Processor's Annual Report Packs Punch in Comic Form

The transaction processing company PMT Services Inc. is trying to break the mold in annual reports-with a comic book.

Its report for the fiscal year that ended July 31 caricatures six division executives as super heroes on the cover. Inside, it describes accomplishments in colorful cartoon boxes and dialogue bubbles, punctuated with drawings of clouds that exclaim "Zap!" and "Whoosh!"

The Nashville-based merchant credit card processor is not the first to try something different with annual reports. In the banking industry, for example, KeyCorp's report has become an annual magazine complete with cover story. First Union Corp. made its document available on CD-ROM.

Richardson M. Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of PMT Services, said the format has boosted readership.

"We thought people would say, 'Hey, very entertaining' or 'very creative,'" Mr. Roberts said. "The comment that has come almost exclusively from this annual report is, 'I read it from cover to cover-best annual report I've ever read.' "

Mr. Roberts-who appears as a muscle-bound Power Ranger-type figure on the first page-said the book's popularity might teach a lesson to other companies. "Comic books are typically written at a seventh-grade level," he said. "People putting out annual reports might want to make them a little less sophisticated."

Mr. Roberts said he had been "a little nervous" about publishing the book, which was suggested and created by a Nashville investor relations firm called Corporate Communications. But reaction has been "99% favorable," he said.

Previous PMT annuals were more humdrum, usually featuring photographs of some of the company's merchant clients. Mr. Roberts called 1997 "a banner year" in which the company grew nearly 50% and quadrupled internal account generation.

"This annual report is a great marketing tool for future transactions and acquisitions," Mr. Roberts said.

Scott Brittain, an account executive at Corporate Communications, called the document "a nontraditional book that delivers a traditional type of message."

Mr. Brittain said the idea was to highlight the talented executives who had joined PMT through acquisitions.

But the format also served a larger purpose. "If a securities analyst has 100 of these things stacked on his or her desk, how do I get them to look at this one?" Mr. Brittain said.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER