Being a legacy brand comes with many benefits. Much of your target audience grew up with awareness of your services and has kept you as a trustworthy partner. However, younger generations are exposed to unprecedented numbers of options, they don’t depend on tradition or abide by one way of doing things just because. They must be convinced and persuaded. Such was the challenge tax preparation company H&R Block faced when looking to remain relevant. Jill Cress, its CMO, shares her strategies with Ben Kaplan for TOP CMO. Read more about the experience below.

Sign of the times

A key to appealing to a generation is truly understanding and sensing what it is going through. In Jill’s experience, “those moments that they face where their taxes may become more complicated.” While still worrying about H&R Block’s existing customer base and its needs, she found it essential to target young people who need tax advice, such as recent graduates entering their first jobs.

The company was sensitive to the emergence of new cohorts of taxpayers that would likely not be prepared to manage their finances. There is, after all, a shared feeling of ill-preparation for “adulting” among Gen Z. According to H&R Block’s report (via Atomik Research), less than half of Gen Zers have been taught about taxes. Jill saw an opening and destined resources to fill the gap.

Populating the online space

Following the consumption trends of younger audiences, a move from traditional media to the online environment and social media was central to reaching the new generation. Functional content on TikTok. Influencer campaigns. Tests on multiple channels. These resulted in an increase in awareness and conversions among Gen Z, who began to choose H&R Block.

At the same time, they developed partnerships with platforms such as Spotify. A key discovery was that young people did their taxes with music playing in the background, so Jill’s team created a tax return playlist to set the mood and create the right environment to work from home. The whole strategy meant “lots of experimentation, understanding who we want to meet and where, and platform specificity.”

Everyday influencers

Another group of potential customers that H&R Block detected was college athletes after a change in legislation that allowed them to earn income for their name, image, and likeness (NIL). A new niche of novice taxpayers with, again, likely little to no knowledge of the matter. They became a new target audience.

Along the way, the company noticed the disparity between male and female athletes’ sponsorships and launched a platform called “A Fair Shot” to work towards equity by sponsoring distinguished women in the field. All the while, H&R Block helped them understand their new tax environment and did their taxes for them, and elevated their voices to inspire the world. These women telling their stories through TikTok content amassed over 150 billion impressions.

H&R Block not only found new customers, but leveraged their influence to reach more students, their families, and social media users. The human side brought them closer to a more empathic, emotion-driven generation.

Sisyphean work

Retaining the trust, awareness, and attention of Gen Z is a never ending task that requires innovation and creativity. Trends change at lightning speed. PR stunts are quickly detected. True dedication is constantly questioned. The challenge for companies is to prove their worth continuously and to offer something of real value to younger audiences. The first step is being sensitive to your environment and capitalizing on every adequate opportunity. Don’t delay it, Jill Cress might just beat you to it.

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