Why patience paid off for Quickbooks and marketing agency Hearts & Science in the ‘Backing You’ campaign

The ROI on the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is similar to the ROI on a brand campaign, in one way at least—sometimes it's good to those who wait. "Unfortunately, you can't optimize Cannes the way you can optimize a campaign in real time," says Hearts & Science CEO Erin Matts. "The payoff is sometimes months or years later." Matts' client, QuickBooks Global Brand Marketing Director Michelle Taite, who chats with Ad Age at Cannes, argues that's not entirely different from a campaign. "We track long- and short-term [performance]," Taite says, noting not everything "happens over night." While agencies and clients can track short-term success in how many impressions, interactions, views, etc., a campaign garners, in real time, the effect it has on business results—and brand recognition takes time. For example, QuickBooks' "Backing You" campaign—iterations of which have featured Danny DeVito—launched in 2017 by Heats & Science and TBWA\Chiat\Day, and helped the brand gain recognition among "those who work for themselves, small businesses, the self-employed," Taite says. That, however, took longer "shifts in attribution."

Why patience paid off for Quickbooks and marketing agency Hearts & Science in the ‘Backing You’ campaign

Featured Stories