Joe Torre Goes To Bat As Celebrity Spokesman For JH Cohn; $6 Million Deal Aimed At Long-Term...

J.H. Cohn is hoping for a grand slam with Joe Torre on its team.

The firm, based in Roseland, N. J., hired the celebrated New York Yankees manager to pitch for the firm on its home field - the New York metropolitan market- in a new $6 million advertising campaign that will be spread over three

CEO Tom Marino wanted a marketing campaign that would help the firm prepare for the slow-down of SOX 404 work while continuing to brand it as the leading regional firm in the New York market. He hired Jim Simon, managing partner of Strategic Marketing Consultants Inc. of Morris Plains, N.J., to investigate how clients and the market viewed J.H. Conn, which has FY06 net revenue of $143.4 million, 96 partners, 722 total staff and eight offices.

"We actually posted ads for every national and regional firm in our board room and realized they all look the same," Marino tells IPA. "We wanted to do something different.

Simon interviewed employees and conducted focus groups with clients and prospects. One question he asked: If you had to describe the firm as a public figure, who would it be? "Torre's name kept coming up time and time again, because he's hard-working, a quiet team player, has excellent technical skills, and takes care of his team and its constituencies. He also embodies J.H. Conn's geographic market: the metro New York area," Marino said.

In December, the firm signed Torre as its pitchman. The move marks the first time - at least in recent memory - that an accounting firm is using a celebrity spokesperson. Officials at JHC hope that by borrowing a page from the tried-and-true techniques of product marketing, Torre will do for the firm what George Foreman does for indoor grills, what Ed McMahon does for Publishers Clearinghouse, and what Catherine ZetaJones does for T-Mobile.

J.H. Cohn Outran Spring Training For Torre's Time

Once the firm decided to hire Torre, it had to act fast so Torre could complete his spokesman duties before spring training. Torre lived up to his end of the bargain. Radio scripts needed quick approval, and Torre and his agent turned them around within 48 hours. He was at the recording studio and photo shoots on time and fully prepared. By the Yankees' opening day, JHC ads featuring Torre were splashed on mass transit displays and on public telephone kiosks. Radio spots were airing on drive-time shows and wrapped around news spots. Print ads were appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Grain's New York Business and CFO magazine.

The advertising campaign featuring Torre isn't meant to generate immediate results, says Marino. "It's a campaign to drive the brand and awareness of the firm, not sales," says Marino. "We want name recognition among upper middle-market companies in our market and their CFOs."

The message of the Torre campaign: JHC is part of the client's team that provides a breadth of services and a depth of support.

Torre takes that message seriously. He insisted on becoming a JHC client when he took the role as spokesman, beginning by having the firm do some estate planning work for him.

The firm wanted Torre to come to its annual partners meeting to discuss his role in the campaign, but he couldn't make it due to spring training.

Instead, he created a video for Marino to screen at the partners meeting. In it, Torre wears a J.H. Cohn baseball cap. Identical caps were give to partners and staff when the campaign kicked off.

Because the campaign is meant to raise long-term awareness about JHC rather than generate sales, it's difficult to measure the campaign's success, says Marketing Director Maria Bice. The firm plans another focus group and possibly a survey to generate feedback about the ads. It also created a system so that inquiries stemming from the ads are filtered to a specific person.

Bringing Torre on board as the JHC spokesman "helped energize the firm," Marino said. "It's also getting great play on campus and with clients." The management board almost immediately embraced the idea, Marino added. "The members saw what they could expect, the cost, the vision, the risk and the reward almost instantly. Line partner were a little more skeptical, but 98% are on board. I'm guessing that the other 2% are Mets fans."