Sarah Acton, CMO of Bill — which recently rebranded from Bill.com — talks about how accountants need to think about their brand in the 21st century, and why it may be time for a change.
Transcription:
Dan Hood (
Welcome to On the Air with Accounting Today, I'm Editor-in-Chief Dan Hood. Now we've been seeing a few pioneering accounting firms move beyond the old model of putting all their founding partners names in a row and calling that a brand. I'm thinking of firms like Forvis and Aprio, and even some of the big four firms, like EY and PwC. They're getting away from names and they're getting more sophisticated in their branding and their naming and all the sorts of things that go along with that. But there's still plenty of firms that are operating under some outdated conceptions around firm branding.
Here to talk about all that is Sarah Acton. She's the chief marketing officer of Bill, which recently underwent a rebranding of its own from Bill.com. Sarah, thanks for joining us.
Sarah Acton (
Dan, I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks for having me.
Dan Hood (
It's a great topic. And maybe we start with this: How should accounting firms be thinking about their brands?
Sarah Acton (
I've had the good fortune of working in the field of marketing and branding for a couple of decades now, and one of the things that I find as a misconception is that brand is your logo or brand is your colors or brand is your name. When in actuality, brand is so much more than that. It is really the sum of all of the experiences that you provide to your clients, to your customers, and each one of those touchpoints, each of those moments ladder up to your brand. And I think for firms today, the opportunity to use brand as a lever to differentiate yourself, to provide business results, to carve out your space in the market has never been richer. And so I think for folks who maybe are listening and thinking, 'Oh, I'm a smaller firm I don't have a brand,' you do, no matter how small you are, you do, it's just a question of what you're doing with it
Dan Hood (
<laugh>. Well, I think for a lot of firms even if they don't want to acknowledge it, they're starting to see it. When you see things like Yelp reviews, that's part of your brand and the potential, they think, 'Oh, well I'm a small firm, I'm gonna fly under the radar. No one's paying attention to me.' But there's so many opportunities in places in which a brand is created almost for you by, as you say, sort of the sum total of everybody's interaction with you and the way they talk about you, whether they give you referrals and all that sort of stuff, that's all part of your brand as well. So yeah, I think a lot of firms need to be thinking about that and thinking about the fact that they have a brand whether they want it or not, and better to it have to be the brand you want and that you created than the one that sort of evolved
Sarah Acton (
A hundred percent. And I think that's the real opportunity is you can drive and change perceptions and create perceptions in the market by being intentional about who you want to be and what you provide to the market is different. And the customers that you serve, you can use your brand to attract those customers. And so I think you're absolutely right that each one of those touchpoints in some ways, you either shape what you want them to be or they get shaped for you by the market. And I think the ways that I've seen accounting firms and other services firms really embrace the opportunity that exists with brand and have some fun with it, take it as an opportunity. Brands are pliable and they meet the moment. And so thinking about what's happening with your customers, what's happening with your industry, those are all opportunities to lean in a little bit and find what works for you. And so seeing that happen in the market is just exciting. Yeah,
Dan Hood (
And I think that's to follow on one of the areas there is the misconception. We're gonna talk about some misconceptions and mistakes firms should be avoiding, but I think one of them is that the branding is just, it's just a marketing exercise and really it should be a reflection of what you are. So a lot of things you're talking about there, it should be a reflection of your values, it should be a reflection of the things you want your clients to get from you, not, it's not just an ad campaign, it's it's much more about letting people know who you are and understand you. So let's assume that everybody has this brand, whether they crafted it or not, whether it was deliberate or not, they have a brand. Are there any kind of signs that people should be looking at to say, wow, maybe I should be thinking about changing my brand, but rebranding? How can they know when it's time for that? I mean, let's assume that <laugh> obviously never having looked at your brand is probably says it's time to start looking at your brand. But assuming you've given a little thought, what's a sign that it is time for rebranding?
