To get inside consumers’ minds, the pitch team discussed their personal feelings about taxes and money. The conversation was especially helpful, according to Washington, because the pitch team included both new American citizens and employees that identified as second-generation immigrants.

It is just so important to try to create those spaces when you’re doing this. Sometimes it can be hard, especially, in a post-pandemic world,” Washington said. The team threaded thematic elements that arose during the War Room conversation into its creative pitch.

“R/GA showed real passion for our business, including a data and insights-based approach to creative,” Soukas said. “They will work hand-in-hand with our new partners at R/GA to ensure the creative strategy is brought to life in the right media channels throughout the year,” Soukas added.

During the pitch, R/GA also showcased its broad service offering. It’s common for brands to approach R/GA because it wields what Washington called “four amazingly sharp swords.” Those include: Product and experience; campaign expertise; media chops; and data mastery. Intuit structures its marketing organization similarly, in the sense that the team views everything as an end-to-end experience.

“It’s very rare that you have a brand experience that has a stated need at the same level for all four of those disciplines,” Washington said. It also helped that Intuit is a particularly data-driven brand, she added. The agency hopes it can use its technology and analytics chops to complement and augment Intuit’s data strategy.

R/GA’s tumultuous year

Winning Intuit’s business now is a bright spot for the beleaguered agency.

Recent market conditions and stymied new business opportunities took a toll on R/GA. The agency underwent several rounds of layoffs that began last June when it cut its workforce by 5%. Rounds of layoffs continued sporadically until this April, when the IPG agency laid off approximately 100 employees.

A series of leadership changes, including CEO Sean Lyons, who left the agency for Accenture Song, combined with public new business failures further impacted the agency’s financial health. In December 2022, R/GA’s new multimillion partnership with Mattress Firm buckled unexpectedly. The client promptly cut ties with R/GA, and a source told Adweek at the time that R/GA could not staff the Mattress Firm account fast enough.

When asked about R/GA’s recent structural changes and layoffs, Soukas told Adweek he feels confident the agency will meet his needs.

“From the beginning, we were impressed with the R/GA team’s insight-driven customer focus, strategic thinking and collaborative spirit,” he said.

Concerns about the layoffs and recent structural changes weren’t even raised during the pitch process, R/GA confirmed. Like R/GA, the Intuit team largely works remotely, and conversations about workflow largely centered on how the two partners will best collaborate given their dispersed workforces.