Software Firm Tweaks Rivals in New Campaign

Posted on by Chief Marketer Staff

ACCPAC International Inc., a developer of accounting and customer service software, has launched a $10 million campaign to generate leads and poke fun at its competitors.

Space ads began appearing in accounting and information technology trade magazines like CPA Software News, Accounting Technology, Accounting Today and Information Week in September, said Susan Sheridan, ACCPAC’s vice president of marketing. Each ad contains the firm’s Web address (www.accpac.com) but offers only product information.

At deadline, the Pleasanton, CA company was set to send out a direct mail campaign consisting of slightly less than 1 million pieces. The target audience included accounting and financial managers and IT executives in companies ranging in size from $5 million to $500 million in annual volume, said Sheridan.

The campaign will run in the United States and Canada through the rest of this year. In January it will go international, with mailings to South Africa, Australia, Singapore, India, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The ads and mailing pieces are designed to generate leads for over 3,000 ACCPAC resellers worldwide.

ACCPAC’s software generally costs between $2,500 for simple applications to $100,000 or better for more complicated ones.

In addition to touting these products, the ads make sport of the firm’s competitors. The first set of ads provide lengthy tongue-in-cheek instructions on how software companies such as SAP and Siebel might approach simple tasks such as eating a pizza (first, fly to Italy) or drinking a glass of milk (hire a gaggle of agricultural dairy consultants).

The ads contrast these complicated approaches with ACCPAC’s message of being instantly available: Call a restaurant, order pizza and enjoy; pour milk from carton into glass and drink up.

Sheridan did not disclose any sales goals for this campaign. “We really just want to raise awareness of our brand,” she said.

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