Jonkergouw & van den Akker annual report services

Our clients can benefit from our annual report services in many ways.

Our aim and ambition is to add value.

Clients can engage us across the board, from consultancy to turnkey development and production.

Consultancy is confined to the provision of strategic advice on the annual report and its theme.

Turnkey production, the other extreme, is a comprehensive service package extending from text development and design to production in the preferred media types.

Many variations are possible, including specialised skills such as evaluation/analysis, advice, organisation, text production and design.

We are generally engaged at a very early stage in the process. Preparatory talks, conceptualisation and preliminary text development are of decisive influence on the final product. And that is where our strength lies.
The preparatory talks determine the general communication strategy, key messages and theme. We then deliver an all-embracing communication concept (structure, tone, production, design) and a fairly accurate timetable. Good timing and coordination are particularly important for an annual report, especially when more than one internal or external specialist is involved.

During the production phase we flesh out the annual report's communication goals. Our work is always driven by the content; design is secondary in that it supports both the storyline and the image sought by the client. We work with several creative design agencies in the Netherlands that subscribe to our philosophy. We do not bring these disciplines in-house because our partnerships guarantee that the most appropriate expertise is used on every engagement. Our successful projects are often the product of many years' cooperation, proving that this formula really works. The benefits of engaging external specialists and writing talent have been proven many times over:

• A relative outsider takes a fresh and curious look, seeing things that an "internal" might overlook or take for granted.
• The business culture might place unintended barriers to open reporting. Outsiders are not restrained by them.
• The client might not have the competence or capacity to write an annual report. It can quickly become an annual grind for someone doing it "after hours".
• An external adviser is dedicated to presenting the facts in the best light. That is his profession.
• An external adviser asks the same questions as the reader. The copywriter is a litmus test for the client's communication skills.

Our method of text development is tailored to the client's wishes and the available timeframe.

Most of our clients opt for:

• Turnkey text production based on interviews with senior management and key officials in the organisation, with a finished text as the end product.

Other options include:

• Copy editing. The client's senior managers are asked for rough copy that we then redact. The client provides the content, not the form. We edit the copy and combine it into a balanced report that complements the preferred communication concept. The managers check the edited texts for factual accuracy.
• Text production based on written information provided by managers, supplemented with interviews. The interviews fill in any gaps and remove redundancies. We write the complete text and the managers check for factual accuracy.

Intermediate forms and variations are always possible.

Sometimes a client might prefer to base the text on a copy platform we provide or to add the finishing touches to a draft. This might be the most suitable approach for the client provided it has the capacity to do it with pleasure and achieve the right quality. The ultimate criterion is a good end product.

Production of the annual report can also be preceded by an analysis of how the client is perceived by its target groups and the role played by the various media (annual reports, press releases, etc.). A basic preliminary study consists of an analysis of the publicity and analysts' reports in the past year. It reveals how the users of the annual report perceive the business.

We can deepen this analysis to include an extensive (City Panel) or concise (Mini Panel) audit. We ask external specialists for their opinions on the information value of the annual report and the company's communication with its financial target groups. These audits quickly identify any misperceptions.

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