QuickBooks
Master Your Business
Role: Creative Direction & Art Direction
Brand: Intuit QuickBooks
Production Agency: Wayang work + Superside
Background
QuickBooks Advanced sits in a unique market position, as a mid-market product for firms that are too big for Xero, MYOB and other cloud accounting software, but find ERP software like NetSuite, SAP, MD365, Sage, etc too expensive. We launched an advanced campaign in the APAC region to capitalise on this unique market.
Insight
Across many APAC cultures, a deep reverence exists for masters—individuals possessing profound wisdom, experience, and often a seemingly magical ability to influence outcomes. These masters are sought out for their strategic foresight and their unique tools or techniques that bring prosperity and balance, especially in business where success can feel tied to more than just hard work.
Idea
The campaign portrays a mysterious, revered "master" who seemingly controls the fate of businesses with subtle gestures and an enigmatic gaze. This master's true power is later revealed not as ancient magic, but as the modern, sophisticated capabilities of QuickBooks Online Advanced, the ultimate tool that allows accountants to truly master their clients' financial destinies.
Impacts
371million impressions
1.44 million ad clicks
97.8% ad completion rate on Spotify sitting above 14x the benchmark.
Background
QuickBooks Advanced sits in a unique market position, as a mid-market product for firms that are too big for Xero, MYOB and other cloud accounting software, but find ERP software like NetSuite, SAP, MD365, Sage, etc too expensive. We launched an advanced campaign in the APAC region to capitalise on this unique market.
Insight
Across many APAC cultures, a deep reverence exists for masters—individuals possessing profound wisdom, experience, and often a seemingly magical ability to influence outcomes. These masters are sought out for their strategic foresight and their unique tools or techniques that bring prosperity and balance, especially in business where success can feel tied to more than just hard work.
Idea
Our campaign portrays a mysterious, revered "master" who seemingly controls the fate of businesses with subtle gestures and an enigmatic gaze. This master's true power is later revealed not as ancient magic, but as the modern, sophisticated capabilities of QuickBooks Online Advanced, the ultimate tool that allows accountants to truly master their clients' financial destinies.
Impacts
371million impressions
1.44 million ad clicks
97.8% ad completion rate on Spotify sitting above 14x the benchmark.
Background
QuickBooks Advanced sits in a unique market position, as a mid-market product for firms that are too big for Xero, MYOB and other cloud accounting software, but find ERP software like NetSuite, SAP, MD365, Sage, etc too expensive. We launched an advanced campaign in the APAC region to capitalise on this unique market.
Insight
Across many APAC cultures, a deep reverence exists for masters—individuals possessing profound wisdom, experience, and often a seemingly magical ability to influence outcomes. These masters are sought out for their strategic foresight and their unique tools or techniques that bring prosperity and balance, especially in business where success can feel tied to more than just hard work.
Idea
Our campaign portrays a mysterious, revered "master" who seemingly controls the fate of businesses with subtle gestures and an enigmatic gaze. This master's true power is later revealed not as ancient magic, but as the modern, sophisticated capabilities of QuickBooks Online Advanced, the ultimate tool that allows accountants to truly master their clients' financial destinies.
Impacts
371million impressions
1.44 million ad clicks
97.8% ad completion rate on Spotify sitting above 14x the benchmark.
Background
QuickBooks Advanced sits in a unique market position, as a mid-market product for firms that are too big for Xero, MYOB and other cloud accounting software, but find ERP software like NetSuite, SAP, MD365, Sage, etc too expensive. We launched an advanced campaign in the APAC region to capitalise on this unique market.
Insight
Across many APAC cultures, a deep reverence exists for masters—individuals possessing profound wisdom, experience, and often a seemingly magical ability to influence outcomes. These masters are sought out for their strategic foresight and their unique tools or techniques that bring prosperity and balance, especially in business where success can feel tied to more than just hard work.
Idea
Our campaign portrays a mysterious, revered "master" who seemingly controls the fate of businesses with subtle gestures and an enigmatic gaze. This master's true power is later revealed not as ancient magic, but as the modern, sophisticated capabilities of QuickBooks Online Advanced, the ultimate tool that allows accountants to truly master their clients' financial destinies.
Impacts
371million impressions
1.44 million ad clicks
97.8% ad completion rate on Spotify sitting above 14x the benchmark.
Background
QuickBooks Advanced sits in a unique market position, as a mid-market product for firms that are too big for Xero, MYOB and other cloud accounting software, but find ERP software like NetSuite, SAP, MD365, Sage, etc too expensive. We launched an advanced campaign in the APAC region to capitalise on this unique market.
