Client: ADP Roll

Role: Sullivan, Brand Strategy Director

Project: Research Design, Research Administering, Segmentation Identification and Testing, Brand Positioning, Naming, Visual Identity

ADP, a leading payroll provider, faced growing competition from smaller payroll companies that offered user-friendly interfaces, transparent pricing, and online onboarding, and created a groundbreaking, digital payroll app for small business owners to combat this. The catch? They already had a small business offering, so this one needed a strong enough brand and a different target audience to not cannibalize the other business unit.

Leading a team at Sullivan, I was tasked with segmenting, positioning, naming, and building the brand for ADP's new small-business payroll app. Our goal was to create a brand that leveraged the strength of ADP's name while differentiating the product in a crowded market and ensuring it didn’t detract from ADP's existing offerings.

We conducted qualitative board research to determine which messages resonated most with small business owners. We identified that our target audience—small businesses with under 10 employees—preferred familiarity and ease over technical features like AI and machine learning, which were perceived as untrustworthy. This insight guided us in creating the brand positioning: an instantly familiar app that makes payroll feel like a conversation with a friend. We also named the product “Roll,” emphasizing its ease of use and playful twist on the concept of payroll. Focusing on a conversational interface and an intuitive experience, we created a brand that felt approachable and friendly to small business owners new to payroll.

Within two months of its launch, ADP Roll surpassed its annual sales goals, successfully capturing market share without cannibalizing ADP’s existing small business offering. The strategic focus on simplicity and familiarity resonated with the target audience, establishing Roll as a standout product in the small-business payroll space.