Ericsson report signals change

Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson is about to embark on a complete identity overhaul, following the launch of its new approach to corporate communications encapsulated in the annual report released this week.

Annual reports do not usually reflect a sea change in communications or result in corporate identity reviews.

However, the annual report, which has been designed by SAS, “represents a significant change in the way that we conduct international communications,” says director of communications Roland Klein.

“We plan to look at the whole corporate identity,” he adds.

The annual report moves away from the traditional approach of explaining the company’s activities in a series of divisional reports. Instead, it focuses on eight key messages and is split into two documents; Understanding Our Business and the Financial Review. Copywriting was by Tim Rich.

“We wanted it be much more customer-centred and look at what our results mean for investors,” explains Klein.

“We want to reduce noise and focus on what we really stand for.”

Plans for the identity revamp are at an early stage.