A different take on the annual report: bringing numbers to life!

Year after year, no expense or effort is spared to put the balance sheet of a company and fiscal year in perspective. However, the scope of the data presented knows hardly any bounds, and for the casual observer it is often difficult to quickly find and grasp the most important findings. In addition, figures per se do not attract much attention at first - unless their development gives reason to do so.

However, more and more companies are recognizing the figures as an opportunity to take an unusual approach and are slowly starting to look beyond the printed version of their annual report. The solution: the annual report video.

This allows the most important key figures of a fiscal year to be communicated in a very clear, striking and condensed manner. The options for use are diverse and range from the annual general meeting and social media to press conferences and the company's own website.

In our practice, we have already implemented annual report videos for a number of companies, but these are often subject to a wide variety of requirements. Below are some cases that we consider exemplary.

In our video format developed for Lufthansa AG, we present the current traffic figures of the entire group on a monthly basis. For this purpose, we developed a master video in CI-compliant vector style. For each key figure, we designed a suitable scenery in which the respective figure comes into its own particularly well. Fluidly animated transitions and frequent changes of scenery provide a pleasant dynamic without losing focus on the numbers. The video is used in a variety of ways and is, for example, an integral part of press relations, in the context of which it is regularly disseminated via Twitter. But anyone passing through the reception area of the Lufthansa Aviation Center in Frankfurt also encounters the video on large screens there and thus constantly has the latest key figures and their development in front of their eyes.

Our creative team faced a completely different challenge with the annual report video of Energiedienst Holding AG from Laufenburg in Switzerland.

The utility company, which specializes in sustainable energies, wanted to present the key figures of its annual report in a correspondingly sustainable way. For this purpose, we developed an individual and very elaborate video format, in which mainly handmade techniques were used - from livescribble to stop trick. Here, too, our thoughts revolved around staging each figure in a way that was as unseen and surprising as possible.

The result is a one-minute video with a lot of detail and a lot of humanity, despite the many figures and technical topics. The video was used as part of the annual general meeting and as a fixed component of the company website and caused a great stir in both channels.

As you can see, even with a rather bulky annual report and seemingly endless figures, there are numerous creative possibilities. Are you also thinking about a more creative staging of your annual report? Then we'll be happy to advise you and find an individual, creative solution together.