Quickbooks
What if every brief is actually an opportunity to build something bigger?
LISTEN TO ARTICLE
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“I’d recommend Society to anyone. Give them as much slack as you can to make decisions, because they will be the right ones!”
-Bill Berg
Executive Producer, Periscope
Trust is currency in financial services. Periscope recognized this when they approached Society with a critical challenge: accountants, who drove over 20% of QuickBooks Online subscriptions through their recommendations, were feeling undervalued and treated like mere sales channels rather than true partners. For QuickBooks, this erosion of trust threatened the very foundation of their business model.
The solution required more than just advertising; it needed to create a genuine emotional connection with accountants while demonstrating QuickBooks' commitment to their success. But the timing added another layer of complexity: this relationship-rebuilding campaign would need to be produced during COVID lockdowns, when traditional production seemed impossible. The initial request was simple: create a tribute to accountants using Zoom interviews and remote footage. But we saw an opportunity for something more ambitious. While embracing the intimacy of remote interviews and user-generated content, we proposed supplementing these authentic moments with carefully produced footage that would elevate the entire campaign. By leveraging our experience with COVID-safe production protocols and deploying small, nimble crews, we created "The Accountable" – a campaign that exceeded everyone's expectations of what was possible during lockdown.
What started as a small pandemic production became a much larger campaign.
The success of this approach led to something even more interesting. Among the accountants we interviewed, we discovered Seth David, whose authentic charm and deep product knowledge made him the perfect ambassador for the brand. When Periscope returned with a brief for a broadcast campaign, we proposed building it around Seth – transforming what could have been a conventional testimonial into something more ambitious. The original concept, "The Seth Solve," was set in a conference room. But we saw potential for a bigger story. By shooting in Belgrade, Serbia, we could maximize the production value while staying within budget constraints. We complemented the international shoot with intimate footage captured at director Harry Calbom’s home in Los Angeles, creating a seamless blend of big production moments and authentic personal touches. The success of this approach led to an additional spot, "Heroes of Accountability," shot during the same overseas production.
The results validated our approach. The campaign exceeded its impression goals by 122%, generating 25 million impressions and driving 20,000 conversions from paid media. But perhaps more telling was the creative recognition: "The Seth Solve" and "Heroes of Accountability" went on to dominate their local advertising awards, taking Best in Show in B2B, double Gold in Cinematography, Gold for Internet Commercial, and numerous other accolades. This recognition validated our core belief: that thoughtful production can elevate even modest briefs into award-worthy work. This project demonstrates how thoughtful production can transform modest briefs into meaningful brand assets. What started as a pandemic-necessitated Zoom project evolved into a multi-campaign initiative that helped QuickBooks strengthen its relationship with its most important advocates. By combining authentic storytelling with smart production decisions, we delivered exponentially more value than the original briefs suggested possible. More importantly, we showed how production companies can be true strategic partners. Instead of simply executing briefs, we helped evolve the creative approach, identified authentic talent, and found innovative ways to maximize resources. The result wasn't just successful advertising – it was a campaign that actually helped transform QuickBooks' relationship with its accounting community while setting new standards for B2B creative excellence.
Treatment
BY THE NUMBERS
REAL ACCOUNTANTS INTERVIEWED: 28 SETH DAVIDS DISCOVERED: 1 IMPRESSION GOAL EXCEEDED BY: 122% TOTAL IMPRESSIONS GENERATED: 25 MILLION CONVERSIONS FROM PAID MEDIA: 20,000 AWARDS WON: MANY TRUST REBUILT WITH ACCOUNTANTS: IMMEASURABLE
BUDGET: EMAIL US
Quickbooks
What if every brief is actually an opportunity to build something bigger?
LISTEN TO ARTICLE
0:00/1:34
“I’d recommend Society to anyone. Give them as much slack as you can to make decisions, because they will be the right ones!”
-Bill Berg
Executive Producer, Periscope
Trust is currency in financial services. Periscope recognized this when they approached Society with a critical challenge: accountants, who drove over 20% of QuickBooks Online subscriptions through their recommendations, were feeling undervalued and treated like mere sales channels rather than true partners. For QuickBooks, this erosion of trust threatened the very foundation of their business model.
The solution required more than just advertising; it needed to create a genuine emotional connection with accountants while demonstrating QuickBooks' commitment to their success. But the timing added another layer of complexity: this relationship-rebuilding campaign would need to be produced during COVID lockdowns, when traditional production seemed impossible. The initial request was simple: create a tribute to accountants using Zoom interviews and remote footage. But we saw an opportunity for something more ambitious. While embracing the intimacy of remote interviews and user-generated content, we proposed supplementing these authentic moments with carefully produced footage that would elevate the entire campaign. By leveraging our experience with COVID-safe production protocols and deploying small, nimble crews, we created "The Accountable" – a campaign that exceeded everyone's expectations of what was possible during lockdown.
What started as a small pandemic production became a much larger campaign.
The success of this approach led to something even more interesting. Among the accountants we interviewed, we discovered Seth David, whose authentic charm and deep product knowledge made him the perfect ambassador for the brand. When Periscope returned with a brief for a broadcast campaign, we proposed building it around Seth – transforming what could have been a conventional testimonial into something more ambitious. The original concept, "The Seth Solve," was set in a conference room. But we saw potential for a bigger story. By shooting in Belgrade, Serbia, we could maximize the production value while staying within budget constraints. We complemented the international shoot with intimate footage captured at director Harry Calbom’s home in Los Angeles, creating a seamless blend of big production moments and authentic personal touches. The success of this approach led to an additional spot, "Heroes of Accountability," shot during the same overseas production.
The results validated our approach. The campaign exceeded its impression goals by 122%, generating 25 million impressions and driving 20,000 conversions from paid media. But perhaps more telling was the creative recognition: "The Seth Solve" and "Heroes of Accountability" went on to dominate their local advertising awards, taking Best in Show in B2B, double Gold in Cinematography, Gold for Internet Commercial, and numerous other accolades. This recognition validated our core belief: that thoughtful production can elevate even modest briefs into award-worthy work. This project demonstrates how thoughtful production can transform modest briefs into meaningful brand assets. What started as a pandemic-necessitated Zoom project evolved into a multi-campaign initiative that helped QuickBooks strengthen its relationship with its most important advocates. By combining authentic storytelling with smart production decisions, we delivered exponentially more value than the original briefs suggested possible. More importantly, we showed how production companies can be true strategic partners. Instead of simply executing briefs, we helped evolve the creative approach, identified authentic talent, and found innovative ways to maximize resources. The result wasn't just successful advertising – it was a campaign that actually helped transform QuickBooks' relationship with its accounting community while setting new standards for B2B creative excellence.
Treatment
BY THE NUMBERS
REAL ACCOUNTANTS INTERVIEWED: 28 SETH DAVIDS DISCOVERED: 1 IMPRESSION GOAL EXCEEDED BY: 122% TOTAL IMPRESSIONS GENERATED: 25 MILLION CONVERSIONS FROM PAID MEDIA: 20,000 AWARDS WON: MANY TRUST REBUILT WITH ACCOUNTANTS: IMMEASURABLE
BUDGET: EMAIL US