SEARCH FOR ATLANTA’S FUNNIEST ACCOUNTANT
Challenge:
Accountants One, a 32 year old accounting and recruiting firm, really takes the time to get to know their clients and candidates in the course of building long-term relationships. That’s how they discovered that accountants are funnier than you think. Determined to turn this realization into a positive point of difference, firm management decided to create their 2005 Search for Atlanta’s Funniest Accountant. The challenges were significant – nothing like this had ever been created before in our city, naysayers scoffed at the thought that accountants could be humorous and attracting people to auditions seemed be a difficult undertaking. Accountants One recognized that they needed a communications resource with the strategic understanding to hone marketing messages and position the event in the most favorable light possible while flawlessly executing all of the planning details. So they turned to Shira Miller Communications (SMC) for help.
Solution:
The first step was elevating the messaging. We positioned the event as a noble attempt to dispel negative perceptions of accountants while emphasizing how all proceeds would benefit TECH CORPS Georgia, which promotes digital inclusion for Georgia’s low-income families. SMC created comprehensive marketing and public relations materials (including the funny www.accountantsarefunnytoo.com web site) to encourage accountants across the city to participate. We worked with the Georgia Society of CPAs, placing ads and editorial content in their publications and creating a fun, interactive trade show booth that featured “karaoke comedy.” Simultaneously, our team focused on planning a meaningful, fun experience for the amateur comedians and audience members. We selected a terrific local comedian to create a comedy boot camp to help participants hone their routines, promote the event and emcee the night of the show. As a result, the show was a huge success. Audition attendance exceeded our expectations. Held at The Punchline comedy club, the event sold out in four days and more than 100 people were on the waiting list for tickets. Almost $3,000 was raised for TECH CORPS Georgia. We secured a cover story in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution and impactful placements in the Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Magazine, Dunwoody Crier and Gwinnett Daily Post that reached a combined audience of 2,588,368 readers. (If we had paid for this editorial coverage, the total equivalent advertising cost would have been: $71,581.70.) Best of all, Accountants One significantly raised their visibility before prospective clients and candidates in a way that emphasized their key strengths.
"From start to finish, Shira Miller and her team were extraordinary. The Search for Atlanta’s Funniest Accountant was the largest PR program we have ever undertaken. Shira has a remarkable ability to listen. Her ability to create an event that matched our vision was simply uncanny. Through her care, and the care of her staff, Shira Miller Communications exceeded our greatest expectations. Along the way, everything they touched turned to gold -- the buzz before the event, the press, and the event itself. All were wildly successful!"
-Dan Erling
Vice President, Accountants One, Inc.
