Overview

Managed Books LLC is a local accounting start up company that needed help launching their business. When speaking with the founder, we aligned that the primary goal was to provide a brand identity for both print and digital media. The problem is that the market is saturated with many similar businesses. My solution was to provide research on competition in both local and global network, analyze success patterns and tweak strategies for customer acquisition.

Initial Research

Prior to diving into this project, I had general conversations with those in the business of tax and accounting. Most my conversations pertained to ideas of those that held a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) degree and its difficulty. These conversations led to my journey in researching about the reputable ‘big four’ accounting firms. From that point, I worked backwards to smaller firms to create a list.

Competitive Findings

After finalizing on a few companies, I included them in a competitive analysis map to establish expectations on where business envisions itself.

• Accounting businesses typically include their name or initials in their business.

• Local business include additional information in their logo such as their services or credentials (CPA, PLLC) whereas larger companies do not.

• Color hues of green and blue is mainly.

• Letters for larger companies are bold.

• Most companies are either title case or upper case, only one company has all lowercase lettering.

Business Identity

Reading reviews on local businesses allowed me to understand what users wanted. The ratings and comments helped solidify decisions on what the company will be defined as.

• Local

• Small Clients

• Honest

• Approachable

• Personal

• Responsive

• Professional

• Accommodating

• Trustworthy

• Understanding

• Upfront

• Reasonable

Interviews

In order to acquire customers, I had to do additional research to understand where the demographic currently finds their customers. In my interview I led with the following questions to help guide conversations.

How did you go about finding an accountant?
What made you decide to trust this source?
Would you consider switching providers?

Discovery

• 83 percent of users file their taxes based on a personal recommendation.

• Trust is within their own network, generally within the same occupation or the family.

• 33 percent would consider switching providers for personal gains based on another trusted source.

User Feedback

I asked what the logo resembled as a guiding question in choosing between the two graphics. The book was more recognizable.

Insights

Data shows that familiarly had a direct correlation to trust. Abstract ideas gain interest, however users felt less certain.

60% has a preference for the book logo. One user stated: “the lines aren't as rigid so I think it's an easier going company”. This shows approachability which aligns to identity.

91% of users was able to recognize the book, however 83% felt the logo represented publishing.

Reflection and next steps

The color red can be viewed as a deficit when dealing with numbers. Instead of focusing on the context of negative numbers, is there a way to pivot these connotations to reflect the personality of the company? Adjectives such as strength, bold, power and courage.

I would like to conduct more surveys to see if users felt the same. Next steps I would like to explore additional usages for identity and measure engagement through online social media.