Not paying your bills can be dangerous – especially when the creditor in question has access to your company website. The results can be messy, as a restaurant in Tønsberg, Norway, found out recently.

Visitors to the restaurant’s website were greeted with this message:

“Welcome to the restaurant that hasn’t paid for its website.
Do you work at the restaurant? You should answer my email.”

(I’ve translated that myself from the Norwegian, apologies for any errors.)

Long-time Eye for Image customer FLSmidth has been named best Large Cap company in the Nordic region in terms of investor communications. FLSmidth got the award from the IR Nordic Markets 2009 study, based on research carried out by the analytics institute REGI Research Strategi.

FLSmidth beat off some tough competition to claim the award. More than 150 Nordic companies were considered for the awards. And each company was judged on 21 investor relations-related criteria, including daily IR communication and reports.

Congratulations to FLSmidth from all of us at Eye for Image.

You can read more about the awards on the Dansk Kommunikationsforening website.

Annual report. These two words are top of mind for many communications managers right now – so what’s hot in the world of annual reports?

More companies have realised that their annual report is an essential company profile, read by customers, competitors, employees and shareholders – and they are increasingly creating annual reports that are like company brochures, highlighting the best that the company has to offer. And over the last couple of years, the format of annual reports has changed, too.

PDFs online
Most companies still produce a printed version of their annual report – and make the PDF available on line for people to download. But last year Hempel took a more radical approach. The company decided to produce a compact annual report that’s only available online. It can be emailed to the relevant people and anyone can download it from the website. For Hempel, it saves money in printing and distribution costs – and shows that the company puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to cost cutting.

Online annual report sub-sites
Novozymes went one step further, and created a complete sub-site for its annual report. Each section of the report had its own webpage. You navigate like a normal website – and it can be updated throughout the year with the latest news.

Online interactive annual reports
But this year, perhaps the big move will be interactive online annual reports. TDC took the plunge last year, with an online CSR report that included embedded video and expandable tables and maps. (If the link doesn’t work, you can find the report here.)

Many companies seem to be interested in doing something similar this year. Why? Online interactive annual reports are new, and make your company seem cutting-edge. And they are exciting – so they grab attention. The skill, though, is making sure they hold attention once the bang of the moving images has died down.

Spotted any other trends? If you think something will be big in annual reports this year, let us know.

Some Copenhagen train stations have recently added a sign to their escalators which tells travelers where to stand. (The principle is simply that you stand on the right and walk on the left, so people in a hurry don’t have to fight past dawdlers.) But the translation may confuse more English speakers than it helps.

Stand right? What is the wrong way to stand?

Companies in the United States and Canada are increasingly including Twitter and Facebook experience in their job posting requirements. Advertising, marketing and communications agencies are looking for people with a flair for social networking. And some business that are looking to gain instant, cost-effective exposure are hiring bloggers and project managers to build their brand image through Wikis and social media.

Of course, it’s ironic that many companies on the hunt for Facebook skills are still worrying about poor employee productivity levels due to the site…

This fine article on Brand Channel looks at the reasons behind the success of some Scandinavian brands. Interestingly, the article moves freely between Nordic and Scandinavia, often lumping Finland and Iceland into the Scandinavian region. So why is this interesting?

This shows that outside the Nordic countries, most people don’t understand (or care about) the difference. But many Nordic countries do. In fact, many Danish companies are keen to stress their Danish roots. Why?

My guess (and it’s no more than that) is that it’s done for two reasons: (1) national pride; and (2) the first market most Scandinavian companies export to when they start to expand is within Scandinavia.

This is fine within Scandinavia. But when companies begin to market themselves further afield, the country-specific focus loses power. Scandinavia has a reputation. It’s a ‘brand’ people associate with a trust. The same can’t always be said for Norway, Denmark or Sweden.

So why tell someone you use Danish design and not that you use Scandinavian design? By saying Danish design (or Swedish or Norwegian) you have to educate the consumer about what this is. But if you go for Scandinavian, the consumer already has a feeling for what you are referring to - and this creates an emotional link to whatever product or service you are selling.

To get an idea of images the word ‘Denmark’ conjures up in the minds of an international audience, you could check out the informal survey in this article.

I’ve just read yet another recommendation on LinkedIn where someone said that their colleague could “think outside the box”. This must be one of the most common phrases in recommendations about people and in job ads. It’s become a cliché, and, as George Orwell and many other great communicators have said, you should use clichés with great caution. However, I also think it misses the point.

What people often mean is “come up with new ideas” or “think differently”. For people with even the slightest interest in creative thinking - and this is surely most people - then coming up with new ideas about anything that interests them is not hard. The challenge is coming up with ideas that are relevant and that have a good chance of actually working - if not tomorrow or next week, then in one, five or ten years. Whether it’s for an ad campaign, a business strategy, or a new product, a great visionary idea is one that might seem far-fetched, but the steps towards it are clearly definable and achievable.

For me, “thinking out of the box” is too simplistic and doesn’t imply the ability to understand fully the situation. So next time you’re preparing a job ad and you want to write that your new colleague should be to “think out of the box”, think again. What do you really want from them?

In Brandchannel’s article celebrating the success of top Nordic brands, it’s excellent to see that this part of the world is not forgotten. Although, I am disappointed to see that Denmark doesn’t really get much individual attention. There’s much more to Danish business than Novo Nordisk and LEGO! But Barry Silverstein is probably right in concluding that Sweden takes the honours as the top Nordic provider of international brands.

Silverstein talks about some powerhouse brands that have demonstrated what can be done with the right combination of determination, vision, business skills, world-class marketing and, of course, luck. There’s no doubt about the quality of design, technical skills and business nouse that Scandinavians can bring to their brands. But does anyone else realise this? Underneath the top performers, there is a whole layer of brands that have so much potential, but have yet to fulfill.

One thing that stands in their way is their ability to find and tell the compelling story that resonates with audiences around the world. Too often, the stories are overshadowed by misplaced modesty, inappropriate messages and technical specifications.

From my own intimate knowledge of Danish business, and years of gathering impressions about Danish brands from people around the world, I see a big gap between what Danish, and perhaps Scandinavian brands as a whole, can actually deliver, and what others think they can deliver. Many brands are in the fortunate position of being able to deliver much more than they promise. So if this gap can be closed, not only will more Nordic brands rule, but the region could become a true international commercial center of excellence.

One of our good friends was lucky enough to go to last week’s Roskilde Festival, one of Europe’s biggest music festivals. Unfortunately, mass communications is not always at the forefront of organizers’ minds and a few amusing and confusing mistakes were spotted.

- Apparently, you could buy a burger with “ox meat” in it. (Danish: oksekød?!)
- There was a stall with washing machines that promotes washing clothes at 30 degrees and, unfortunately, (Novozymes should know better!) a big sign inviting people to do their “landry”. That one had us scratching our heads for a good few seconds.
- On another notice about the effects of global warming, some animals are apparently facing “extination”. Is that across between extinction and extermination?

We wonder if the official language is Danglish?

(Mandy, thanks for sending these to us!)

The UN Climate Change Conference will be in Copenhagen in December, bringing together leaders from 192 countries in an effort to solve the world’s climate issues. But will ordinary citizens have any influence on preceedings?

Hopenhagen would like to think so. And a postive influence at that. Created by the UN and the International Advertising Association, it hopes to create a global community that will lead our leaders into making the right decisions.

Simply visit the site and add your message of hope to the list.