In 2020, Aider began the process of merging with Tet, an established accounting firm that had been taking the lead on automation and streamlining for several years. The two companies felt that together they could take on the entire industry and create real and lasting change.
Every good accountant runs on cloud these days, meaning their focus has shifted towards automation, integrations, AI, smart solutions – and consulting.
In fact, a good accountant is not an accountant at all anymore – they are high-level business consultants that help their clients make faster, better, and more valuable decisions – on the fly.
Decisions that will create growth and future success at the same time uncovering interesting business opportunities. As a result, the accounting business suddenly became more interesting. For everyone. And Aider, was one of the first companies to really grasp this opportunity.
In 2020, Aider began the process of merging with Tet. As a part of Tet’s integral strategy, they previously acquired several smaller accounting firms and developers to broaden their geographic scope and service offering.
Aider, being a startup, was in the midst of finalizing their market entry year – in which it already managed to get noticed for winning large accounts by means of their fresh approach to accounting.
The two companies felt that together they could take on the entire industry and create real and lasting change. They wanted to show young professionals that accounting can be exciting and that this industry is the place to be. Especially if you are an ambitious and innovative professional that has a desire of working in business development, tech and numbers.
Aider approached The Brand Project to help them shape their new brand strategy after the merger. An internal brand audit was conducted first – where various stakeholders of the board, the management team, and employee representatives around the country were interviewed.
What characterized the two brands up until now? What areas were they alike, and how did the cultures differ? How did the two companies approach the market and clients? Based on this insight, opportunities and pitfalls were mapped out, and a set of strategic recommendations for moving forward were developed.
The two management teams were summoned to collaborate on creating a common, ambitous and next generation brand for the “new Aider”.
A set of collaborative sessions pushing and challenging Aider to think outside of the box were intitated and defined crucial elements of their brand platform including purpose, vision and mission, as well as archetype and personality. Culture – being a main driver for this new venture was addressed by establishing values and focus, as well as creating a perspective on executing on their mission.
This process resulted in an ambitious growth strategy for Aider, ready to take on – and win – the future.
The new company has ambitions to truly push the industry forward through cutting-edge digital solutions, best-in-class customer relations, and recruiting top talent of the industry.
Aider plans to be the next generation accounting firm, believing that tomorrow’s accountants are advisors – and that numbers are just half the story. For this company, the only way, is forward.
This core brand philosophy inspired a new design identity which was based on Tet’s previous graphic profile (done by the Oslo-based design agency, Bly). Aider 2.0 wanted to keep elements of both brands while at the same time becoming fresh, bold and ambitious.
The brand strategy was brought to life with the line: the world has no interest in just another accounting firm – and that’s why we are so much more.
Internal activation firstThe new brand strategy was kicked off internally with a hybrid event where we had all the local offices gathered at different hotels throughout the country to follow the live stream of the kick-off from the Hub in Oslo (in collaboration with Spring Event). During the event, the new strategy and logo were revealed, and followed-up with implementation workshops throughout the day.
Integrated marketing campaignsIntegrated marketing campaigns launched in the fall of 2020 that included a multi-channel approach to interactive boards, printed ads, podcasts, and social media campaigns executed locally and nationally.
Strong results across the boardWe continue to work closely with Aider today in their pursuit of redefining the accounting and finance industry with brand activation and customer journey perspectives and the company is experiencing a very healthy and speedy growth curve since its new inception, clearly outperforming the industry average in the country.