Making an annual activity report is a big operation that involves everyone in the company. It is often treated only as a legal obligation and not as an opportunity to connect with the target audience. This leads to a very textual document that contains a lot of facts and information but otherwise loses the main message.

We convinced Coreso (Coordination of Electricity System Operators) to take a different approach. To really connect with the stakeholders, we proposed a reader-first and content-driven approach. Moreover, we primarily leaned towards a digital landscape format. The goal? To transform the inside-out communication to a more modern outside-in story. The focus? To spotlight the teams at Coreso who are responsible for the daily coordination of our European Electricity grid.

Through interviews taken with Coreso's teams and colleagues, we give the Activity Report a personal touch. We not only asked them what they had accomplished but also why they like to work at Coreso. By giving them a voice, we allow for more authenticity in Coreso's story.

In the design, too, we put people front and center. By using new branding elements and by focusing on warm, personal images of the diverse workforce, Coreso presents itself as a modern and inclusive employer. The colleagues at Coreso are passionate about their job, and we found this worth expressing.

Via techniques borrowed from magazine design, we make the report not only more personal but also more scannable. Quotes, frames, captions, highlighted figures, etc. contribute significantly to the readability.

This edition of the Activity Report is extra special as Coreso celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2023. CEO Jan Van Roost and COO Flavio Allella open the report, elaborating on the biggest milestones of Coreso in 2023 and looking back on the past 15 years.

Coreso has a long transformative journey behind it. In 2006, a blackout left 15 million people in Europe without electricity for an hour. This triggered the EU to set up coordination centers, thus establishing Coreso as a technical coordination center for Central West-Europe with Elia and RTE as their first shareholders.

In the following years, more and more TSO's joined Coreso. And they kept growing even after their official transformation into an RSC (Regional Security Coordinator) in 2015. Between 2019 and 2022, Coreso developed into an RRCC (Regional Coordination Centre) with nine shareholders. Ever since, the EU has gradually increased Coreso's responsibilities.

Highlighting figures in an attractive way is crucial for a good annual repot. Throughout the document, key figures are pulled out of the text and framed. How many people work at Coreso? What are the key 2023 figures for each team? What important evolutions can we put in the spotlight for 2023? Coreso keeps stakeholders up to date in the blink of an eye with carefully chosen typography, infographics, and tables.

An annual report has to report on financial results as well. That is why we conclude the report with about ten pages of financial insights. Less personal, more to the point, but absolutely necessary.