THE CLIENT
QuickBooks Self-Employed™ helps independent contractors and freelancers easily track business and personal expenses on the go. It automates mileage tracking and expense categorization and provides an easy way to capture receipts from a mobile phone. It also exports tax data that helps tax professionals by reducing data entry and eliminating the dreaded shoe box of receipts at tax time.
THE CHALLENGE
Intuit wanted to promote the product to small business owners through recommendations from their tax professional. They wanted to motivate tax professionals to become product ambassadors without offering them financial incentives, so we needed a way to hit home the messages of time savings and convenience for tax professionals if their clients use QuickBooks Self-Employed.
THE SOLUTION
We created the campaign concept: “Banish the Box” — referencing a means to eliminate the classic shoebox full of receipts that tax professionals typically receive each year from a number of their self-employed clients. The direct mail package consisted of a custom printed box that looked like a shoebox overflowing with paper receipts, with a belly band was wrapped around the box to introduce the concept that it was time to “Banish the Box”.
Upon opening the box, a printed flyer made it look like the box was filled with receipts but a graphic in the corner invited the tax pro to “Look below if they were ready to Banish the Box”. Under the sheet was a neatly organized tray that held gifts and product information for the tax pro:
- Postcards the tax pro could send to their clients with details and a special discount offer
- Product CD so the tax pro could try the program before recommending it
- Quick facts booklet that the tax professional could refer to when speaking to clients about QuickBooks Self-Employe
- Two thank you gifts: a notebook and a coffee gift card to hit home the concept that the software itself costs less than a cup of coffee per month for the client
The campaign was incredibly successful and favorably tweeted about by recipients.
