Who's the top dog: the great debate

When Deloitte’s John Connolly announced the firm’s latest UK results in July, which put it within touching distance of PricewaterhouseCoopers, his comment that ‘maybe we have already overhauled them [PwC] in terms of our standing in the marketplace’ clearly rattled cages at PwC.

Last week in an interview with Accountancy Age Ian Powell shrugged off claims that Deloitte had overtaken it in terms of reputation, saying it was something that was ‘pretty difficult to prove’.

Nonsense. As anyone involved in professional services marketing knows ­ and I’ve been in the sector for more than twenty years ­ it’s pretty straightforward to measure the relative market standings of the major accountancy firms.

In the nineties, when I worked at one of the Big Six, they clubbed together to commission an external market research agency to carry out a market perception study which they used to benchmark their relative market positions in the UK. This once-every-two years survey usually saw FDs, chief executives and financial controllers take part.

They would ask these respondents which firms they used and for what services; which other firms they were aware of and how well they knew them; and which they regarded as market leaders both overall and for individual service offerings, then analyse the findings.

I’d be very surprised if the major firms were not still buying into this, or a similar, syndicated study as well as conducting their own polls.

During the last year Deloitte has spent millions running a very extensive advertising campaign to boost their profile, encompassing press, outdoor poster and other advertising, including adverts on London taxis.

For such a campaign, it is normal practice to track your firm’s market position before, during and after the advertising has run to see what impact your investment has had.

My guess is that John Connolly’s marketing people have already told him that the firm is now ahead of PwC on reputational measures in the UK, and that this is what prompted his comment in July.

I also suspect that round at PwC they are also aware of how market sentiment is shifting. So, come on PwC and Deloitte, tell us what your polling is revealing, or we might just conduct our own survey to resolve this matter once and for all.

Kevin Wheeler is principal at marketing consultants Wheeler Associates