Sarah Acton (
Yeah, when I think about brand strategy, much like other business strategies — whether it's your product strategy, brand strategy — is in service of your business strategy. And so a lot of the signals that you will tend to see or feel are related to changes in your business strategy. So it could be things like what you are trying to deliver to the market has changed, you want to grow, you want to move into a different kind of practice, you want to expand your services. That could be one signal. The other signal could be that your customers are changing and evolving and customers never stand still. They are always constantly evolving. And so there could be new needs that are surfacing that oftentimes you hear through your customers first, and that could be one of those signals. And then the third one that can often happen is that the market holistically is moving in a different direction.
(
And by virtue of what's happening in the market, you see an opportunity to capture something that maybe you hadn't in the past or reposition yourself to be a leader in that area. And so I think really looking at is your business growing or expanding? Are your customers changing? And are there of macro industry kinds of trends that you want to capitalize on? And those can be good indicators that it might be worth having a look at your brand. And then I think the other thing is sometimes the perception can be it's kind of all or nothing. And that's absolutely not the case. You know, look at big brands and they're all of these sort of micro moments and micro adjustments because brands are living, breathing organisms. They are two-way exchanges. So when you may be looking at, oh, maybe is it time? Am I getting these signals? I think the other thing to think about is how strong are the signals? How big of a change do you want to make? Because it's not all or nothing. There are lots of ways to evolve that can take you in the direction that you're headed
Dan Hood (
Or to keep it continually reflecting you being an accurate reflection of yourself and your position and the way you serve clients and all that sorts of thing. It's fascinating because you just talked about that, your third point about if the market are changing, if the broader changes across the profession for accountants, we know that there's just enormous change in pretty much every aspect of what they do. Not least the enormous move towards or pressure to move towards more advisory services for instance, is a big thing a lot of firms are feeling. That would be a great I would think would make sense as a great way to start thinking about rebranding. If you want people to think about your services differently, you think of you more as more of an advisor. That's a time to change how people perceive you, and that's a big function of brand.
Sarah Acton (
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that when you go back to really the core of any brand is about what is your purpose? Why do you exist in the world, what are you doing that is net accretive to your customers? And I think for a lot of firms, that opportunity and we hear it from firms that their customers are coming to them, their clients are coming to them saying, 'Hey, I need help with this. Hey, I'm looking to you, my trusted of partner to help me with this challenge.' And I think that's an amazing opportunity to then look at your brand and say, 'OK, are we reflecting where we wanna be going as a firm and the opportunity that's ahead?'
Dan Hood (
Excellent. All right. So let's assume they've looked it, they've looked at the broad market and they say, you know what? Now is the time either for a small scale, a small step, or a large step, whatever, whether it's a full on rebranding campaign or just some adjustments here and there to collateral or whatever the case may be, they've decided it's time to make some changes. What kind of mistakes should they be avoiding when they're thinking about a rebranding? What are the pitfalls that they should be keeping an eye out for?
Sarah Acton (
The single biggest thing that I see, and this mistake is equal opportunity — I see big brands make it, I see little brands make it — but when you lose your authenticity and try to be something that you're not, at the end of the day, the very best brands, the iconic and really strong brands, big or small, it all comes back to authenticity and being very clear about who you are, who you're not, and being unapologetic about that. And I think when brands try and push too far they get into a space where it doesn't feel authentic, especially in today's day and age where everything is transparent, there it is, it's all out there for conversation. The authenticity missteps are I think some of the trickiest. And so anytime you're looking to make a change, being really reflective and honest about who you are at your core who do you serve, why do you serve them?
(
That is the single biggest thing that I think folks need to look out for. And then two other things that do often or can happen: The second is if you shift away from your customer too fast. So our customer or any business, any firm you've worked for, depending on years, decades, to cultivate a customer base, to cultivate an audience. And I've seen examples where a brand will try and shift too aggressively to a new customer base. And so you always want to be mindful of where are your customers today? Who are they and what are they looking for you to help them solve? And then the third thing I would say is trying to go too far beyond where you are and overreaching a little bit. And we've all been on our couch or wherever and we've seen something from a brand and it kind of makes you tilt your head and scratch your head a little bit. Like really it does that, and we feel it, but it can be that desire to reach just a tad too far. But all three of those, they all come back with just being very honest about who you are and knowing what makes you great.
