In 2010, photos by students at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti – known as NABA – in Milan started a new tradition for Pirelli's annual report. Their images – designed to illustrate the topic of sustainability – were featured in the company's annual budget statement, turning it into a story capable of communicating the mood of the business in addition to the numbers.
The project was welcomed by stakeholders and drove Pirelli to create annual reports aimed at reflecting corporate culture in an original way year after year, referencing the worlds of art and literature with contributions by international cultural personalities.
In 2011, it was the turn of graphic designer Stefan Glerum, who interpreted key values of Pirelli, such as reliability, flexibility, speed, technology and innovation, in 18 drawings. The drawings were accompanied by written pieces from four internationally-renowned authors: Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Guillermo Martinez, William Least Heat-Moon and Javier Cercas.
The 2012 Annual Report featured works by New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly, who interpreted in graphical form 10 words chosen by university students from around the world to express the most significant values for their future.
Artistic interpretations
Writer and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi coordinated 10 young talents from around the globe to discuss the concept of "wheel" for the Spinning the Wheel annual report project in 2013, aimed at highlighting the creativity, ingenuity, dedication, tenacity and passion behind a successful idea, project or product.
In 2014, the Pirelli Annual Report featured street art, with works by Marina Zumi from Brazil, Dome from Germany and Alexey Luka from Russia. These were assembled as a single pyramid-shaped installation and displayed in the Pirelli HangarBicocca exhibition space. Street art's association with the city, mobility and multiculturalism made it the perfect match for Pirelli as it is precisely on the street and in the need for mobility that tyres find their meaning.
The following year, Pirelli called on the Russian modern calligrapher Pokras Lampas to represent the concept of "oneness" through two intrinsically unique elements: handwriting and fingerprints. The young artist portrayed in the form of large fingerprints the thoughts of 11 personalities – including photographer Steve McCurry, pianist and composer Giovanni Allevi and opera singer Andrea Bocelli – who were asked to say what "leaving a mark" meant for them. Hence the title of that year's annual report: Every Mark is Unique.
Telling insights
The 2017 Annual Report entitled Data Meets Passion highlighted the digital transformation of Pirelli through the stories of five craftspeople/makers who harnessed digital technology to make their businesses grow. The artistic and literary dimension of the volume was entrusted to artist Emiliano Ponzi and three internationally-acclaimed writers: Mohsin Hamid, Tom McCarthy and Ted Chiang.
Most recently, the 2018 Annual Report is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Pirelli's most famous slogan “Power is Nothing Without Control”, which identifies Pirelli worldwide. The volume features images evoking the concept of the slogan (also linked to a video) and the work of three leading writers – Adam Greenfield, Lisa Halliday and J R Moehringer – who offered their interpretations of “Power is Nothing Without Control” through the dimensions of technology, sport and culture.
