UEC Sustainability | Case Study

The Company

Uranium Energy Corp., a longtime client of BLENDER, approached our company in need of a design for its Fiscal 2023 Sustainability Report, both for its own investors, and to share with the International Sustainability Standards board for review.

BLENDER turned a text-dense 70-page content document into a striking, engaging 100-page report, complete with infographics, eye-catching imagery, tables, and layouts, and up-to-the-minute best practices in design.

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What the UEC Sustainability team had to say…

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The Situation

Uranium Energy Corp. had written a long-form sustainability report for its fiscal 2023, but it needed a design to pull the content into a readable, attractive package.

The Solution

BLENDER quickly designed the report, including a variety of elements that keep readers engaged, like infographics, tables, imagery, and a general layout that’s easy on the eyes.

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The UEC Sustainability team wanted to stand out in a crowded field:

Infographics display key information in an easily readable way


Design, layout, and formatting make the data easy to digest


Imagery helps tell the company’s story alongside the content


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IsoEnergy | Case Study

The Company

IsoEnergy approached BLENDER after a game-changing merger with Consolidated Uranium, needing a new site to showcase its resulting wealth of new initiatives, projects, and data. The company required a rapid turnaround, with everything delivered in just weeks.

The result is a clean, engaging, and informative design, completed in one of the shortest time frames of BLENDER’s existence. 

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What the IsoEnergy team had to say…

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The Situation

With the merger coming up fast, IsoEnergy’s old platform lacked a ton of data, information, and best practices that would help it stand out as the deal went through.

The Solution

BLENDER implemented a strict timeline for both the client and our own company, fast-tracking everything while maintaining our stringent standards of quality. The result is a site packed with everything a prominent uranium exploration company needs, right on time for the company’s big news.

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The IsoEnergy team wanted to stand out in a crowded field:

Interactive map highlights key projects across Canada, the US, Australia, and Argentina


Homepage video spotlights flagship Larocque East


Uncluttered design makes browsing abundant information simple


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Eguana Technologies | Case Study

The Company

Longstanding BLENDER client and sustainable electrical grid company Eguana Technologies needed to rework their site to accommodate a new tier of product offerings. We took their updated needs and delivered an attractive, straightforward, and immediately readable platform that covers the entire scope of what the company is about.

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What the Eguana team had to say…

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The Situation

Eguana’s old site didn’t have space for its new product offerings and lacked a few elements that made it difficult to understand its investment thesis.

The Solution

BLENDER rebuilt the site, swapping out the banner image, adding a ”how it works” video on the homepage, implementing a full product overview page, and a carousel for the products section. We also added eye-catching elements like count-up numbers and a global CTA to keep investors engaged.

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The Eguana team wanted to stand out in a crowded field:

Carousel that covers the company-wide array of product offerings


Homepage video that quickly conveys how Eguana’s tech works


Product overview page that gives a detailed look at key initiatives


Easy-to-use navigation that keeps investors clicking


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Omni | Case Study

The Company

Omni Quality Living approached BLENDER with a need for a site that felt “like home” for prospective residents—modern, approachable, and easily readable.

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What the Omni team had to say…

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The Situation

Omni Quality Living came to BLENDER with a need for a site that attracted residents to its retirement care communities, with a wealth of information to share that needed to be easily accessible and readable.

The Solution

The end result is a beautiful B2C site that allows potential residents to search for locations and access all the information they may need to know.

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Highlights

Accordion modules and visual icons make the large quantity of content easy to access and read


News release & blog filter allow users to pinpoint exactly what they need


Two-language site using WordPress as a foundation


B2C site design tailored specifically for prospective residents


“Find a Residence” page allows prospects to search through available locations


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U.S. GoldMining Inc. | Case Study

The Company

U.S. GoldMining Inc. (NASDAQ: USGO) came to BLENDER with a need for a site that connected them to their parent company GoldMining Inc., highlighted their excellent Whistler project, and helped them stand out from competitors—all in place before they IPO’d in April. 

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What the U.S. GoldMining team had to say…

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The Situation

The IR team behind U.S. GoldMining has worked with BLENDER across five new companies and three full IPOs. For the team’s latest, they needed a website up in time for their NASDAQ appearance, spotlighting their extensive ESG work and stellar flagship project with interactive 3D elements. Above all, the company wanted a standout site on a lean budget in as little time as possible.

