If you spend a lot of time laboring over the content of your annual report and haven't been sold on the power of photography, it's time to rethink that take: According to Potlatch Corp., which annually reviews the visual impact of annual reports, 61 percent of individual investors and portfolio managers agree that an annual report without pictures would be boring.
Potlatch, in its recently-released "The Essentials" brochure, looks primarily at annual reports from a design perspective. Six design judges reviewed more than 670 annual reports (the hook is that they're printed on Potlatch papers) and selected 30 winners and 30 honored reports. But the company, which is based in Cloquet, Minn., also invited three financial analysts to offer their outlook. Next week, PR NEWS will share some of those analysts' views.
Other findings include:
- 67 percent of individual investors agree that annual reports "have something to teach us" - for instance, providing insight into new products and/or corporate vision;
- Four in 10 investment professionals are inclined to make copies of sections of annual reports, meaning the impact of an annual report extends beyond its initial reading; and
- Four out of 10 portfolio managers and individual investors reported reading all or most of the reports they receive. (For a free copy of the report, call 800/447-2133.)