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| Global launch of "What's Next" |
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| Essentially Ernst & Young exists as part of an oligopoly. There are 4 accounting and financial services companies globally that provide exactly the same (or similar) suite of services that EY does. These 4 are in a pitched battle on two fronts. One is the acquisition of new clients for their services. These services are broadly split into two camps. Firstly, the current Auditing or Channel 1 business and the emerging and growing (in size, importance and potential) consulting business. The second is acquiring, motivating and retaining new staff, the so-called “War for Talent”. Additionally, two macro market issues are having an impact on this category. One, many of the traditional accounting firms are undergoing significant, and very public, change initiatives. All are bolstering their services by adding more traditional business consultancy offerings and hedging into areas historically the domain of McKinsey & Bain. Two, the economic conservatism that plagued the accountancy firms following the Enron & WorldComm debacles appears to have loosened quite significantly. These factors have meant the accountancy firms are all attempting to re-invent themselves with renewed vigour and purpose. |
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| The core communication issue to overcome was the perception that all accounting firms are exactly the same. The issue impacts the ability to attract new clients and to attract new employees too. Overcoming this perception was the key psychographic hurdle for the campaign. The target, not surprisingly, was seasoned senior business executives. The recruitment campaign was split between university graduates and experienced hires. As the experienced hires fit a number of the same criteria as the corporate campaign target, overcoming the scepticism and cynicism of the seasoned business person remained as critical. The strategy was built on the premise of seeding an “attitude” for EY which highlighted how they were different from other firms. That attitude was based in a relentless perseverance and desire to not be satisfied with the status quo. To never see an end to a client engagement or project but to always ask; what’s next. |
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| Ultimately EY was looking for a toolkit of globally consistent creative elements. Ultimately we delivered a very narrow band of communication assets for the global “What’s Next” toolkit. These included a suite of almost 30 print ads and commissioned a photo gallery of almost 80 portraits that were intended to cover ever major ethnic, cultural, gender and age group possible. Taken together these individual assets could be mixed-and-matched to create a locally relevant advertising execution. A similar methodology was employed for the Recruitment toolkit. Essentially, ad templates were designed to highlight unique EY employer values, like inclusiveness, global mobility etc that are considered attractive to potential new employees. |
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| The “What’s Next” campaign has been well utilized across EMEA with take-up in nearly 10 countries. North America has also embraced the campaign too. Results from the annual Brand Tracking study are expected in Q2 2009 which will highlight if the campaign has gained traction in the market. |
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