Dan Hood (
Gotcha. I was just curious because I was thinking about, as I mentioned, a lot of firms are shifting towards more of an advisory focus so they're changing up what they're doing. And your first point, right, obviously is you don't wanna be your brand shouldn't reflect something that you're not. But how do you feel about, in terms of a brand reflecting where you're going, I is it, would you be more aware, put it this way, would you be more worried about your brand being ahead of where you're going or having your firm be ahead of where your brand is, which is there a worse sin? And obviously it'd be ideal if they were right together, but if you're in motion,
Sarah Acton (
Yeah, so you want your brand — the best brands are aspirational, right? They are a north star for your business, for your customers, and are a representation of your aspirations. So having your brand be a little far ahead of where you're anchored today is OK, as long as you don't get too far ahead. But in the flip side where the firm's actually ahead of your brand, then the brand is actually a limiter to growth. Because if your firm is already providing a service or capturing part of the market, but your brand doesn't reflect that, that can actually limit your growth potential. And so to answer your question specifically, I'd rather your brand be ahead than behind.
Dan Hood (
Gotcha. Excellent. All right. Well and speaking of brands, I want talk about your recent rebranding. Cause I think a lot of people are aware of it or becoming aware of it. So we're gonna dive into that. But first we're gonna take a quick break.
All right. And we're back speaking with Sarah Acton of Bill, about rebranding. We've talked a lot about some general principles of rebranding that accounting firms can be paying attention to in terms of refreshing their brand or recreating it or just acknowledging it and understanding that it's there and that they need to do something about it. But I do wanna talk because you've recently gone through the process of rebranding bill from bill.com, which a lot of people, a brand lot of people are very familiar with it, a lot of accountants use it. So it's has a lot of market penetration, a lot of market awareness and recognition. So I wanna talk about how that went. I mean, I could just say, just talk about it for a while, <laugh>, but I mean, what was the process like? Maybe we start with how did you determine that you wanted to rebrand?
Sarah Acton (
First off, I'll just say what an amazing opportunity to be able to come in and do that work across the organization. But really it started with the foundation of Bill is incredibly rich and everything from our CEO and founder, Rene Lacerte, being a fourth-generation entrepreneur, to the work that's been done with the community of SMBs over the years, there is a richness and an authenticity that honestly a lot of brands would be envious about. I imagine those, and those are such amazing ingredients because you can't create those. They're hard-earned. And part of the journey that we were on is looking at the mean history, this authenticity about who we are serve, and then looking at our business ambitions, our aspirations, and seeing an opportunity to evolve the brand to better reflect and capture where we're headed and what we look to achieve in the space and who we look to serve.
(
And that was everything from tapping into some of the humanity that exists. Yes, we are a B2B company, but there are humans on all sides of this. It is everything that we're doing is about serving the needs of somebody on the other side who is trying to build or shape or grow this business that they care very much about. And that humanity, that core of our story is an incredible asset and one that we could better capitalize on. And so as we started this process, having that realization and seeing that opportunity, we then went about the work of actually beginning to understand, 'OK, how do we want to evolve some of those signals were there that we talked about earlier, but how do we want to evolve?' And so we kind of went down a process where we started with our mission, our purpose why do we exist, why does that matter?
(
Why is it unique? And then looking at who are our customers, what problems are they looking for us to solve? How can we better serve them? And then across the organization, it was a cross-functional effort. Brand strategy may be shepherded by the marketing organization, but the brand itself is owned by the entirety of the organization because it is the sum of all of those experiences. So our customer support agents, our sales folks, those are huge manifestations of our brand. And so we worked cross-functionally, and then we really thought about how do we articulate the vision of where we're headed from a messaging perspective. And then we made sure that our customers were part of that story. As part of our activation in market, we got to celebrate the stories of Sarah from Repurpose and Juan from Bear Robotics. So being able to bring our customers which again comes full circle when we go back to our purpose, it all comes full circle of why we exist and the opportunity for us in the market.
