results videos, for instance — and keeps the publication at the forefront of users’ minds throughout the year.

Early adopter apps

2010/2011 also saw the arrival of apps on the corporate reporting scene. A number of major brands around the world — including FTSE 100 companies — launched annual report apps for iPhones, iPads and the Android operating system. Most corporate apps provide very limited reporting content, though a small number offer access to full annual reports optimised for the iPad.

As one might expect, iPads offer a better viewing experience than the smaller-screened iPhone. The best apps, once downloaded, have the advantage of being accessible offline. Such convenience is clearly an asset but future corporate take-up of apps is likely to depend on whether the user data makes a good enough case for a slice of company resources.

This year, in short, certain large cap companies did a first-rate job of exploiting the dynamism of digital technology to make their business — and their strategic messages — come alive. Others did less well. As ever, the most successful were those that demonstrated a clear sense of what they wanted to communicate and who their key audiences are. With digital technology, as with all channels, it really is the message, not the medium, that counts.

With digital technology, as with all channels, it is the message 'not the medium' that counts