How Optima Tax Relief Scaled a Radio Test Nationally

From a controlled radio test to a national performance media partnership

This radio advertising case study shows how Optima Tax Relief moved from a controlled test to a national performance media partnership. We began in 2012 with a weekly budget in the low thousands and one practical question: could radio generate enough qualified response to justify the next investment?

Once the response was there, we built on it. Our team connected media strategy, radio buying, creative, a familiar spokesperson, a branded jingle, measurement, and market expansion. Calls, searches, and inquiries helped us decide what to test next. The creative made the Optima name easier to remember.

By 2015, Inc. ranked Optima Tax Relief No. 3 overall after reporting 26,006% three-year revenue growth. Optima reports that the placement was No. 1 in Financial Services. The company then appeared on the Inc. list for seven consecutive years, from 2015 through 2021.

For Optima, we run campaigns on 200+ radio stations nationwide each week. That footprint reflects the scale reached after beginning with a controlled test and expanding in response to observed demand.

The evidence has limits. Radio was part of the growth system, but public records do not isolate the impact of media, creative, sales, hiring, technology, or market expansion. They document the company-level results and the scale reached, not channel-level causality.

Optima Tax Relief radio advertising case study: the short version

Question	What the record shows
What was the starting point?	A controlled 2012 radio test with a weekly budget in the low thousands.
What did Simplicity Media manage?	Media strategy, radio buying, creative, spokesperson and jingle development, response measurement, and market expansion.
What guided the next decision?	Calls, searches, and inquiries helped determine whether to test another message, market, schedule, or budget level.
What scale did the program reach?	Campaigns running on 200+ radio stations nationwide each week.
What results are independently published?	Inc. reported 26,006% three-year growth and ranked Optima No. 3 overall in 2015; its profile records seven consecutive annual honors.
What does the evidence not prove?	The public record does not assign a percentage of company growth to radio or any other single component.

Optima Tax Relief growth and radio campaign timeline

How the radio advertising and measurement system worked

1. Prove response

The first job was to prove that the spend could create demand we could see. We watched calls, searches, and inquiries. Those signals did not prove added revenue on their own, but they told us whether the campaign had earned another test, another market, or more budget.

2. Build recognition

Reach was not enough in a category where trust matters. A familiar spokesperson gave Optima a distinct voice, and the jingle made the name easier to remember. Forbes reported that Alan Thicke encouraged the jingle and connected the team with Robin Thicke, who helped write it.

3. Measure qualified response

We used calls, searches, and inquiries to see where the message was producing response. Those signals supported radio lead-generation decisions without being treated as closed revenue. They shaped the next market, schedule, and creative decision instead of assuming one national plan would work everywhere.

4. Improve the next buy

We scaled what earned the right to scale. Media, creative, and measurement stayed connected, so the program could grow without losing the discipline of the first test.

What the results tell us

The strongest independent proof point is the 2015 Inc. result: 26,006% three-year growth and a No. 3 national ranking. Inc.’s current Optima profile also records an annual ranking every year from 2015 through 2021.

For Optima, we run campaigns on 200+ radio stations nationwide each week. That footprint does not prove channel-level causality, but it documents how far the radio program expanded from its controlled starting point.

Neither record is a channel-level attribution study. We cannot use it to assign a percentage of growth to radio, the spokesperson, the jingle, hiring, technology, market expansion, sales execution, or any other single decision. What we can show is how the program developed and what happened at the company level.

What financial services advertisers can learn

The useful lesson is not simply that the campaign reached a large footprint. The program connected brand recognition to observable response and required each expansion decision to earn its next step. That discipline matters in financial services, where trust, lead quality, acquisition cost, and attribution all affect whether media can scale.

1. Start with a test that can answer a real question. The budget needs to be large enough to produce a useful signal. It does not need to imitate national scale.
2. Build memory, not just reach. A distinct voice and a repeatable brand cue help people remember the advertiser after the spot ends.
3. Keep media and creative connected. Performance data is more useful when it can change the next message, schedule, and market.
4. Be precise about the proof. Published rankings, company-reported footprint, and campaign-response records are different forms of evidence.
5. Do not claim more than the data can support. A strong timeline is not a controlled lift study or an audited attribution model.

Planning a controlled radio or performance media test? Book a Strategy Call to define the audience, response signals, budget guardrails, and next-stage decision before launch.

Questions about the Optima Tax Relief case study

What was the first radio advertising test?

Our engagement record places the first controlled radio campaign in 2012. The weekly budget was in the low thousands, and the response helped us decide whether to keep investing.

What results are independently published?

Inc. reported 26,006% three-year revenue growth and ranked Optima Tax Relief No. 3 overall in 2015. Inc.’s current profile also records annual rankings from 2015 through 2021. Optima reports that its 2015 placement was No. 1 in Financial Services.

How broad was the radio footprint?

For Optima, we run campaigns on 200+ radio stations nationwide each week. The campaign record documents response-led expansion over the seven-year relationship, while the public Inc. record documents the company-level growth milestones.

Did radio advertising cause all of the reported growth?

No. The public sources do not isolate the effect of radio, the spokesperson, the jingle, or the other decisions made inside the business. We can document the sequence and the company outcomes, but we cannot claim that one channel caused all of the growth.

What can financial services advertisers learn from this program?

Start with a test large enough to produce a useful response signal. Use that response to guide the media, creative, market, and budget decisions that follow. And be clear about which results are independently published and which come from your own records.

A note on the sources

We checked the public results against Inc.’s Optima Tax Relief profile, Forbes’ reporting on the company and the Alan Thicke campaign, and Optima’s 2021 announcement confirming seven consecutive Inc. 5000 honors. Our engagement record provides the campaign timeline, initial budget range, agency role, and response-led expansion history.

We separate the evidence into three groups:

• Independently published: Inc. rankings and reported growth.
• Company-reported: Optima announcements and company history.
• Agency-reported: engagement timing, initial budget range, Simplicity’s role, and the response-led expansion history.

None of the public sources we reviewed isolates the effect of a single media component. That is why we keep those qualifications with the results.

Source notes

• Optima Tax Relief company profile and Inc. honor history
• Optima Tax Relief accreditation and seven-time Inc. honor summary
• Optima Tax Relief bootstraps its way to 550 employees
• Optima earns Inc. 5000 honors for the seventh consecutive year

See how we approach radio advertising, build financial services advertising systems, and connect media exposure to funded outcomes.