Case Study · Brand Revitalization & Integrated Strategy
Accounting+
Reinventing the image of an entire profession — for a generation that had already written it off.
Reinventing the image of an entire profession — for a generation that had already written it off.
Accounting had a brand crisis. Among Gen Z — and especially multicultural students — the profession was perceived as rigid, boring, and irrelevant. These weren't casual impressions. They were deeply entrenched, anchored in outdated stereotypes that failed to reflect what accounting had actually become: dynamic, entrepreneurial, and central to innovation and social impact.
For multicultural students specifically, the gap was structural. They were less likely to know an accountant personally, less likely to see themselves represented in the profession's marketing, and therefore less likely to consider it at all — compressing the pipeline before it could even form.
The challenge wasn't just awareness. It called for an entire reinvention of accounting.
The strategy required meeting Gen Z where they actually lived — not where legacy recruitment efforts assumed they did. That meant moving beyond broad demographics into behavioral psychographics, and building a presence across the cultural ecosystems Gen Z trusts: Teen Vogue, Hypebeast, Refinery29, Twitch, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube.
Moved beyond broad demographics into behavioral psychographics. Built a multi-platform presence inside the spaces Gen Z actually trusts — Teen Vogue, Hypebeast, Refinery29, Twitch, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube. These weren't media buys — they were culturally embedded narratives that reframed accounting through the lens of creativity, style, and ambition.
The execution was fully integrated: research, strategy, creative development, content, paid media, social, email, experiential, and partnerships — all mapped to a multi-year journey from high school awareness through professional action. Once students entered the ecosystem, tailored content drove exploration and actionable resources converted interest into next steps.
Students who signed up received personalized dashboards and monthly updates based on their life stage, and could be connected directly to partner firms to explore specific career pathways. The strategy shifted from mass awareness to a sustained relationship — keeping students in the ecosystem long enough for perception to change.
I developed creative strategy rooted in cultural insights and partnerships that lived inside Gen Z's existing world. Two concepts illustrate the approach:
Gen Z uses style to express individuality, and Depop's community already values the flexibility and creativity that modern accounting offers but rarely communicates. Accountants told their career stories through their personal style — digital lookbooks, a pop-up activation, and a live event where accounting professionals styled their way into conversation.
If gamified learning could make French or Spanish feel approachable and addictive, the same model could introduce students to the real skills behind accounting — communication, problem-solving, collaboration — without the baggage of legacy perception. An in-app module where students unlocked accounting skills level by level, earning rewards and surprising facts about the profession.