The We AG from PwC
McCann-Erickson Uses Authentic Testimonials for PricewaterhouseCoopers
McCann-Erickson uses dignified testimonials for PricewaterhouseCoopersBy Luca Aloisi PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland is taking a self-confident stand against the general crisis of confidence. To this end, McCann-Erickson has developed a campaign that finds competitive advantages for the business consulting and auditing firm among its employees and offers them a platform.
Until a few years ago, the management consultancy sector was boasting double-digit growth rates. Today, it is not only the economic downturn that is hitting it hard. In addition to the sluggish order situation, the consulting industry is suffering from a sustained loss of image. It has brought this on itself. Many of the strategies it has developed and implemented have ended in sometimes terrifying crash landings. Want some examples? Enron, Swissair, Swiss Dairy Food, ABB - the chain of consulting failures could go on and on. No wonder that the headlines have been and will continue to be so violent: "First the money, then the disaster" is only a mild formulation. Consultant bashing is the order of the day everywhere. And in addition to the already low social competence, the professional competence of consultants is now also being called into question. Consolidation and downsizing, terms that consultants used to use primarily in dealing with their clients, are flying back at their own companies like boomerangs. However, industry leader PwC (41% of all auditing mandates for listed Swiss companies) recently proved once again that things have not become equally tight for everyone in today's client market.
Different
Industry self-image
In this difficult environment, the Swiss branch shone with growth of 4 percent compared to the previous year. However, as PwC recently divested its consulting business, which has been hit by the economic downturn, the company expects growth to be lower in the current financial year. This is because the remaining three service areas - tax and legal advice, auditing and consulting and corporate finance & recovery - are also facing flagrant restraint on the part of their clients.
The auditors and consultants themselves are now under scrutiny. As a result, the order situation and the prospect of promising new employees are even more directly linked to the company's image than before. However, Karin Schmid, project manager at PwC, knows that traditional advertising is only used "to a modest extent" as an instrument to strengthen the company's image. Advertisements on specialist topics, direct marketing, specialist events and publications as well as personal contacts between specialists and their clients are much more important in terms of branding. Apart from a few exceptions such as Accenture, the image presentations of consulting firms are characterized by a business uniformity - as if a lack of profile were a seal of quality in the industry.
Every company is as good as its employees - including PwC
When it came to giving the restructured PwC a face, the creatives at pitch winner McCann-Erickson knew how to emphasize the range of skills and services even after the sale of the consulting line. "The times call for sobriety," CD Dominik Imseng explains the initial situation. "The virtues of the true old economy are in demand again. Inevitably, we now have to talk straight." These days, stilted statements from business strategists end up in the bin unread.
Even if the solution approach is basically another testimonial, it still impresses with its simplicity and independence. The team around CD Edi Andrist and Imseng has packed a lot into it that reflects the courage of the client.
On the one hand, they have lined up the names of three PwC employees and set them off in the characters of the PwC logo in such a way that any "don't touch the logo" advocate would have to raise their hackles. On the other hand, the top-class consultants were not photographed by Grundflum photographers in conventional office situations, but in unusual atmospheric surroundings.
In addition, there are some edgy quotes intended to demonstrate the experts' expertise. In the informality of the nine subjects, the personalities express corporate values such as teamwork as a unifying foundation, excellence and leadership, explains Account Director Martin Samsel.
With the seven-figure media budget of the first campaign flight, the client wants to strengthen its image with no less than three target groups: with the extremely heterogeneous clientele, the career-oriented young generation - with whom the industry already appeared more attractive - and last but not least with its own employees.
Until a few years ago, the management consultancy sector was boasting double-digit growth rates. Today, it is not only the economic downturn that is hitting it hard. In addition to the sluggish order situation, the consulting industry is suffering from a sustained loss of image. It has brought this on itself. Many of the strategies it has developed and implemented have ended in sometimes terrifying crash landings. Want some examples? Enron, Swissair, Swiss Dairy Food, ABB - the chain of consulting failures could go on and on. No wonder that the headlines have been and will continue to be so violent: "First the money, then the disaster" is only a mild formulation. Consultant bashing is the order of the day everywhere. And in addition to the already low social competence, the professional competence of consultants is now also being called into question. Consolidation and downsizing, terms that consultants used to use primarily in dealing with their clients, are flying back at their own companies like boomerangs. However, industry leader PwC (41% of all auditing mandates for listed Swiss companies) recently proved once again that things have not become equally tight for everyone in today's client market.
Different
Industry self-image
In this difficult environment, the Swiss branch shone with growth of 4 percent compared to the previous year. However, as PwC recently divested its consulting business, which has been hit by the economic downturn, the company expects growth to be lower in the current financial year. This is because the remaining three service areas - tax and legal advice, auditing and consulting and corporate finance & recovery - are also facing flagrant restraint on the part of their clients.
The auditors and consultants themselves are now under scrutiny. As a result, the order situation and the prospect of promising new employees are even more directly linked to the company's image than before. However, Karin Schmid, project manager at PwC, knows that traditional advertising is only used "to a modest extent" as an instrument to strengthen the company's image. Advertisements on specialist topics, direct marketing, specialist events and publications as well as personal contacts between specialists and their clients are much more important in terms of branding. Apart from a few exceptions such as Accenture, the image presentations of consulting firms are characterized by a business uniformity - as if a lack of profile were a seal of quality in the industry.
Every company is as good as its employees - including PwC
When it came to giving the restructured PwC a face, the creatives at pitch winner McCann-Erickson knew how to emphasize the range of skills and services even after the sale of the consulting line. "The times call for sobriety," CD Dominik Imseng explains the initial situation. "The virtues of the true old economy are in demand again. Inevitably, we now have to talk straight." These days, stilted statements from business strategists end up in the bin unread.
Even if the solution approach is basically another testimonial, it still impresses with its simplicity and independence. The team around CD Edi Andrist and Imseng has packed a lot into it that reflects the courage of the client.
On the one hand, they have lined up the names of three PwC employees and set them off in the characters of the PwC logo in such a way that any "don't touch the logo" advocate would have to raise their hackles. On the other hand, the top-class consultants were not photographed by Grundflum photographers in conventional office situations, but in unusual atmospheric surroundings.
In addition, there are some edgy quotes intended to demonstrate the experts' expertise. In the informality of the nine subjects, the personalities express corporate values such as teamwork as a unifying foundation, excellence and leadership, explains Account Director Martin Samsel.
With the seven-figure media budget of the first campaign flight, the client wants to strengthen its image with no less than three target groups: with the extremely heterogeneous clientele, the career-oriented young generation - with whom the industry already appeared more attractive - and last but not least with its own employees.
