IMA: A CASE STUDY HOW TO MARKET AN ASSOCIATION · 2019-02-04 · The CMA Pays Off. • CMAs can earn up to $500,000 more in their careers. • 84% of CMAs agree that the certification

IMA: A CASE STUDYHOW TO MARKET AN ASSOCIATION

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the gate IMA: A CASE STUDY

Associations and councils face challenges that traditional companies and brands don’t.

They need to create common cause among their members. Every association needs those members to value its services

and to believe in its mission.

And every association needs its members’ financial support to further its mission — without the dues members pay and the

services they purchase, few associations could survive.

Whether your communications goal is to sell the category, the organization, a credential, an exam or continuing education, you

need to continually prove your worth.

ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNCILS

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IMA is the worldwide association of accountant and financial professionals focused on management accounting.

IMA provides the premier certification, the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) credential.

OUR ASSOCIATIONCLIENT: IMA

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Develop a single, integrated communications campaign that supports the CMA designation among the B2B and B2C targets.

THEASSIGNMENT

5AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION

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There is a surprising lack of awareness of management accounting as a category or profession among both

candidates and employers.

Of those familiar with the category, the CMA is the most well-respected designation.

Nonetheless, the CMA has seen a recent drop in applications.

THE LANDSCAPE

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The American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest association representing the accounting profession,

recently entered the category with a new certification for management accountants: the Chartered Global

Management Accountant.

Given the AICPA’s pedigree and association with the prestigious Certified Public Accountant designation, they

are perceived as the category leader.

AICPA: THE DIRECT COMPETITOR

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While management accounting is a different skill set than public accounting (CPAs), any ambitious financial professional

looking to further their career can choose from an alphabet soup of prestigious advanced degrees.

INDIRECT COMPETITORS

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THE NOT-SO- SURPRISING RESULT: CONFUSION

With many excellent designations to choose from and a lack of category awareness and brand distinction, candidates and employers don’t know which option is best: CMA or CPA; CMA or CGMA; CMA or MBA; CMA or MiF.

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CMA’SOPPORTUNITY

Growing financial and business complexity increases the need for top talent with unique skills and specific knowledge. But complexity has led to a gap between current skills and what the new environment demands.

The CMA program uniquely bridges that gap, benefiting both target audiences:

• Organizations: Hiring the right talent capable of navigating today’s complex business environment positions their company for current and future success.

• Candidates: A unique skill in greater demand increases their marketability and earning potential.

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With the American Institute of CPAs merely gifting their CGMA designation to current CPAs, the CGMA dramatically increased its penetration and created the perception that the

CGMA is the better option.

CGMA: A SMARTGO-TO-MARKETSTRATEGY

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BUT HOW SMART ASTRATEGY ISIT REALLY?

By gifting their certificate (without any required exam), the CGMA has flooded the market with candidates that do not

possess the skills their credential implies.

They have also diminished the management accounting category in total and risk lost trust in this unique skill set.

Thus, the CGMA is artificially exaggerating its worth and diminishing its brand.

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CMA’SCHALLENGE

CMA’s challenge was three-fold:

• We needed candidates to recognize the career potential inherent in the CMA and what a path in management accounting offers them.

• At the same time, C-Suite executives needed to realize the need to hire CMAs for the specialty skills required for their organizations.

• Finally, without directly attacking the CGMA or their strategy, we needed to get prospects to see the difference between the CMA and CGMA.

STRATEGY 14

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CMA’SPROGRAMOBJECTIVES

• Build awareness of the category overall and of the CMA designation specifically.

• Create demand for the CMA among the B2C and B2B target.

• Blunt, and ultimately contain, the CGMA juggernaut.

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PERFECT CUSTOMERS

Financial overachievers and their mentors.

Primary: existing financial professionals, 25-35who are looking to differentiate themselves from their peers and further their careers.

Secondary: To make sure that there is demand for the certification, target senior financial and accounting hirers

looking for knowledgeable staff to fill the skills gap.

