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Tired of the negative press about “creative accounting” arising from the slew of corporate scandals in recent years, the Certified Management Accountants of Canada is launching a new brand platform to put “Creative Accountants” in a better light.
CMA came up with the Creative Accountants concept in conjunction with Toronto ad agency TBWA and media partner PHD Canada.
“It’s about reclaiming the word ‘creative’ which is a core value of the CMA program and casting it in a positive light where it belongs alongside ‘accountants’,” said David Fletcher, vice-president of public affairs for CMA Canada, in a press release.
As part of its effort to stop people from using “creative accounting” as a pejorative, CMA launched a series of public notices on TV, radio, in print and online on Monday and is sending letters to newspaper editors asking them not to use the term creative when referring to accountants who have committed fraud.
“It’s just mind boggling to us that, of all the lowlifes, crooks and frauds out there in the world, only the bad apples in accounting are called ‘creative’,” states the letter. “What about other criminals? People who steal cars, are they ‘Creative Travelers’? What about bank robbers? Are they ‘Creative Withdrawers’?”
The CMA even plans to change the definition of “Creative Accountants” on Wikipedia (though late yesterday the definition still focused on the negative connotation). Next week TBWA will also begin wild postings advertising the new brand platform.
John Roumelis, one of the account leaders at TBWA Toronto, said the campaign reflects how members of the CMA are very holistic in their thinking and innovative in all aspects of business.
He said TBWA also tried to make the campaign as creative as possible, in order to reflect the brand.
“Because we were discussing creativity, we felt we had to reflect creativity in our campaign,” Roumelis said.
The campaign has already started a buzz with CMA members, he said. “Some people love it, some people don’t. But it’s certainly creating dialogue, which we think is important.”
This first phase of the campaign will run through June and July. A new phase in September will continue to promote the Creative Accountant brand with television ads and print testimonials from creative accountants.
