Intuit QuickBooks is once again telling SMBs it has got their back in the latest iteration of its annual, global campaign.

The company’s “Backing You” campaign first launched in 2017 with Danny DeVito. The latest phase features ex-Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez in a North American multi-channel integrated campaign called “Journey to Success,” which comes as Intuit looks to connect with small businesses, specifically those between one and around a dozen employees.

The creative features two videos, again showing the highs and lows of running a small business. In “Gaming,” a startup game developer gets rejected Dragons’ Den/Shark Tank-style by a slew of investors before getting the thumbs up from A-Rod. In “Burger,” shot and produced in Toronto, an entrepreneur’s idea for “another burger truck” is met with skepticism, before he finds success.

Puja Subrun, Intuit Canada’s new director and head of marketing for QuickBooks, tells strategy it’s a continuation of the brand’s “backing you” messaging, aimed at positioning QuickBooks as an easy-to-use set of business solutions, rather than basic accounting software.

According to Subrun, with past campaigns, Intuit has talked about how it has a smarter set of tools, so it wanted to specifically focus on things like cash flow, payments, payroll and other ways to simplify business. “We are constantly listening to customers,” Subrun says, adding that the goal is to ensure the product it develops, as well as the message and language it uses, meet their needs. For this iteration of the campaign, that meant highlighting cash flow in the creative, as small businesses face financial hardship during the pandemic.

A study released today by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business reveals that one in six – approximately 181,000 – Canadian small business owners are seriously contemplating permanently closing, due to pandemic’s challenging economic circumstances.

“Journey to Success” is targeting more broadly than QuickBooks’ 2019 effort built around TIFF to drive brand awareness. That campaign was sector-focused on the film industry, half of whose workers are self-employed.

The TBWA network handled the creative elements, with Juniper Park\TBWA handling the Canadian elements. The company does a lot of its media buying internally, according to Subrun.