Brown Smith Wallace Launches Viral Marketing Campaign to Get Funny CPA on Letterman

"Yes, it's a BHAG – big hairy audacious goal," Mike Bowlan, Brown Smith Wallace marketing director, says. "But with the support of the AAM members' marketing and social media muscles, we have a good shot!  And, if we can get social media-minded accountants enthused, the bandwagon should get on a good roll."

Bowlan launched the effort by showing Kyle's special edition "Top 10 Reasons Accountants are Cooler than You Think" video at the Bootcamp. He added a guerrilla marketing aspect to the initiative by attending the conference and its social events wearing a lime green T shirt with a QR code that could be scanned to go to iPetitions.com to vote to "Get Kyle on Letterman." Bowlan also wore an iPad strapped around his neck to play the videos and a bright yellow messenger bag filled with cards and buttons to be handed out to conference attendees explaining how people can support the effort. 

Kyle's CPA Video Blog has received considerable acclaim in the profession and with accounting media, including a feature spot as one of the top ten branding ideas in professional services on an independent professional services marketing blog, Professional Services Executive Forum. The current initiative has been featured in CPA Practice Advisor, Accounting Today and has been tweeted about by several state societies of CPAs, including Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The videos are created by Kyle Dodwell, a staff member in Brown Smith Wallace's national insurance practice. "Kyle's first few videos have established him as a unique persona that can draw lots of attention to the profession," Bowlan says. "He shows that accountants have personality. This initiative should provide good publicity for the profession and the marketing professionals that help drive it." 

Bowlan adds that the effort "isn't all fun and games. The idea is for all accounting marketers to learn from this experiment." Bowlan notes that he and his marketing team will share the experience with everyone in a white paper. This joint viral experiment will help the accounting marketing community learn about leveraging integrated marketing strategies including social media to drive awareness and action.  

Here's how we're asking people to help:

1. Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/get-kyle-on-letterman/
2. And sign the petition to Get Kyle on Letterman
3. Check out the Brown Smith Wallace Facebook page between now and June 30 for updates; share these updates with your friends and encourage them to sign the petition
4. Share LinkedIn updates about Kyle's CPA Blog with your contacts on LinkedIn
5. Tweet all about it! If you aren't already following @bswllc on Twitter, you can get updates this way too. Retweet us!

The petition closes Saturday, June 30.

About Brown Smith Wallace

Brown Smith Wallace is the second-largest locally owned full-service CPA and business consulting firm in the St. Louis metro area. With 200 employees and offices in St. Louis, St. Charles and Glen Carbon, Ill., Brown Smith Wallace is the only firm that makes A Measurable Difference™ to its clients by delivering six measurable differences, which includes a guarantee in writing. For more information, please visit www.bswllc.com, call 314-983-1200 or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

SOURCE Brown Smith Wallace