Accountants' Radio

Sometimes silly little things can make our blood boil. It happened to me just the other day while driving back from a client meeting. I tend to listen to Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy or Zig Ziglar on CD in my car quite a lot when I’m on the road, or I’ll put talk radio (CFRB 1010) on– to pick up on any travel tips, accidents or bottlenecks to avoid. On this particular Tuesday afternoon I had tuned in to CFRB to check for any delays getting up to the 407 to get back to my office when, during a commercial break, I heard this cheesy jingle followed by the words (sung over the tail end of the jingle) “Accountants Radio”. ‘Hmm’ I thought to myself, ‘what’s this?’ But my curiosity was soon cured; by the Toshiba colour photocopier advert that followed. You’ve probably heard it too, right?

It’s two horrendously BORING nerds talking about the ‘exciting’ features of the Toshiba Colour Copier blah, blah, blah.

Now, I know it’s supposed to be a parody, a stereotypical portrayal of what gets us accountants salivating, and I am sure that it is meant in good humour, but I think it is time that we, as a profession, stood tall and fought back.

Yes, I know that our profession still attracts some of the ‘nerds’ from university who found the actuary business just too fast-paced and exciting for them, and I know that an extroverted accountant is one who admires YOUR shoes while talking with you, and yes I’ve heard just about every ‘knock-knock’ accountant joke going, but I say ENOUGH!

Accountants Are Sexy!

Today’s accountants are – generally speaking – vibrant, articulate, humourous and intelligent. Today’s accountants are at the leading edge of business innovation. Today’s accountants are young and energetic and – dare I say – sexy!

I believe that it is about time that we started to blow our own horn a little, as nobody seems to be blowing it for us.

Accounting firms today are hives of activity.

We’re helping clients to take their businesses to new heights. We’re fighting off unjust challenges from the tax office. We’re helping clients to truly interpret their results and make sound business decisions. We’re even helping clients to raise finance to build new factories and create new jobs.

The accounting profession is the backbone of our economy!

How dare Toshiba tarnish us with the label of BORING!

I wondered; could this be the worst case of misguided branding and customer loyalty seen to date?

In my work with accounting firms I am finding many examples of innovation. I know this to be true, because I could modestly say that I might have had some small amount of influence or involvement in some of them.

Let’s Show Them.

So if it’s out there, if it’s REALLY out there, let’s show the world (or Canada at least).

It’s time to start thinking about the 2005 Marketing Awards. If your firm is being innovative (and I know many of you are) let’s try to change this horrible misconception about our profession. Davis Martindale are doing it in London, Ontario, and they won an award for it last year.

Could this year be your turn?

I have a client in Calgary (you know who you are, Steven!) who has totally re-engineered his practice in the last few years and has a very exciting, different and highly effective package of services that he offers clients, and he’s doing very well from it.

He has even had inquiries from a firm of chartered accountants in the United Kingdom to licence his suite of services and his marketing materials for them to use in the UK.

What are you doing with existing clients to help them build better businesses and how are you marketing those services? Anything ‘innovative’ ‘unusual’ or ‘sexy’ about the techniques you have used to build your own businesses?

How about your efforts to find new clients? What have you been getting up to in your local community that makes you or your firm stand out in the crowd?

Time to get thinking, because as the year starts passing by (is it really March already?) entry forms will soon start to appear in ‘The Bottom Line’. You will be doing your practice a huge favour by entering, but you’ll also be helping the greater good of the accounting profession.

But back to our friends at Toshiba for a moment…

A suggestion.

I would like to suggest that every CA, CGA and CMA in Canada write to Toshiba (even the ones who work there!) and let them know just how off target their latest commercial really is, and that next time they want to use the proud accounting profession in their commercials, to make them sound like the over-achieving, articulate, intelligent and, yes, sexy beasts that we really are!

Getting 100,000 or so letters in the mail or emails in their system, would certainly make then think twice about tarnishing our reputation again.

I’d like to think that as a group we can change their outlook on the accounting profession so that the next commercial we hear is in a very different vein.

Only then will they start to break through and find Toshiba products in our homes and offices! After all, we are one of the key decision makers when it comes to buying office equipment and, come to that, home electronics products.

That evening I went down into my home theatre to watch a movie and upon closer inspection of the moniker on my new widescreen home theatre tv, I read the letters T-O-S-H-I-B-A!

So maybe their marketing team were onto something after all!

© 2005, MFA Group Inc