HOT NEWS FROM YOUR FAVORITE HAUS
SOOPA SUSTAINABLE EDITION
JUNE 2009
Annual Reports are so....old-fashioned. If you're an innovative public company, you should seriously think about shifting your annual (or corporate overview) budgets over to develop an annual Corporate Social Responsibilities Report.
It's the future!
What is it?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has many "monickers" right now because it is a relatively new corporate concept. You may have heard terms like corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance practices...
they all mean the same thing.
Basically, CSR policy develops a strategy for company governance that "has a heart." Companies that adopt these policies believe that success is more than being profitable... it's also about being a good corporate citizen and steward for the environment. We think this is cool.
Companies that have adopted the CSR culture distribute an annual or bi-annual report highlighting economic, environmental and social achievements and goals.
Why is it So Cool?
Fuelhaus loves CSR Reports because of their holistic quality. We think that they are great brand builders because they are more personal than profit and loss statements. Here's why:
- CSRs share a level of transparency;
- CSRs help create an authentic connection to their brand;
- CSRs inspire and educate current employees; and
- CSRs engage future employees.
Where an annual report tends to alienate it's public (by speaking such a sophisticated financial language), a CSR tends to pull them in by talking about things that matter most to them: people, the environment, donations, partnerships and labor practices.
All of these things, when done consistently, give a company an admirable corporate policy and public personality.
Qualcomm's 2008 CSR is a perfect example of how CSR has evolved over the last couple of years. It's no secret that Qualcomm is a leadership brand. They've always been great corporate citizens. That's why we weren't surprised to learn that they've been doing a CSR Report since 2006.
This year, they decided to take it a step futher and certify their 2008 CSR with the Global Reporting Initiative, an international reporting agency. Luckily, Fuelhaus got to help them succeed.
Developing the Brand
Fuelhaus felt that CSR was such an integral part of Qualcomm culture that we should "brand" it. The resulting name of "QSR" and it's orange "bug" logo gives social policy a voice that all Qualcomm departments can use to cultivate socially responible culture throughout the year.
Finding it's Voice
Fuelhaus also worked closely with Qualcomm to compile all of the year's data to meet GRI guidelines. Once we revieved all of the 2008 reporting information from 20+ different Qualcomm departments, we helped shape the structure and write the content of the 48-page report. This lengthy process (3 months) was an integral part of developing a consistent tone and voice for the 2008 report.
Teamwork Rocks
We knew a primary goal of the QSR was to present the most important highlights on the corporate website. This meant we needed to do our homework. Before we began design, we met with Qualcomm's technical gurus to make sure that the creative we developed worked within their new website's identity standards and technical constraints.
This planning made adapting the print QSR into a web format relatively painless. Qualcomm condensed the content down into the key points and we developed a web version of the report, using Flash animation and other fun stuff to make it engaging and fun to read.
The result was a killer CSR that was well-branded, easy-to-index and read, GRI compliant, engaging and on time.
You can't do much better than that!
See it in Action! (links)
• Download the pdf version of the report here.
• Check out the QSR online here.
Marketing
If you have any experience with websites, you know that a launched report is only effective if it's read and shared. Fuelhaus helped support the marketing efforts of the QSR by helping them create digital and physical signage for all of Qualcomm's buildings (from San Diego to Israel!) and by designing a direct mail piece for internal and external use.
The economy may be slow, but Fuelhaus is keeping busy by developing new, great ways to stay connected!
Skool of Fresh 3000
Fuelhaus is currently working on a new, super duper Skool of Fresh blog platform that we'll be showcasing in our next Hotflash. If all goes well, it will become the central Hub of everything Fuelhaus. You're gonna LOVE it.
