Mercer International: Showcasing a Sustainable Value Creation Story
Corporate Reporting, ESG & Sustainability Reports, Website Design
OBATA partners with a global leader in the forest products industry to create a compelling sustainability report that showcases value creation and stakeholder engagement.
CLIENT
Mercer International
PROJECT
2024 Sustainability Report
SERVICES
- SME Outreach/Interviews
- Copywriting and editing
- Design with data visualization and infographics
- Interactive PDF Report
- Microsite design, development & launch
- Multilingual translation
The Challenge: Communicating a Culture of Sustainability and Value Creation
Mercer International’s 2024 Sustainability Report aimed to communicate a value creation story that transcended global boundaries. The company’s culture of sustainability was a central theme as it highlighted its commitment to responsible forest management and its role in the bio-circular economy. To achieve this, the report needed to go beyond data and metrics to tell meaningful stories that demonstrated the company’s progress and commitments to sustainability.
The Strategic Approach: A Full-Service Partnership for Sustainability Reporting
Mercer partnered with the sustainability and ESG experts at OBATA to help communicate the company’s value, mission, and pillars. OBATA’s partnership with Mercer leveraged their end-to-end sustainability and ESG reporting services.
The process began by assessing outlines and content from past reports to identify areas for improvement.
The goal was to help ratings agencies and other readers quickly understand and digest both data and stories demonstrating Mercer’s progress.
1. Sustainability Report Copywriting and Narrative Development
OBATA began the process of restructuring Mercer’s sustainability report by assessing the outlines and content from past reports. Several areas for improvement were recommended, aimed at helping ratings agencies and other readers quickly understand and digest both data and stories demonstrating Mercer’s progress and commitments to sustainability.
After interviewing subject matter experts across the organization, from health and safety to emissions and waste management, OBATA’s copywriters drafted the report’s narrative.
The copy was designed to call attention to Mercer’s goals and progress, combining data and performance metrics with stories that exemplified how the company brings sustainability best practices to life.
These narratives represented all of Mercer’s operations spanning locations from Canada to the U.S. to Germany.
WHAT ARE CLIENTS SAY
“OBATA’s extensive experience in sustainability reporting and exceptional design expertise ensured a seamless process, delivering a compelling and comprehensive report that perfectly aligned with the Mercer brand and our reporting needs.”
Nolita Gruebel
Senior Sustainability Analyst
Mercer International
2. Sustainability Report Design for Stakeholder Engagement
OBATA designed the entire 90-plus page report, using existing brand elements while creating new components to better tell the company’s story visually. The report was structured in an easy-to-read horizontal landscape format, incorporating infographics, data tables, charts, and photography.
A custom-designed value chain infographic captures the company’s focus on providing products that contribute to the bio-circular economy. The resulting interactive PDF was informative, logical, inviting, and visually appealing.
OBATA’s expertise in CSR, ESG, and sustainability report design also streamlined the entire process for Mercer’s internal teams, ensuring a smooth and efficient reporting experience.
Infographics Design
Mercer’s Value Chain is displayed through a custom infographic designed by OBATA to demonstrate how upstream and downstream activities impact and are impacted by Mercer’s daily operations.
Interactive PDF Report
The cover and internal pages of the 90-plus page interactive PDF report showcase the new design elements, infographics, and charts that make Mercer’s sustainability story visually compelling.
3. Enhancing Accessibility with a Digital Microsite
OBATA’s website development team designed and developed a microsite, a website version a the entire sustainability report.
The process coincided with the design concepting of the PDF report with wireframes showing how the online version of the report would come to life. The resulting microsite conveyed the entire report as a digital experience, improving accessibility for ratings agencies and other stakeholders.
The design focused on desktop, tablet, and mobile views while offering additional video and narrative content that could not be included in the interactive PDF.
The microsite was also made available in German, offering greater accessibility for all Mercer customers and stakeholders.
Microsite Design
The Mercer sustainability report microsite features both desktop and mobile-friendly views to provide a more dynamic and interactive experience for ratings agencies and stakeholders.
Measurable Impact: A Compelling Report and Enhanced Value Creation
OBATA’s partnership with Mercer greatly improved the company’s experience in producing a successful 2024 sustainability report. The project also included the sustainable printing of a small run of the report on stock made from pulp originating from Mercer’s operations, a testament to the company’s sustainable practices.
Ready to Navigate Your Sustainability Journey with Confidence?
OBATA offers comprehensive sustainability consulting, brand storytelling, and reporting solutions designed to transform your sustainability efforts into a strategic advantage.
Contact us today to discover how our expertise can help you define, communicate, and elevate your sustainability impact for enhanced transparency, stakeholder engagement, and business growth.