Hilton annual report is digital, interactive and made for mobile

Hilton had a great year in 2017 on a number of levels, spinning off divisions, opening its 5,000^th hotel and introducing its 14^th brand, all while returning $1.1 billion to shareholders. The company used its annual report for much more than required reporting of audited figures, though; it wove together a story that showcased its banner year. For its innovative and compelling annual report, Hilton has won first place in the “Annual Report” category of Ragan’s 2018 PR Daily Awards.

The report drives engagement with a broad audience, including people not inclined to read annual reports. The document was designed to be a mobile experience as well as a more traditional desktop approach. The graphics and headlines are big, bold and colorful.

The site balances scrolling and clicking, with each major section requiring readers to navigate through a leading-edge design within each section. Even the introduction (which readers are invited to skip) encourages reading, with an interactive map showing the locations of Hilton’s properties a standout among a number of enticing features.

In addition to the digital version, a print report was mailed to shareholders and key stakeholders. To drive traffic online, the company implemented a social media campaign that highlighted key statistics from the report.

In the first month since its launch, the annual report website attracted 16,000+ views from nearly 7,000 unique users who spent nearly two minutes on each of the 16,017 pages they viewed. The social posts on the Hilton Newsroom social media accounts also performed well, with 1,000 users driven to the website from Hilton’s LinkedIn content alone.

Congratulations to Meg Ryan and Maura Danehey.