The Solution

By implementing a templated design with extensive custom edits, the BLENDER team was able to quickly build a strong platform for GoldMining’s success, making the company stand out from the competition on a tight timeline, including a detailed ESG page, a VRIFY deck with 3D project highlight models embedded directly into the site, and more.

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Highlights

Extremely fast turnaround time for the company’s IPO on the NASDAQ 


Immersive VRIFY deck with interactive 3D project highlights, providing a captivating virtual experience for visitors


Efficient project budget management by utilizing a template as a foundation and adding custom elements to make the site unique to the client


Detailed ESG page that delves deep into the company’s efforts to build stakeholder relationships and address potential environmental concerns


Custom project info page that displays vital information in a user-friendly package


Featured video on the homepage that drives the investment thesis home


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Amerigo | Case Study

The Company

Amerigo Resources, a forward-thinking company that produces sustainable copper materials from waste, approached BLENDER with a need for a bold, distinct design to convey its unique approach in a crowded market.

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What the Amerigo team had to say…

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The Situation

Amerigo has been a client of BLENDER’s since nearly the beginning. But their old BLENDER-designed website was beginning to show its age, and the company was eager to move in a bold new design direction. They entrusted our team to build a creative new platform from the ground up.

The Solution

The BLENDER team took Amerigo’s design identity into new territory, with a new colour scheme, an array of interactive elements to keep the attention of curious investors and an innovative, up-to-the-minute design that truly stands out from the competition.

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Highlights

Gauges to visually convey dividend yields, production numbers, and other key metrics


A unique design that still remained user-friendly


Animated elements and dashboards to center what’s important


A dark colour scheme with a truly one-of-a-kind layout that is still easy to navigate


An abundance of interactive elements that spur investor engagement


Easy access to essential metrics, investor presentations, and factsheet


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Carbon Neutral Royalty | Case Study

The Company

Carbon Neutral Royalty, a company that aims to accelerate climate action by financing decarbonisation projects, approached BLENDER to overhaul their site in early 2023. The company operates with a diverse portfolio of carbon credit streams and royalties, allowing companies to achieve their climate and sustainability goals.

We are proud of the finished product, and thrilled to be working with a company active in the fight against climate change.

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What the Carbon Neutral team had to say…

Carbon Testiminal

The Situation

Before approaching BLENDER, Carbon Neutral’s site was clunky and outdated, and lacked clarity, making it difficult to effectively showcase its content and initiatives. Carbon Neutral is a multifaceted company, and so needed a site that could convey its investment thesis without overwhelming investors, maintaining its professionalism and forward-thinking approach to climate change throughout.

The Solution

BLENDER tailored Carbon Neutral’s site to the company’s specific needs, deploying a variety of different modules throughout to maintain an easy-to-navigate content hierarchy. Meanwhile, interactive elements brought the site to life alongside hand-picked imagery that builds trust in the company while keeping a focus on the natural world.

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Highlights

Better readability and clarity of structure and navigation


A portfolio page that spotlights the company’s achievements and showcases its advancements in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals


Improved diagrams, impact tickers, and a real-time social media feed


Handpicked images and videos framed in a way that convey professionalism and humanity in equal measure


A compelling homepage that puts the company’s abundant successes front-and-center


Easily readable content structure that showcases a wealth of information while still being easy to read and understand


A custom map that displays the company’s far-flung successes all over the world


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6 must-know CSR trends for public companies in 2017

One of the biggest focuses for public companies in the New Year is improving their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in terms of tailored goals, visibility, reporting, and more. The Ethical Corporation recently released a report in which they gathered research from 948 CSR professionals from around the globe on their thoughts of the state of their profession as it moves into 2017. We analyzed their research, as well as our own findings from what was most crucial for our clients this year, and developed these 6 must-know CSR trends for public companies in 2017.

1. CSR is more mainstream, which means more competition

A few years back, it was enough for public companies to have a fairly comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility section on their website, with a simple PDF presentation and a few images of how they took into consideration the environment, communities, and their social impact. A vague understanding of social impact is no longer enough to stand out amongst the top public companies with the best CSR reputations. Taking action against climate change, contributing to social justice movements, and standing firm in founding principles are trends in themselves for big companies, and have become not just acceptable, but expected. With more companies understanding the value CSR can bring to both their public image and their stakeholders, it’s getting harder to make a message stand out in a sea of ‘do-gooding’. The Bmeaningful Blog writes, “Breaking through the clutter of messaging and advertising will be a challenge but we see tremendous opportunity for professionals who can authentically tell their companies’ cause story”.

