LBMC
Milestone Marketing at its Best
Founded in 1984, LBMC is the largest professional service solutions provider based in Tennessee serving 11,000 clients with a wide variety of business services across a spectrum of industries. What began as a few accountants working in a small house in Brentwood, TN has grown into today’s regional powerhouse, one of the Top 50 firms in the country.
CHALLENGE
With the company’s 40th Anniversary approaching, LBMC’s marketing team was working to conceptualize a celebration to properly capture and celebrate the company’s growth into so many different areas over the decades. A simple accounting firm had evolved into a dynamic industry leader employing over 1000 people. Expressing all of that, telling that story, was the task at hand. In Cronin Creative, LBMC found a creative partner with the right blend of storytelling, graphic design skills, and experience to help make the most of this year-long milestone event.
APPROACH
From our research and initial interviews with company founders, it was clear that the LBMC story centers around the many people – from the founders to longtime client to the teams of dedicated employees – who built the trusted relationships, shared the journey, and made it happen. The centerpiece of our multi-faceted campaign, LBMC Legacy, is a colorful, commemorative magazine detailing the unique history of the company through the voices of those who lived it. The magazine served as a rallying point for an anniversary campaign that included both community and intra-company activities.
Cronin Creative applied that same people-centric sensibility to a series of 40th Anniversary ads. Eschewing the buttoned-down look often associated with accounting firms, Cronin Creative’s work focused on clients enjoying the real-life, day-to-day benefits of their relationship with LBMC. On the golf course or at the lake with the kids, these ads aimed for the heart and eloquently expressed LBMC’s “why.”
RESULT
By every measure, LBMC’s 40th Anniversary campaign was a roaring success. In the hands of every employee, LBMC Legacy brought the various offices together, injecting new energy into an already vibrant corporate culture and raising awareness of their mission company wide. The magazine is now doing double duty as an onboarding tool for new employees and as an orientation guide as LBMC acquires new firms. Some of the profiled clients were so enthused they had their stories reproduced in frames for display in their offices.
Cronin Creative’s human-centric ad campaign resonated loud-and-clear in the marketplace, increasing engagement by a whopping 300% over previous efforts.
AWARDS
LBMC’s 40th Anniversary campaign went on to win two prestigious awards. The campaign picked up a Gold Award at the 2025 Merit Awards in the category of Marketing & Sales – recognizing excellence in brand strategy, integrated marketing, and measurable impact.
At the 2025 PRSA Nashville Awards, LBMC’s 40th campaign received a coveted Parthenon Award, standing alongside global leaders Bridgestone Americas and FINN Partners.
SERVICES
PRINT & PUBLICATION, COPYWRITING, ADVERTISING
“Working with Karen and Peter on LBMC’s 40th Anniversary campaign was a true partnership. Their team actively listened and helped bring our vision to life by seamlessly integrating design, content, digital execution into one cohesive experience. Together, we didn’t just celebrate a milestone—we elevated the LBMC brand in a way that reflected who we are today: forward-thinking, human-centric, and deeply connected to our clients and communities.” – Lisa Namm, Director of Brand Marketing & Director of PR Relations, LBMC
Stay in the know with the Clarity by Design blog