Dan Hood (
But we dive into some of the sort very specifics did from the beginning of this process that you were looking at, 'Hey, we're gonna need a new name or a changed version of our name.' At what point did you say, 'OK, these are all the components we're gonna be looking at.' As we said, you can do small things, you could do big, big, big. How you know or what point did you decide that it was gonna be a fairly big one?
Sarah Acton (
Yeah, I try to not come in with preconceived ideas and really just look at the process of evolving the brand strategy, which again is in service of our business strategy. It is not independent of that. It is in service of our business strategy. And looked at signals both internally and externally about where we had opportunities to evolve the brand forward and everything from our name and choosing to drop the .com to better reflect our aspirations and move us into this next era for Bill to evolving our look and feel. And some of the way that we think about voice and tone to bring in some of that humanity. All of those are levers and based on what we were trying to achieve and what we believe the opportunity to be. Some of those levers that can be the right time and sometimes not. And so there's a little bit of art and science that goes into deciding when. And the last thing I will say is it's also really important to understand where you've come from. So I have watched throughout my career sometimes as we think about those missteps, sometimes they're based on not understanding some heritage or not understanding roots of a brand. And so understanding those roots was really important to ensuring that we're moving the brand in the right direction going forward.
Dan Hood (
Gotcha. I just have one more sort of detailed question and then we'll just get some big broad lessons, cuz that was a good one about understanding where you've been. It's obviously gotta be crucial and it sort of ties to that, which is, as I said, for a lot of accounting firms, when we see Rebrandings, a lot of what it is is moving away from that 15 name list of founding partners which had been for a long time, a very standard way of naming accounting firms. When you went to look at the rebranding was it pretty much just a question of, Hey, will we go from Bill.com to Bill, or did you look in a broad range of names? Because we're seeing some very interesting names come out in accounting firms where they're not tied to any kind of names. Forvis, for instance, BKD and Dixon Hughes [Goodman] used to be, it's short for 'Forward vision,' which is a very unusual name and a neat concept. And they've got a lot of great branding. I mentioned Aprio, which is I think it's from an Italian word, but it's not anybody's name. And that's the point, the firm that uses that name. So were you always thinking, Hey, we could have any name, or was it really just this little tweak that's not a little tweak? It's actually from a branding perspective, that's a huge, but from letter perspective, it's only three letters. So was that, was there a thinking about that when you went in?
Sarah Acton (
We did, again, trying not to come in with preconceived ideas, sort of looked at what are we trying to achieve. At the end of the day, all of the names and visual identity and voice and tone, they're all instruments in service of a business outcome, a business objective. And so we looked at name as one of those instruments. And I think for us, there's such heritage in the brand and a value that's been created in the market that it wasn't the right decision for us to leave that, we wanted to bring that forward, but do it in a way that met our business objectives and captured the opportunity that's ahead of us. And so we had that, the eyes and ears open, but in doing the strategy work and understanding our why and the opportunity came to the conclusion that there was, there's heritage in Bill that that's incredibly valuable and we want to hang onto it.
Dan Hood (
Right, so I'm just going to roughly sum up some of these big lessons, right? Obviously tie it to your strategy. You wanna make sure that it matches what your strategy is. You wanna talk pretty broadly across both inside the organization to get to everybody's input, but also to bring in some sense of the clients or the customer base, how they're feeling about the brand and what they expect from it, want from it keeping true to or keeping at least aware of your heritage, where you come from, what you've been doing. Any other major lessons?
Sarah Acton (
I mentioned art and science. There will always be art and science to this work. It's part of what I find so rewarding and intellectually stimulating. And I would encourage people to not lean away from the art part. There are all of your firms, they have an intuitive sense of their businesses and listen to that. There's always the science piece. Use that too. But there is value in the intuition that all your listeners have and hang onto
Dan Hood (
It. Excellent. Right. Respect the magic. Excellent. Very cool. Right. Sarah Acton of Bill, thank you so much for joining us.
Sarah Acton (
Thank you for having me.
Dan Hood (
And thank you all for listening. This episode of On the Air was produced by Accounting Today with audio production by Kevin Parise. Ready to review us on your favorite podcast platform and see the rest of our content on accountingtoday.com. Thanks again to our guests and thank you for listening.