2. CSR content will become even more personalized

Focus on CSR goals that make sense for your company and will garner the most trust from your primary stakeholders. As we talk about in our report entitled, What is CSR and Why Your Website Will Tell Your Story, “A trap that many companies fall into is thinking that CSR is only about giving back to the environment…CSR can also focus on efforts with local communities and interactions with your own consumers and what matters to them”. Building investor trust means tailoring content to their main concerns, while also ensuring you’re staying true to your company’s story and goals. If you’ve published multiple CSR success stories to a company newsletter, one focusing on community impact and one focusing on social change, you can serve different content to different investors based on what they most care about. As we discuss in our article about Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2017, investors are looking for more personalized content. This includes what CSR stories you should be promoting.

csr trends for 2017 video

3. Showcase CSR efforts through video and animation     

Perhaps the biggest trend we see each year in the digital marketing world is that the online attention span of consumers is shrinking astronomically. We are so used to getting the information we want online right away, in bite-sized pieces. The same concept applies with investors. Your investors won’t have the time to read a 15 page PDF report on how your latest CSR measure impacted a community and benefited your company. Break down the CSR successes of the past year with videos, data visualizations, or animations on your website. Even more important: make your reporting shareable. Short videos illustrating your impact as a company are the perfect way to get some brand differentiation and easily circulate your message. TELUS’ 2015 Sustainability Report is a great example of how a company can mix text, bold images, and data visualization to highlight impact.

4. Align your CSR goals with those at the top

Ethical Corporation’s report states that “Only 25% of CSR executives [surveyed] stated their CFO is absolutely convinced of the value of the CSR report”. This is a problem. If your company’s CEO, CFO, and more aren’t aware of the CSR goals for the coming year, or don’t see value in spending more time, energy, and money on CSR initiatives or CSR reporting, your company will come across as disjointed and not united in your social message. Ensure that environmental impact, social justice, and community service goals aren’t simply dreamt and executed within one department. The whole company, from the top to the bottom, should understand the importance of what you’re doing and how it relates to your vision and end goals.

5. Make CSR presentations available on every platform

We spoke above about translating your CSR initiatives to video and animation, but it’s equally important to make sure what you’re putting out there can be accessed by anyone who wants to see what your company is up to. 2017 will see even more people disregard their desktops for a mobile phone, so make sure every downloadable CSR presentation, testimonial video, customer story, and website link are available by a smartphone or tablet browser.

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6. Don’t just report, relate back

Don’t focus all your CSR energy on reporting. Ethical Corporation’s report says, “60% of respondents agreed that too much time is being spent on the reporting process”. Investors want to see how CSR initiatives affected the numbers, but that doesn’t mean you can pull a ‘number dump’ and be done with it. Make sure you’re not just reporting the numbers or you’ll create a disconnect between your company and the lives you actually impacted. So this year, think about other ways to illustrate the impact you’ve made. Include more employee testimonials, customer success stories, environmental impact studies, or ‘Message from the CEO’ videos. Mixing up how you deliver CSR good news makes sure investors, as well as your target audiences, don’t get number fatigue.

 

Conclusion: Don’t choose a CSR focus based on what’s trending

Ironically, even though this article is all about CSR trends, make sure you’re not shifting your CSR strategy each year based on what’s trending. Although many big companies have jumped at the chance to show their support for social change in the past few years, that doesn’t mean you have to organize something similar for your company if a big social justice push doesn’t match your short or long term goals. As long as everyone is working towards your company vision, you should be okay.

For a comprehensive look at ways to improve your CSR on your website, as well as some great examples of public companies with great CSR reporting, download our guide below!

 

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IR Resolutions for 2017

When it comes to resolutions for the New Year, we all have various personal and professional goals that we are seeking to accomplish. Whether it’s a personal goal that will work to make you a stronger leader in your workplace or community, or a professional goal, like creating and launching an optimized online IR strategy for your company, this is time of the year when we are ready to get started on our New Year Resolutions. And if IR Resolutions are what you’re making, this blog is for you.

We’re excited about what is to come in IR for 2017. So excited, in fact, that we’ve compiled the IR resolutions that you need to know about now for this New Year. With a compilation of trends and insights we’re ready to see unfold, you’ll want to bookmark this blog and review in the upcoming quarters.

Here are the IR Resolutions for 2017 you need to know now.

 

Review and determine if your website needs a refresh.

39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load, so it’s time to ask yourself – does your website need a refresh? Furthermore, given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something well designed than something plain, and a bore to view.

