Stratton Craig Blog

Who's winning the digital communications race?

Last month, Communicate Magazine (@communicatemag) highlighted the 2012 Financial Times Bowen Craggs Index research. The research assessed nearly 81 of the largest companies in the Financial Times Global 500, and found that digital communication is a troublesome area for many of them.

Ironically, the report found that the IT sector was among the worst performing. Big brands such as Apple, Google and HP were named among others for dysfunctional strategies that fail to transfer consumer technology expertise into effective digital communication.

The report found that companies from the energy, pharma, tobacco, and mining sectors made up half of the top 20, perhaps indicating an effective response to increasing public scrutiny in areas such as sustainability and health. At the top of the table was Shell with excellent content and social media integration, and BP gained second place for their website (despite it being 10 years old!).

As Marie Myles states, consumers are becoming increasingly ‘channel-savvy’ and brands must evolve to avoid losing them. The Bowen Craggs Index shows a clear need for digital development amongst the FT Global 500 – with Marie Myles reporting that 84% of consumers said they would step away from a brand that they felt was irrelevant, it’s important that these companies step up their game in providing relevant content in relevant places.

An addition to the team: Tom, Copywriter

This week we’re welcoming Tom to the team as our new Copywriter. Tom joins us from Haymarket Business Media, where he honed his skills in crafting concise copy for a range of business, consumer and voluntary sector products.

He’s spent time cutting his teeth in an eclectic range of writing styles, including consumer print media, marketing and advertising. He joins the Stratton Craig team to take on many of our consumer and advertising projects, liaising closely with our account management team to produce cracking copy that hits the spot every time.

So far Tom’s been working on projects such as websites, brochures, product descriptors and magazine articles for a range of clients, and we’re delighted to have him on board.

Watch this space for more information about Tom on our Meet the Team page!

Consumers struggle to keep the faith

In July last year we discussed falling levels of consumer confidence in multinational corporations, and recent surveys reveal that the outlook is still quite grim in the UK.

CorpComms Magazine (@CorpCommsMag) reported that the Annual RepTrak Pulse 2012 survey by the Reputation Institute found that, although in 2011 trust measured as improving, in 2012 two thirds of the 300 companies surveyed found that their corporate reputation had declined. BskyB for example, saw a ten-point decline year on year – no doubt a result of the ongoing News International crisis.

Meltwater Group (@MeltwaterGroup) have also been monitoring social networks, studying tweets, posts and comments. They found that 53% of chatter surrounded the economy, and 83% of that expressed mistrust – driven mainly by the behaviour of banks. When looking at the UK in general, Meltwater Group found that 78% of noise expressed mistrust in the government, and 71% in the legal system. Despite the aforementioned News International crisis, just 7% of distrust noise was related to the media.

The statistics paint a difficult picture for UK organisations to compete against, but we know that great communication can work wonders. Focusing on digital efforts can be a great place to start. As Meltwater Group have seen, more and more people are heading online to discuss important issues and voice their opinions – understanding the public’s attitude towards your industry is key to determining appropriate messages. Listening to and engaging in online conversations through your website, social networks and blogs shows a level of authenticity that will in time break down the barriers of mistrust and allow you to build real, tangible relationships with your audience.

The Copywriter April 2012

Crystallising the role of sustainability in reporting

Earlier this year over 300 global leaders attended the inaugural Global Sustainability Summit, organised by Ernst & Young and the Ibero-American General Secretary in collaboration with the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE). Governments, businesses and academics agreed that, for long-term growth to be possible, the development of future economic models must be based on robust sustainable policies and practices.

One of the key topics discussed was how transparency in sustainable reporting would help the economy. The Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader at Ernst & Young, Juan Costa Climent, commented that the discussions had helped ‘crystallise the concept of sustainability as a global issue’ and that ‘the public sector needs to work with private enterprise to establish a global framework that allows for growth’.

Our previous newsletter in January discussed the dawn of Integrated Reporting. As interest in the role of sustainability in corporate reporting heightens, have you considered the structure of your next report? Now is the time to start talking about it, so call us on 020 7593 4014 to discuss how we can help you.

Success stories – RBB Economics

Stratton Craig provided a key messaging workshop and copywriting services for RBB Economics, a leading consultancy providing specialist advice on all economic aspects of competition law assignments.

Over the years, RBB has been involved in many of the most complex and high-profile competition cases around the world. To ensure their communications reflected their expertise RBB came to Stratton Craig’s offices to take part in one of our bespoke Blueprint key messaging workshops. During this session, we delved and probed and questioned and got to know the RBB team. We found out what made them tick, what they wanted to communicate, and what set their business apart. After the workshop we went away and used the information we had captured to shape a new RBB ‘elevator pitch’, key messaging script and core values document. From this approved ‘boilerplate’ copy, we were then able to create a brand new corporate brochure and website content that reflected the true purpose and personality of RBB Economics.

“Stratton Craig really helped us to focus our thoughts on where we’re going and how we want to be perceived. They led us through a really engaging and valuable self-assessment process, and then converted this experience into some really excellent key messaging and value propositions. The brochure and web content they crafted was spot-on and expertly captured who we are and what do. A great service all round.”

Simon Bishop, Partner and Co-Founder, RBB Economics

Did You Know…?
The ACCA recently surveyed 500 corporate reporting stakeholders across the UK, US and Canada and found some interesting results…

47% of respondents said reports are too long
50% agreed that the annual report is the primary source of information about a company
35% agreed reports are too complex
48% felt too much promotional material is creeping into content

The value of corporate reporting

According to a recent ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) survey, the value of corporate reports is stifled by confusion over their different audiences, complexity and a lack of timeliness.

Although the survey suggests that the importance of Annual Reports has not diminished in the eyes of investors and stakeholders, and that they have in fact become more important, it also finds that reports could be much better than they currently are.

ACCA key findings
The ACCA report - Re-assessing the value of corporate reporting – surveyed 500 corporate reporting stakeholders throughout the UK, US and Canada, finding that:
- 50% of respondents agreed that the annual report is the primary source of information about a company
- 47% of respondents said reports are too long
- 48% felt too much promotional material is creeping into content, with 40% suggesting reports are too general in purpose
- 35% agreed that reports are too complex (68% blamed reporting standards for this, and 61% blamed legal requirements)

As the ACCA conclude, reports need to be simplified, more forward-looking and evidently risk aware. The survey’s results also suggest reports need to be written with investors in mind. The findings, particularly the latter, are understandable - financial performance is so high on the agenda in these tough economic times but social and environmental information should not be forgotten. ACCA’s head of policy, Ian Welch, suggests that integrated reporting could be a way of reviving the value of social and environmental information, and we'd most definitely agree.