Views
At Addison, we keep a close watch on trends and ideas that shape our evolving industry and world. These articles reflect the views of our diverse team of branding, design and communications strategy experts on a wide range of timely topics.
Start Making Sense: Managing Your Messaging
In analyzing the multiple complexities of a recent credit card statement issued to his father, Senior Strategist Max Dietshe explains how Plain Language and Information Design (PLAID) could improve this customer experience – and how this example falls short.
Health Insurance and “Green Eggs and Ham”
Today’s health care documents can be complex and confusing. What if they could be as simple—and enjoyable—as a children’s story? Senior Strategist Ed Lanigan makes an incisive comparison between his health insurance plan’s communications and Dr. Seuss’ classic tale, “Green Eggs and Ham.”
My New Year’s Wish: Customer-Friendly Insurance Billing
Senior Strategist Max Dietshe takes a very personal look at health insurance billing. In analyzing the multiple complexities of a recent bill issued to his father, he makes a strong case for Plain Language and Information Design (PLAID) in improving customer experience and minimizing call center costs.
Six Sustainability Trends to Watch in 2012
Now that 2012 is here, it’s time to look back and look ahead. Which 2011 sustainability trends can we expect to carry forward into 2012? Addison’s Senior Sustainability Strategist Judy Sandford has six trends to watch in the new year.
Video: Plain Language and Information Design Transform Member Experience
A simplified Explanation of Benefits (EOB) can transform the member experience, reduce call center volumes and support your brand. This video illustrates how plain language and information design add vitality to all touch points.
No Menus! Getting Results With Plain Language
Plain language is about being clear, concise and compelling, but at times it can seem academic. In this essay, Senior Strategist Max Dietshe shows how some plain- and not-so-plain-language messages are responding to an issue in his Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood—and discusses the relevance for financial services and health care communications.
ROI and Sustainability Reporting
Can a sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) report increase a company’s stock price or drive revenues? Not necessarily. Addison Sustainability Communications Strategist Tim Woodall explains.
Six Sustainability Trends to Watch in 2011
It’s time to reflect on the past twelve months and start planning for the next cycle. Which 2010 sustainability trends can we expect to carry forward into 2011? Addison’s Senior Sustainability Strategist Judy Sandford has six trends to watch in the new year.
MY HOLIDAY WISH: THE IDEAL EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS
What if Santa could deliver a clear, comprehensible Explanation of Benefits, or EOB? It may not be forthcoming from the North Pole, but an ideal EOB isn’t just a fantasy, as Senior Strategist Ed Lanigan explains.
GETTING READY FOR THE NEW SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to require that mutual funds adopt a new “summary prospectus” for use as early as March 31, 2009. What will this mean for mutual fund companies? For financial advisors? For investors?
HEALTH IS WEALTH: MAKING WELLNESS PAY
Why is it so difficult to incorporate greater wellness into our lives? That was the topic of Addison’s recent three-part “Health is Wealth” Webinar series.
“POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK” ON CONSUMER-DIRECTED HEALTH CARE
Kicking off the discovery phase of a recent customer communications project, my team and I made an accidental discovery. It seems that more than 200 years ago, founding father Benjamin Franklin had something interesting to say about consumer-driven health care in his “Poor Richard’s Almanack.”
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES FOR UNCERTAIN TIMES
With markets volatile and consumer confidence wavering, what can your business do — what must it do — to survive and even thrive in uncertain times?
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING: A NEW TOUCHSTONE
The financial markets have always been interested in environmental issues and their potential impact on the health of a business. Increasingly, they are expanding their focus to include business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAND BY SIMPLIFYING THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE
There is often a disconnect between what a company says in its promotional materials and ads and the experience it actually creates for its customers. Learn how one company managed to bring the two together–and save money doing it.
DESIGNING FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Henry Dreyfuss–later to become known as the founder of industrial design in America–was asked by Bell Labs to help design “the phone of the future.” But Dreyfuss nearly lost the assignment when he suggested that a telephone’s appearance should be developed from the inside out.
OLD DOGS CAN LEARN NEW COMMUNICATIONS TRICKS
For fear of starting a “boil the ocean” project, many firms define the scope of initiatives very narrowly from the beginning and work to improve one area at a time. This approach disregards the inherent interdependencies of today’s complex information flows and, as a result, adds to the problem.
FOUNDING FATHERS LINKED TO USER-CENTERED DESIGN
Thomas Jefferson may not have been the first to identify the virtues of user-centered design. But his perceptive idea gave us the base-10 currency system we still use today.
WHY DON’T SALES REPS USE THE TOOLS PROVIDED BY MARKETING?
The traditional silo-driven approach to sales is based on the key assumption that sales reps are able to make use of a variety of tools provided by marketing. The truth? Not necessarily.
NERVOUSLY REINVENTING THE CORPORATE ANNUAL REPORT
Many executives send out a voluminous Form 10-K annual report that is anything but direct. Why go to the expense of printing and distributing a dense document that serves no discernible purpose?
PERFORMANCE REPORTING: THE NEXT FRONTIER
Performance reporting is a hot topic in the financial services industry. But if your performance reporting is generating more questions than answers, it could be time to reconsider your approach.
FINDING SADDAM: HOW INFORMATION YIELDS ITS SECRET
Information design techniques have long been used by historians, scientists and cartographers to render complex information more usable. See how the same techniques lend themselves equally well to analyzing business processes and communications.