By ALLISSA KLINE
Business First

CPA firm Lumsden & McCormick LLP is known for its work with nonprofit groups.

It also wants to be known for its work with commercial businesses.

Since March, the Buffalo-based firm has engaged in a $22,000 print advertising campaign geared toward commercial businesses. It's a new course for Lumsden & McCormick that reflects a growing movement by CPA firms to ramp up their marketing efforts.

"The core of our business is in the commercial area," said Maria Gambacorta, who handles the firm's marketing. "However, people don't know us as that. We did the campaign to increase awareness among businesses and individuals."

Like the health-care and legal industries have done previously, the accounting industry is taking big bites of the advertising world as it turns to more sophisticated ways to sell its product. When one accounting firm begins advertising, other firms eventually follow, said James Gillan, president of Paragon Advertising, which does not represent any CPA firms.

"If one firm puts together a good marketing campaign, all the other firms are kind of at a disadvantage at that point because their competitor now has a much high profile," Gillan said. "So they have to advertise."

Until the late 1970s, it was illegal for CPAs to conduct any sort of advertising. The American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants changed the code in 1978, but many firms hesitated to get involved in marketing.

Call in the coach

This spring, one of the most locally visible advertising campaigns undertaken by a CPA firm got under way when the Bonadio Group signed former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy as the firm's spokesperson. The two-year contract with Levy, which is Bonadio's largest marketing campaign to date, gives the firm the right to use Levy's image in print and on Web sites. Levy also appears on behalf of the firm at various events throughout the state.

Tom Bonadio, CEO and managing partner, would not disclose the amount of money his firm pays for the agreement with Levy, but did say it is spending between $300,000 and $400,000 for the campaign, which includes the contract with Levy, radio spots in Buffalo and Web-site design.

With five offices across the state, the Bonadio Group uses the campaign to attract more clients and recruit new employees.

"It's really brand awareness," Bonadio said. "We have gotten clients in Upstate New York, especially in Buffalo, that began to know us because of our relationship with Marv. It's leading-edge thinking for CPA firm to have a spokesperson. It's unique and it sets us apart."

Also in the game

Williamsville accounting firm Tronconi Segarra & Associates LLP in June received a national advertising award for a 2007 print campaign.

"It's quite a thrill for our firm to receive this honor, considered the Oscar of the business world," David Werth, lead marketing partner, said in a press release after the firm won the Stevie Award for best newspaper ad campaign in the 2008 American Business Awards competition.

The firm of Freed Maxick & Battaglia CPAs PC enhanced its advertising about four years ago when it began airing radio ads on the Buffalo Bills Radio Network. To diversify its efforts, the firm also co-sponsors the CFO of the Year awards program, which has put CPAs in touch with local business leaders, firm director John Kropski said.

"We've always tried to position ourselves as an innovative firm, and we're trying to stay one step ahead of what our clients are looking for," Kropski said. "Clients are demanding to know more about firms and the kinds of things they do well ... and we need to be able in advance to answer those questions."

Sarah Kempisty, a managing partner at Domachowski Kempisty & Salvatore PC in Clarence, said her firm is taking "little baby steps" toward advertising its 13-person CPA firm. Right now, most clients come to her based on referrals and word of mouth, she said.

"We think it's something that is important and we want to learn more about it," Kempisty said. "The firm has to grow. You can't stand still."