2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

ALJ is one of the most important and progressive companies in Saudi Arabia. It is owned by the Jameel family. They do an extraordinary amount of CSR work in the Arts, in Education, in Poverty Relief and in Job Creation. This Report describes that work. We want it to challenge the conventional – and largely accurate – view of Saudi corporations as stiff, rigid, formal and remote.

The Brief

The Kingdom has a young population – more than 60% are under 25 – and it is vital that ALJ is able to communicate with this audience. We want to attract the brightest and the best young people to spend their careers with us.

How the final design was conceived

The style is youthful and provocative – a million miles from the standard smug, self-congratulatory Saudi Annual Report. The graphic style comes for magazine editorial – each story is told in its own terms. The youth press that is seen all over the world is not available in Saudi Arabia. Absolutely not. So nothing like this has ever been seen before – and is the last thing you’d expect from a company that is a pillar of the community.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

This Report is the most successful document of its kind ever to be produced in the Kingdom. Amongst other things, it is the most successful recruiting tool that ALJ have ever used. Students write in to ask for copies. While other Annual Reports lie around in Reception gathering dust for a year, visitors take this one. Some even ask. The report has been reprinted twice. When Mohammad Jameel visited Washington, DC he took 700 copies of this report. The Jameel family are very proud of it, they take great delight in the fact that their friends and neighbours are shocked.