About the client
Nobel Biocare is a world leader in the design and manufacture of dental implants. Its founder, Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, discovered the process of osseointegration, where living bone fuses with Titanium.
What did they want?
As a public company, Nobel Biocare has to produce an annual report every year. The company came to us to inject a human angle into the writing, rather than focusing purely on technology or financial performance.
How we went about it
Our MD, Andy Maslen, flew to Zurich, where the company has its headquarters, to interview key personnel and discuss initial ideas with the corporate communications team. We also conducted telephone interviews with key personnel across the business.
To make sure we were getting the important stories across, we drew up a grid of four types of story: the market, the customer, the patient and, underlying all three of these, the equity story.
We also created the concept of “red threads” – consistent strands that ran through the entire report. An example would be “caring about patients”.
The writing
An annual report is not a free-for-all. There are regulatory concerns as well as interest from the very top – the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, Board of Directors and Executive Committee. That meant we spent time at the outset planning the content and drafting a few sample sections to show around the business to gain buy-in.
We proposed a more conversational style than is normally seen in an annual report, with greater emphasis placed on patient stories, which we knew would soften the hard science and place more emphasis on emotion.
The results
Our approach paid off. There was widespread approval for the report and everyone was happy with the new style of writing.
“Dear Andy, Thanks! We presented it to the EC and BoD on Friday and received great initial feedback. Thanks very much for your wonderful contribution. Happy holidays to you and your family!”