Argo Group
Revolutionizing
the annual report
Argo Group—an international specialty insurer and long-time Stiff client—wanted something new, engaging, dynamic and fresh for their annual report. Stiff turned an annual chore into an exciting new communications platform.
Beyond the boilerplate
Annual reports don’t have to be boring. Argo Group showed with their 2019 edition how an annual report can be engaging, dynamic, and aligned with overall business communications, bringing life to a project that often feels rote, dry or insincere.
More than
dry numbers
Argo wanted to highlight great work and inspire confidence and pride in employees, partners and shareholders. It also wanted a product that was entirely digital—no more printing and mailing expensive reports and also an opportunity to take full advantage of the multimedia possibilities of going online.
For easy reading and improved shareability, Argo and Stiff focused on short stories that demonstrated the breadth of talent at the company and put the spotlight on people and achievements that the audience could identify with.
Research began with speaking to all heads of major business units at Argo across their U.S. and International divisions. Teams and leaders who were in the thick of it every day told us what they were most proud of and what projects best exemplified Argo’s success and core values.
And then we helped them tell those stories.
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Together we landed on a core message that proclaimed “the future of insurance is here, and Argo is ready.” No longer would Argo be one of the pack—always waiting for the promise of the future. The company spent years working to reach this point, and it would seize the moment.
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Rethinking
the rote
Annual reports by definition look backwards, and also rely on outdated limitations of technology or inertia—it’s just “how they’ve always been done.”
Stiff and Argo didn’t agree with that. Together, we saw the annual report as an underused opportunity to showcase everything that is worthy of celebration at a company, and that the report can be a living, breathing project to launch content to over the course of a quarterly, biannual or annual campaign.
We also drove a foundational shift in messaging. Over its five previous reports, Argo used some variation on the theme of “Looking to the future”—repeatedly speaking about a destination that was never reached.
“We wanted our report to be more than figures and boilerplate. This is an opportunity to make an impact on our audience across an entire year.”
David Snowden, Senior Vice President,
Group Communications, Argo Group
Senior Vice President,
Group Communications, Argo Group
Style and substance
Argo is an agile, modern company, and the aesthetics of the report reflect these qualities.
The design is clean yet authoritative, using a dark colour palette and easy-to-navigate user interface to let the content do the talking.
The videos featuring Argo employees and partners were filmed in a range of locations to reflect the global reach of the company. The directorial style was familiar and collegial, but still professional, demonstrating that Argo is a diverse and dynamic institution that knows how to adapt to an increasingly globalized economy.
Results beyond expectations
All of this work would be well and good on its own, but the real proof of success is in the reach and engagement Argo Group saw from its 2019 annual report. Year-over-year, audience reach, conversion and engagement rates were up, while paid social spend was down.
Reach: 1.33 million social impressions—up 24% vs. prior year
Conversion: 4:36 average time on page—up 51% vs. prior year
Engagement: 469K social clicks—up 1,359% vs. prior year
Social spend: $9,244 on paid social promotion—down 12% vs. prior year
That’s more views, more clicks and more engagement, for less money. Argo’s message, strategy and results spoke for themselves.
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“The results were simply phenomenal. Our audience got the content they wanted, our stakeholders got to share their achievements, and Stiff’s creativity and strategic thinking helped us communicate it all with incredible results.”
David Snowden, Senior Vice President,
Group Communications, Argo Group
Senior Vice President,
Group Communications, Argo Group
A one-stop, year-round platform
By consolidating corporate messaging, shareholder relations, company successes and ongoing marketing into one place, Stiff helped Argo leverage their annual report to create excitement among staff and stakeholders, and saved marketing dollars by streamlining multiple channels into one.
But by being smart and strategic, the evolution of Argo Group’s 2019 annual report turned out to be no risk at all—only reward.