Given the fact that visitors to your website are unlikely to spend 15 minutes on any given page, you have a limited amount of time to make an impression on your IR visitors.

In 2017, it’s time to review and determine if your website needs a refresh.

 

Video is King.

We’ve spoken about this at length, but 2017 is the year when it truly comes into play

59 percent of executives admit that they would rather watch video than read text, which means that your IR decision makers are looking for video content in the New Year. It should be an integral part of your website’s infrastructure, and can no longer be considered an addition to your IR strategy.

Integrate video content on your home page, your company’s about us page, your contact page and more. Ensure it is engaging content – and short! Aim for a video length of 0:30 to one minute in length.

IR Resolutions Video

 

Do you need to update your CSR strategy?

Although we have seen a great number of companies who have an understanding of how CSR can impact their IR strategy, showcasing your efforts will soon be the norm. CSR has been more of a trend seen in the European and Asia-Pacific regions, but 2017 will be the year that it becomes increasingly relevant in North America.

With this in mind, it’s time to review your CSR strategy and online presence in this New Year. Ask yourself – does the CSR section of my website accurately reflect our internal efforts?

 

Use social media to tell your story.

Although you very likely have presence online, and perhaps even use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram every single day, this is the time to review how you are telling your company’s story through social media. 62 percent of adults in the United States get their news on social networks, which is up from 49 percent in 2012. It’s clear that this trend will only continue in 2017.

As you are making company announcements or CSR initiates in this New Year, consider how social media can compliment your strategy.

 

From a website refresh to video, CSR to social media, your IR resolutions for 2017 range in topic, but will all play a significant impact on your business within this New Year. Take time this month to review your strategies currently in place, and consider the benefits of making optimizations now.

Connecting with your On-The-Go Investors: Beyond the Website

What other aspects of your IR communications can benefit from a mobile-first focus?

Last week, we focused on specific website examples from Canadian public companies who have made mobile a top priority when it came to their website and investor relations section. While mobile optimization is definitely the first step, the job isn’t done once your website looks great on a phone or tablet. A mobile-friendly website is only one step in the process of getting your company ready for a mobile focused future. There are many other ways of communicating with your on-the-go investors that can benefit from revisiting your IR strategy with a mobile lens.

Section Four of Blender Media and CIRI BC’s collaborative eBook, Connecting with Your On-The-Go-Investors takes a look at every part of a conclusive investor relations strategy, beyond the website, and discusses how public companies can benefit from mobile-friendly presentations, reports, email signups, and more. Navigate to the interactive eBook now to take an in-depth look at our findings, or read the highlights below!

 

My website is mobile-friendly, aren’t I done?

Nope. As we mentioned above, having a mobile optimized website is the first step, but definitely not the last in order to have a complete mobile strategy for your public company. Get inside mind of your on-the-go investors and ask yourself: What issues might my investors run into when looking at my company info from their phones? Below are a few of our ideas for potential problems:

“I want to make note of the company’s next conference call/annual report/ tradeshow on my phone’s calendar, but it’s too complicated.”

Build an ‘Add to Calendar’ or ‘Remind Me’ function into your company’s latest updates so on-the-go investors can easily select their type of calendar and have the event saved straight to their mobile device. This process is easy to implement for you, and will save your investors time.

Going Mobile Beyond the Website screenshot

“I want to sign up for email alerts, but it’s too hard to fill out the form from my tablet.”

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to fill out an electronic form on a phone and having the keyboard open and collapse at random times, or the form fields stop registering, or the ‘submit’ button is too difficult to tap. Don’t put your on-the-go investors through that headache and ensure that every form on your website requesting information works flawlessly.

 

“I’ve opened their annual report on my phone, but the PDF is too small to read and I have to keep zooming in with my fingers.”

Ah, the old PDF pinch and zoom. Although downloadable PDFs are still widely used by public companies for annual reports, is that the way it always has to be? What about an interactive annual report as a separate website that functions well on any mobile device? Creating a digital annual report with animated highlights, easily selectable chapters, great design, and more will stand out to your investors much more than the same old PDF. Want to see an example? Navigate to our latest eBook that we call the “PDF slayer.” Connecting With Your On-The-Go Investors gives you a digital reading experience like no other.

 

Read about what other IR materials can be enhanced with a mobile focus (such as news releases, annual reports, and IR presentations), as well as testimonials from the industry’s top IR experts in our full report. Check it out here!