Company: Intuit, Inc.
Contact: Gretchen Harding, senior marketing manager at Intuit
Location: Mountain View, CA
Industry: Software (Accounting), B2B
Annual revenue: $2,670,000,000
Number of employees: 8200

Quick Read

Inspired by the popularity and viral success of Office Max's "Elf Yourself" campaign, Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks, recently set out to determine whether a similar strategy might enhance its marketing efforts and creatively engage small-business customers.

Together with interactive agency EVB, the company developed "The Jingle Generator" to assist users in creating customized business jingles, which can then be forwarded to customers/colleagues and downloaded for future use.

Throughout the program, users are encouraged to learn more about the company's QuickBooks product and download a free version of the software in exchange for accepting communications from the Intuit sales team.

To date, more than 25,000 jingles have been created, and the company has exceeded its targeted metrics for usage and free software downloads (i.e., leads), earning viral a secure spot in the company's overall marketing mix.

Challenge

Intuit Inc. is a provider of business and financial management solutions, including QuickBooks software products.

Traditionally, the company has used direct marketing and Web promotions on its retail sites to publicize the QuickBooks product. In 2008, however, Intuit aspired to reach potential customers—especially hard-to-reach Generation X/Y small-business owners—through alternate means that would also test viral marketing as an effective technique for engaging this audience.

"We were really looking for something to break through the clutter with small business customers," said Gretchen Harding, senior marketing manager at Intuit. "Accounting has the reputation of not being the most fun thing you can do, and small-business people are real people who are not only focused on that piece of the business. We wanted something with a lighter attitude that would allow them to have fun."

Campaign

Inspired by the popularity and viral success of Office Max's "Elf Yourself" campaign, Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks, in August 2008 launched an online campaign developed in cooperation with San Francisco-based interactive agency EVB.

The campaign revolves around the Jingle Generator, an interactive Web site designed to help small businesses create custom jingles. On the site, users select from a list of 20 industries for which special lyrics have been created to the tune of "Your Love" by The Outfield. Users then supply basic information to be incorporated into their jingles: company name, address, phone number, and URL—all of which can be either recorded by phone or entered on the site using the "text to voice" option.

Fictional character Tommy Silk, who epitomizes the '80s rock star—Intuit's attempt to "reach into the experience of many core customers" but also make it "'campy' enough to appeal to a younger audience," according to Harding—leads users through the process then presents them with their "tracks" along with cassette-sized cover art.

Users can then download their jingles for various uses (including company messaging, ringtones, etc.), forward them on to friends, and upload to social-networking profiles.

Throughout the site, several links to "Learn more about QuickBooks" or "Get back to business with free stuff from QuickBooks" connect users to a page where they can find out more about the bookkeeping software and download a free version (in exchange for permission to receive communications from Intuit).

In addition, QuickBooks packaging is placed in plain view in various scenes during the jingle-making process, and a couple of comments from Tommy Silk—such as "Got a lot of time of your hands? So do I now that I've been using QuickBooks"—plug the software while users enter their information on the site.

To promote the Jingle Generator, Intuit has used a variety of organic social-marketing techniques, including the following:

• Blogger outreach: Intuit contacted bloggers with whom it already had working relationships to share the campaign story.
• Participation on forums and blogs: The company also joined in conversations on forums and blogs that relate to small-business issues, '80s music, social marketing, etc. Company representatives aim to add value to the conversation when posting responses and do not solely promote the site.
• Social-networking sites: The company posted a video on YouTube, and profile pages for Tommy Silk were established on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Participating Intuit team members help build awareness by adding Tommy as a friend or follower to their personal networks and "re-tweeting" Tommy's posts.
• Shared examples: Early in the campaign, employees were encouraged to create their own custom jingles on the site and forward them to friends and family members, especially small-business owners, who might have an interest in the software.

In addition, the Jingle Generator site has been featured on 30+ Intuit Web sites, and about two months into the campaign the company invested in a media buy on YouTube, using both search and in-video ads to link users to the campaign's YouTube video and JingleGenerator.com.

Results