Old Mutual wins online award at SA Publication Forum

CAPE TOWN: Old Mutual's weekly electronic newsletter for its employees, That's a Wrap, has won the award for Best Electronic Publication in South Africa at the annual SA Publication Forum Awards, held in Pretoria on 2 September 2011. This year, more than 150 corporate publications were entered and evaluated by the judging panel.

8 Sep 2011

The judges described the newsletter as "bold, crisp, clear and colourful" and were particularly impressed by its superb use of language, great energy and highly participative feel. Its vibrancy "compels you to take note and digest the content," they agreed.

Says Esme Arendse, chief communications officer for Old Mutual Emerging Markets (OMEM): "That's a Wrap has proved to be a fantastic tool to engage with Old Mutual staff, and the internal communications team has worked hard to increase its appeal, relevance and interactivity. We are delighted that Old Mutual has received recognition for the excellence of this online communication."

Redesign in 2010

The internal online newsletter underwent a major redesign during 2010, to make it more contemporary, interactive and fully readable on mobile devices. It is distributed to all staff in Old Mutual South Africa and the executive committee teams in the other emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, India and China.

That's a Wrap is edited and produced by digital media editor Kirsten Dewar and the internal communications team.

Old Mutual's monthly internal magazine, Amicus, was also highly commended by the judges and was ranked a finalist in the Best Internal Magazine category. It was awarded certificates for Excellence in Writing and Communications, and its editor, Marianne Holtman, was a finalist in the Best Editor category. It's a printed publication that is now also available to employees online.

Kirsten Dewar offers 10 tips for online communicators:

Be crisp, clear and concise: Extract the essence and facts of the story. Make each word count.
Write the story from the reader's viewpoint - avoid cluttering the story with jargon and 'nice-to-know' but irrelevant information.
Aim for short, punchy paragraphs with a clear call to action. 50 words or less is ideal.
Remember every reader is an individual. Address them as such, using a tone that is warm and conversational.
Ensure a mix of content with varied viewpoints. Make sure content is relevant to your audience.
li>Encourage reader participation - encourage users to 'like', 'dislike' and comment on stories and include competitions and spaces where readers can contribute (e.g. photo submissions, etc).
"Verbify": use short, powerful and punchy headlines and lots of strong verbs.
Use the active voice rather than the passive voice.
Make sure your review processes are strong. Pay attention to grammar, spelling and layout and use loads of images and photographs.
Make sure your publication is cross-browser and email-client friendly.