1. The Evolution of Marketing at MNP
Randy J. Mowat
Senior Vice President, Marketing
PRIME Symposium 2014

2. RANDY MOWAT Joined MNP in 1997 Admitted as Equity Partner in 2003
Member of MNP’s Senior Management and Operations Teams
Responsible for all marketing related activities, including brand
development and promotion, market planning, production and market
facing communication.
Works closely with clients, service and regional business units
Very proud of our team who have won numerous national and
international marketing awards .

3. ABOUT MNP MNP… is the fifth largest firm in Canada
targets mid-market clients
offers services in accounting, consulting and tax
has more than 75 offices located in large urban and midsized rural cities
has 590 partners and more than 3,300 staff
boasts an annual growth rate of more than 10%
is a member of Praxity
In Quebec we operate in English and French language.

4. ABOUT MNP - CLIENTS
Our industry expertise and market insight is a business advantage.
Specialized markets and client groups include:
Aboriginals
Agriculture
Asia
Credit Unions
Construction
Real Estate
Food Processing
Manufacturing
Mining
Not For Profit
Oil Field Services
Public Companies
Private Enterprise
Professionals
Public Sector
We are a niched practice - we segment our marketplace by the client groups that are present in our markets: Oil & Gas in the west, Ag on the prairies, Forestry on the Coast...etc
like this approach, it enable us to be deep in commitment, knowledge and expertise of the market segments we operate in and develop “famous people” in each client group.

5. ABOUT MNP - GOVERNANCE Governance is a Matrix structure
Corporate model, partnership culture
Governance is a Matrix structure
Includes, location, client groups and service lines
Each region, service and client group has a national leader
Each business unit leverages all firm resources - no silos
Our culture, values and governance sets us apart from other firms in Canada
MNP has a Matrix model of Geography (offices), Services and Client groups - Each area has a national leader with regional teams, which makes effective to plan and manage business units.

6. DON PENNY
“We are building a firm that is unique and different and in order to do this effectively, we are going to need marketing”
CEO 1984 – 1998
Why MNP has marketing ....Business case for the role...
From the late 1980s to the mid 1990s - MNP experienced significant growth primarily though mergers. Fees had
increased 10 x and the number of partners had increased from 17 to 92, bringing new skills and services to the
firm.
We had 26 office across Western Canada, and we were just getting started!
In 1996, our CEO realized the firm had lefts its old brand behind and the firm needed to be much more savvier
in the marketing area to achieve a profile befitting its increasing market stature. I joined the firm in 1997.
One of the key values we have in our firm is that we run our business like a business. Our leadership team at
the time recognized that successful business all have marketing expertise that built brand awareness and
communicated their value proposition to the market place – so why should an accounting firm be any different?
Rational for having marketing in the firm was based on our vision that our firm and the accounting industry was
evolving and we were going to need a corporate approach to our brand, go to market strategies, consistent and
Effective communication to target audiences and the tools that involved. We also felt that the industry was going
to become much more competitive.

7. MARKETING ROLE: OUR KEY OBJECTIVES
Build Brand Awareness
Promote Firm Capabilities
Effectively Position Brand
In a highly competitive environment its critical that organizations differentiate themselves from their competition in memorable ways so their audiences will choose them when they require their services....or at least consider them.
In his book Professional Services Marketing Bruce Markus describes the results that professional services marketing can achieve - they are;
Building name recognition and reputation,
Projecting capabilities that contribute to choosing one accountant over another,
Gaining access to a prospect that allows the practitioner the opportunity to sell their services.
The tactics that we design and implement across all business units , are done to meet these strategic objectives.
You can see how important the practitioner is to these objectives.
Why does marketing matter in firms today?
I believe our competition is and will become more aggressive and will be targeting our clients and our people.
I believe we need Defensive and Offensive strategies to protect and grow our business
And ...I believe firms that have not embraced marketing as a strategic operational aspect of their business, need to and as soon as possible - And they need to implement this key function with that appropriate mind set.
Gain Access for our Practitioners to Sell
Achieve Desired Results
Drive Revenue