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DESIREDRESPONSE

Candidate Target: Confidence that the CMA is proof of a desirable and

marketable skill set that leads to a financially rewarding career.

Organizational Target:Recognition that the CMA is the only designation

that closes the skills gap.

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POSITIONING Position the CMA as the premier designation in management accounting.

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BECOMING A CMA IS NOT EASY

• It requires eight hours of testing and a rigorous two-part exam.

• It covers 11 of the most crucial areas of management accounting.

• 65% fail the exam.

• For the 35% that pass, the exam’s rigor proves their knowledge and worth.

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OUR COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

There’s a reason there are so few CMAs.

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A CMA CAN BACK IT UP

They Earned It.

• Requires passing a demanding two-part exam.

• The low 35% pass rate speaks to rigor.

• Certificate requires education and job experience as well as continuing education.

The CMA Pays Off.

• CMAs can earn up to $500,000 more in their careers.

• 84% of CMAs agree that the certification increases their marketability inside and outside of their current position.

• 86% of CMAs agree that the CMA certification has helped to differentiate them from their peers.

BRINGING THE STRATEGY TO LIFE 22

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COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTION

We developed a fully integrated marketing communications program including social, television, digital, radio, PR

and print that targets the industry as a whole.

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OURAPPROACH

Our creative and media strategies departed from the stereotypical depiction of accountants as being boring,

older, stiff, bean counters.

Instead, we wanted the management accounting side of the profession to be seen as younger, more progressive,

ambitious, confident and, dare we say it, cool to our younger target.

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TAGLINE You’ve got to earn it.

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IMA: A CASE STUDY

TV COMMERCIAL: “TATTOO”

If this link fails, please go to the IMA creative section on The Gate’s “Associations and Councils” page.

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IMA: A CASE STUDY

PRINT AD: “STAND UP TO AN AUDIT”

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IMA: A CASE STUDY

PRINT AD: “DISPLAY YOUR CREDENTIALS”

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IMA: A CASE STUDY

PRINT AD: “MAYBE IT’S TIME”

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IMA: A CASE STUDY

PRINT AD: “MASTERY”

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Concentration

We concentrated our very limited budget on millennials looking to further their careers.

We then concentrated our media selection on TV for its ability to reach our younger target and build awareness and prestige.

We further concentrated our TV buys to three programs: SNL, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live!

for their ability to reach millennials and to make Managerial Accounting seem cooler than Public Accounting.

Finally, we concentrated our efforts in nine geographically dispersed markets with the highest concentration of companies in need of managerial accountants.

MEDIA STRATEGY: MAKING A SMALL BUDGET SEEM BIGGER

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We rounded out our plan in secondary, more traditional media to build frequency:

• Radio: National awareness in key programs in News and Business radio, during morning drive when candidates are on their way to work…thinking about their careers.

• Print: In Accounting Today and Forbes with a highly targeted and focused placement.

• Digital: YouTube, Hulu, WSJ, CNN and Forbes to capture attention when on business-relevant site.

MEDIASTRATEGY

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• New CMA candidates increased 55% versus year ago.

• Overall traffic to the CMA section of IMA’s main website rose by 10% in 2016.

• The campaign drove an overall increase in US web traffic, sending 52,000 visitors to the campaign webpage and captured nearly 10,000 email opt-ins (a 19% response rate).

• Video content kept people engaged and viewing our message (17% versus 15% Google benchmark) on YouTube. The TV commercial was viewed 196,500 times on YouTube and 68,000 times on Facebook (September to December 2016).

RESULTS

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CONTACT

Beau FraserPresident

The Gate | New York

212 508-3450

[email protected]

IMA: A CASE STUDYHOW TO MARKET AN ASSOCIATION

Documents

IMA: A CASE STUDY HOW TO MARKET AN ASSOCIATION · 2019-02-04 · The CMA Pays Off. • CMAs can earn up to $500,000 more in their careers. • 84% of CMAs agree that the certification