Insight
Across many APAC cultures, a deep reverence exists for masters—individuals possessing profound wisdom, experience, and often a seemingly magical ability to influence outcomes. These masters are sought out for their strategic foresight and their unique tools or techniques that bring prosperity and balance, especially in business where success can feel tied to more than just hard work.
Idea
Our campaign portrays a mysterious, revered "master" who seemingly controls the fate of businesses with subtle gestures and an enigmatic gaze. This master's true power is later revealed not as ancient magic, but as the modern, sophisticated capabilities of QuickBooks Online Advanced, the ultimate tool that allows accountants to truly master their clients' financial destinies.
Impacts
371million impressions
1.44 million ad clicks
97.8% ad completion rate on Spotify sitting above 14x the benchmark.
How I delivered
1. Finding Clarity in the Unknown
Launching in an unfamiliar market meant navigating massive uncertainty. To anchor our strategy, I led observational studies of mid-market accounting firms to decode their switching triggers. Pairing AI analysis with recorded sessions turned raw behaviour into sharp, actionable insights.
2. Proving the Concept
To ensure our creative direction hit the mark, we tested early concepts directly with our audience. I facilitated APAC focus groups using animated storyboards to measure engagement and recall, successfully validating the product's value proposition before diving into full production.
3. Creative art direction from across the globe
Bringing this global campaign to life meant managing filming in Malaysia and post-production in South Africa from Sydney. Navigating extreme timezone gaps, I provided live, late-night art direction during the shoot to ensure our creative vision remained entirely uncompromised.
4. End-to-End Delivery
II steered the production and delivery of a multi-channel asset suite. Leading our internal Sydney team while managing external production partners like Wayang Works and Superside, I used rigorous project management to keep all deliverables flawlessly on brand and schedule.
Research and creative strategy
I recruited accountants from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, where 50% currently use QuickBooks and 50% use competitor tools.
We asked them a series of deep questions to understand the accounting landscape in their markets, which would inform us on the best way to creatively advertise QuickBooks Online Advanced in APAC.
I focused on 9 key areas in our customer research:
1. Client industries
2. Current accounting methods and how they feel about them
3. What matters most when choosing accounting software
4. What stops them from switching
5. Reasons to recommend a new accounting tool
6. How they help clients scale their businesses
7. What’s stopping clients from achieving their goals
8. Perception of QuickBooks as a brand
9. Perception of QBOAV and its ideal customer
Main learnings
Loyalty vs. Pain Points: Accountants are loyal to familiar software, but specific pain points (e.g., e-invoicing, bank feeds, user roles) can force a re-evaluation.
Migration Hurdle: Fear of costly, time-consuming, and inaccurate data migration is the biggest barrier to switching software.
Regional Gaps: Global accounting software must better adapt to local needs and compliance, as regional solutions are often more responsive.
UX Over Features: User experience, including ease of use for clients, intuitive interface, and platform speed, often matters more than an extensive list of advanced features.
Advisory Drives Choice: Accountants providing consulting prioritise software with flexible reporting that supports their value-added advisory services.
AI/Automation Desire: There's a growing demand for AI-driven automation, particularly for tasks like auto-categorisation, to significantly reduce manual data entry.
"Advanced" Perception: QuickBooks Online Advanced's purpose isn't universally clear; it's often seen as for larger or functionally specific businesses, with pricing noted as a concern.
Summary
Accountants are hesitant to switch accounting software due to deep-seated loyalty and the significant challenge of data migration. This is despite acknowledging current pain points and a strong desire for better user experience, flexible reporting, and advanced AI automation tailored to specific regional needs.
Concept proofing
I started by creating animatic versions of our concepts using AI, bringing the storyboards to life in a low fidelity fashion. We recruited participants to understand the impact of our ads with accountants in APAC. We focused on 7 key areas in our research:
First impression
Clarity of messaging
Relevance to the audience
Brand perception
- Believability
Purchase intent
Recall
The learning
While the focus group loved what they saw, digging into the data revealed our next big opportunity.
The Pivot: It turns out, catching eyeballs isn't the same as closing deals—viewers were hyped but hesitant to hit "buy." In a crowded market, being "online and easy to use" is just the baseline. To actually convert curiosity into customers, we realized we needed to loudly champion our unique features and give switchers a undeniable reason to make the leap.
Summary
Based on the outcome and reactions from the focus group, the concept resonates to most of our participants including 4 of our Australian participants. The messaging is clear but features highlighted in the ad have mixed reaction, subjective to our participant’s need.
Colour grading
I enhanced each shot to ensure our colourist gets the most accurate reference for post production
Creative Executions
244 full funnel creative assets were delivered for this campaign across five APAC countries, including Youtube videos, Spotify audio, DOOH, display banners, press ads, social statics and activation stands.
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