http://www.2014.weatherfordannualreport.com/

Businesses work hard for their financial results. So why is this valuable information almost always buried deep in the annual report?

If treated differently, it’s information that could give employees a closer insight into their company. It could help them to see the tangible economic results of their daily efforts. The financial reasons behind any tough decisions ahead. And it might just inspire a new generation to join the workforce. If only they had access to it…

Oakwood worked with Weatherford International to transform its annual report from a long-established print format into a digital experience, in a bid to go beyond its traditional shareholder target market and engage new audiences.

Rather than reproducing printed content online, we aimed to make the most of the enhanced user experience that digital can deliver. Taking inspiration from outside the oil & gas arena, we used leadership videos, animated typography and responsive infographics to bring financial content to life across desktop and mobile platforms. And importantly Weatherford employees could submit and vote on photographic content via social media.

The report has evolved into a global, multi-channel PR campaign to promote Weatherford’s financial results, with a fully responsive site at its core: http://www.2014.weatherfordannualreport.com/

The photography competition saw more than 400 photos submitted by employee contributors around the world. The voting system counted an impressive 5,954 responses from Facebook. In fact, of the 140 photographs featured in the final annual report, 130 of these are employee-generated images – an outstanding level of involvement.

In the first week alone the site had 4,000 unique visitors and over 19,000 page views. And in contrast to a printed annual report, stats now show almost 20% of people are accessing this financial content via their mobile devices, with an unprecedented 17.5% of all users arriving from social channels.

Weatherford has taken great steps forward in how it communicates corporate information in a more creative and compelling way.

“Oakwood has taken us on a journey to create an outstanding and engaging digital annual report that has brought Weatherford to life for employees, shareholders, clients and our peers. Never before has the true essence of Weatherford’s culture and mission been more apparent. Oakwood really has raised the bar for Weatherford and Annual Reports within the oil and gas industry and beyond.”
Kelley Hughes
Corporate Communications Manager
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Weatherford International