Always by your side

The Brief

Ravensdown asked us to create a 2026 Integrated Report that demonstrated intergenerational shareholder value and clearly showed a year of delivery.

The report needed to reassure shareholders and customers that Ravensdown is stable, disciplined and future-focused, while also differentiating the co-operative more clearly from competitors. That meant sharpening the narrative around Ravensdown’s strengths: local superphosphate manufacturing, direct control over key shipping decisions, a robust capital structure, the return of a shareholder rebate, strong supplier partnerships, and continued investment in smarter farming tools such as HawkEye Pro.

Ravensdown had also secured the rights, via an agreement with the estate of Murray Ball, to use the Footrot Flats archive across its marketing activity. For the Integrated Report, that created a specific challenge: how to leverage a much-loved rural reference point in a way that felt relevant to Ravensdown and still felt credible within a serious corporate document.

The Solution

The report was built around the idea of trusted partnership — drawing a clear parallel between the loyal working relationship of Wal and Dog, and Ravensdown’s relationship with its shareholders and customers. From there, the cover line Always by your side anchored the narrative and gave the Footrot Flats device a distinctive and credible role throughout the report.

Because Ravensdown audiences were already seeing Footrot Flats characters in wider marketing, the report could draw on that familiarity while taking a more disciplined approach. We focused on Dog as the strongest expression of loyalty, partnership and practical understanding, using only existing archive illustrations.

Content was tightened significantly from previous years. Stories and case studies were written for online reading, with bite-sized information, skim-friendly call-outs and “gist” style summaries. Bespoke infographics carried more of the explanatory load, supporting different levels of reader interest without losing clarity or pace. Interactive elements such as hover states, pop-ups and linked content added depth while keeping the main narrative clean and navigable across digital and PDF formats.

Visually, the report balanced heart-warming cartoon imagery with authentic photography, crisp typography and a pared-back page architecture. The result was a clean, focused experience that delivered the warmth Ravensdown wanted, while maintaining the confidence and credibility expected of an integrated report.

The Results

The final report gives Ravensdown a distinctive reporting platform that feels recognisably rural New Zealand and more confident than the standard agri-sector annual report. The curated use of Footrot Flats cartoons and strategic design decisions are a large part of what makes it stand out, creating familiarity, warmth and immediate recognition without undermining the seriousness of the content.

The theme Always by your side carries consistently through the opening narrative and into the wider story of customer support, supply chain resilience, smarter farming and co-operative value. Ravensdown’s FY26 performance provides substance behind that promise.

More broadly, the report shows how a well-known cultural asset can be used with restraint and purpose in a conventional reporting category — staying clear, credible and true to Ravensdown, while achieving genuine cut-through.