8. EVOLUTION OF MARKETING - Introduced
When marketing was introduced to the firm, we had some challenges:
Marketing was unknown to the accounting industry - Partners did not understand the function or how to utilize it – we were viewed as overhead
I didn't understand the partnership structure and the sensitivities of making decisions and moving things forward – I came the corporate world
There was no...”Know you, like you, trust you” in place between marketing and the partners – the CEO and Board understood the need for marketing, but it but the partners weren't so sure.
I needed to understand the environment and the business
Gain trust, develop relationships
I had to deliver little wins wherever I could to get accepted
We began integrating into the firms culture as best we could

9. EVOLUTION OF MARKETING - Acceptance
We introduced planning, budgets, tactical actions, bringing the
marketing theory and approach to business development
Tipping point: The Campaign!
More strategic approach emerges
Gained more support and courage
Calgary Campaign opportunity ...got results, got more partners wanting to do for them what we did for Calgary, and we did – it became the way we approached each business unit

10. EVOLUTION OF MARKETING - Leadership
Became strategic within the firm – delivered results
Built resources in the firm that supported business development and a marketing culture
Achieved brand awareness and positioning that supported partners business development goals
Looked to for leadership in the firm

11. MEASURE OF SUCCESS What Success looks like for the marketing guy?
For me success is measured against objectives. One of my objectives was to create a strong brand for
our firm. Strong in Brand Identity, Awareness and Position. I think we have done that.
Another objective we had was to create a marketing culture in our firm – the environment for marketing
success. That means the firm leadership, the CEO and the partners all must understand the value of
marketing and be supportive of marketing investment, actions and to invest their own time in marketing
the firm. Marketing is considered a strategic element of firm operations.
And success is the achievement of our business goals. Have we achieved growth? Have we achieved
Profit? Are we having FUN?
This is MNP’s growth...
People like to talk about the growth of our firm - the little firm from Brandon that turned into a national firm
MNP is the Fastest growing firm in Canada and has been for many consecutive years
Growth is due to Mergers and Organic growth of the practice, Service line expansion and client groups maturing
Great leadership and management....and a Marketing and business development culture
You can imagine there have been some challenges with this kind of growth....but its been a lot of fun as well and we are proud of the growth we have achieved.
In Canada we were able to raise our profile and establish our brand with a limited budget. MNP stood out in a very competitive landscape due to:
Innovative Programs – ExitSMART
Sponsorship opportunities that achieved high reach and frequency
A unique brand and crafted message that was unique from the competition and promoted our people and expertise

12. THE APPRAOCH TO THE MARKETING ROLE
Be strategic in your approach and support for the firm.
Plans and Budgets – demonstrate you know how to manage the department
Constantly reinforcing marketing theory and best practices, measure and report
Earn trust and acceptance of the leadership
Get little wins as soon as possible
Be courageous, stand up for your beliefs
Bring energy and excitement to the firm – Inspire the leaders
With the environment set for success... Partner Buy in and investment ready to go Look for a person with experience, help them fit in ...and then let them do their job
Your Marketing Leader needs to:

13. ARE YOU READY FOR MARKETING
We feel the governance and business model needs to be a one firm approach for
effective marketing resources.
The environment must be set up for success, the right culture in place
Must have the support of the CEO, Board, Senior Management and Partners.
Marketing is a firmwide responsibility – the department leads and supports.
We have a marketing culture at MNP
It starts with the environment
Read first 3 bullets then copy.
When Don hired me they asked me to build a marketing culture in the firm.
What does a marketing culture look like? We think it looks like this;
Firm Leadership understands and supports the marketing effort, including the investment in people, infrastructure and activities required.
Practitioners in the firm understand they have an active role in promoting the firm and selling our services.
Practitioners have an attitude that embraces and supports the marketing of the firm, including the investment in people and activities
Practitioners understand and respect the people and the role marketing plays in firm
Practitioners understand that non billable hours spent marketing the firm is an investment in the future Pause
In this presentation , I will talk about and show you the tangible things that we do in the firm from a marketing perspective. However, I want to be clear that there is a very important element at play that is difficult to show you ...and that is the mindset of firm leadership and the practitioners.
We would not be able to have achieve the brand growth we have had, if marketing didn't have the support of the CEO, the board, firm leadership..and.. if our practitioners did not embrace business development strategies and behaviour.
We do have a strong marketing culture, Thanks to the environment we put in place.

14. QUESTIONS?