Independent creative agency Connecting Plots had to solve the problem that enrolments to study accounting at a tertiary level are on a steep decline, having almost halved since 2018, for Chartered Accountants’ new long-term brand platform 'Make Things Happen'.
According to Department of Education data, in Australia the number of tertiary students studying accounting has declined by 25% over the last five years.
“This comes as demand for accountants in Australia and New Zealand is on the rise. ABS data suggests that, based on current forecasts, there will be a need of an additional 31,000 accountants in Australia by the end of 2028,” Chartered Accountants CMO Chelsea Wymer told AdNews.
This became the impetus for the accounting body’s latest brand strategy, which is a bid to bring about change for the profession and appeal to younger demographics.
Addressing this challenge, Chartered Accountants embarked on a multi-year strategy to make a career in accounting more desirable and to future-proof its CA Program pipeline.
The company identified two intertwined issues. The first, Wymer says, is perception. The next generation of talent thinks an accounting career doesn’t align with their career aspirations.
“The second issue is the pipeline itself, which is decreasing as fewer students commence accounting degrees, which has been the traditional pathway to the CA Program,” she says.
In February and March 2024, CA surveyed more than 2,500 people between the ages of 12 and 25 to understand their perceptions of a career in accounting.
“From this we learned that only one in 10 high school students surveyed would consider a career in accounting," Wymer says.
And when asked what comes to mind when considering a career in accounting, high school students think ‘it’s all about maths’ (60%), ‘a desk job’ (60%), ‘a boring job’ (53%) and ‘repetitive’ (48%).
“So we knew the perception of the accounting profession was something we needed to change."
Make Things Happen aims to show students how a career in accounting could help turn these passions into their career.
Connecting Plots creative partner Matt Geersen says Gen Z are some of the most fiercely passionate people about their interests, so when it comes to choosing a career, they want to feel like they're making an impact on the world, and doing so through something they genuinely care about.
“The younger generation think of accounting as a boring desk job, but the reality is that every industry and successful business in the world has accountants working in the background,” he says.
“We picked four of the most relevant passion points to our audience - gaming, music, sport and the environment to show the impact Chartered Accountants have in making epic things happen. We flipped the script by positioning them as the heroes of these stories, rather than someone working behind the scenes in the shadow of others' success.”
The platform’s development wasn’t without its challenges. First, CA had to understand both the problem and how to solve it. The team knew that some Gen Z’s had a negative perception of accounting, but this wasn’t the entire issue, Wymer says.
“Some Gen Z didn’t have an opinion at all – they simply didn’t know what an accountant is or does. Second, we needed to think about accounting in a non-traditional way for it to resonate with our audience,” she says.
“We’re speaking to an audience who might not understand accounting, so we needed to move away from using traditional accounting roles and descriptions and make them relevant to our audience. And finally, we had to think outside our own bubble and ways of speaking to appeal to a new type of audience – one that doesn’t consume media in a traditional way.
Geersen says it's also important to remember the audience when developing a platform aimed at shifting perceptions.
“There's a fine line when it comes to speaking their language and not trying too hard to force your way in. You need to inspire without trying to come across dictatorial or preaching,” he says.
Until now, CA has been working on setting the foundations for the long-term play; building its strategy, getting a creative idea in place, identifying key partners, engaging key stakeholders and influencers and helping to create tools and resources for everyone to use.
“This campaign forms part of phase two – our inspiration phase. We're looking to inspire our audience about what a career in accounting might look like so they consider it,” Wymer says.
“From here, we have further media partnerships and content programs planned which will build the understanding of a career in accounting, as well as reinforce our inspiring message of making epic things happen with a career in accounting.”
The next few phases of the campaign will see both the client and agency activating more directly with teens to provide deeper information and tools to guide them on the steps they can take to pursue their passions with a career in accounting, Geersen says.
“We'll have a strong presence in student career fairs and university opens, as well as a richer content experience on the CA website with more true-to-life stories that further develop understanding of what Chartered Accountants bring to the table beyond just numbers.”
For Wymer and the CA team, their initial KPIs for the platform are built around reaching a new audience and amplifying CA as a brand.
“We want to get Gen Z to consider a career in accounting; we are aiming for a 10% uplift in consideration at a high school audience and reaching more than 50% of the Gen Z audience in Australia and New Zealand with our messages,” she says.
“As the platform becomes more developed, we’ll build a pipeline of students which we can encourage to join our student membership, engage in our other programs and encourage to study and work in the accounting profession.”
The end goal is increasing membership numbers, Geersen says.
“But we've approached this with a good things take time mentality - seeking long term nurturing and brand building over short membership spikes with no lasting effects.”
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