H&R Block, a 65-year old brand known for in-person tax preparation, was failing to connect with Gen Z. Winning with Gen Z is essential to the H&R Block’s near- and long-term success. However, from 2020 to 2021, H&R Block had lost 38% of new online clients aged 25 and younger, with many going to online tax giant TurboTax. Gen Z tax filers described H&R Block as “irrelevant,” “inconvenient” and “old-fashioned.”

With a preference for online filing, Gen Z has the least amount of confidence in their financial knowledge of any generation.

● “I never received tax education growing up, had to learn by myself.”

● “I never really learned much about taxes except for how stressful they are, so I am scared to file taxes.”

We needed to prove H&R Block’s relevance to the younger tax filer, inserting our brand of tax help into mainstream culture.

Despite their inspiring talent, passion and activism, female college athletes continued to be footnotes in the story of college sports. H&R Block saw an opportunity to help level the playing field. H&R Block committed $1 million in sponsorships, tax services and support to female college athletes, giving each athlete “A Fair Shot” at every dollar they deserve, and a platform to speak for equity for women in collegiate sports. We designed a campaign that felt distinctly H&R Block, but relatable enough to support content creation from our 19 athlete partners. Our campaign logo and look and feel was grounded in the tone of the campaign: empowering, provocative, active and energetic.

An exciting new NCAA Name, Image & Likeness rule took effect July 1, 2022, turning college athletes into potential small-business owners overnight. It was now possible for them to earn money from endorsements, appearances, etc. And with that came one certainty: complicated taxes.

But one inequity persisted: women athletes were only getting 28% of NIL deals. With 66% of Gen Z believing gender inequity is a serious issue, H&R Block seized the opportunity to bring tax advice to this new generation of college athletes and help level the playing field for women NCAA athletes, getting them a financial fair shot.

March Madness, Women’s History Month, and the 50th anniversary of Title IX converged during tax season 2022, creating the perfect opportunity to launch a campaign with the potential to create a wave of change over a short period of time.

We launched the program through earned media relations, landing stories in top sports, pop culture and lifestyle media that reached Gen Z. Then we brought attention to the larger issues of inequity through a spot called “Name One Player,” where a handful of basketball-loving kids tried, but failed, to name a single female player. The :15s video of their honest responses ran via Twitter Amplify throughout the women’s college basketball tournament.

The conversation extended to H&R Block’s owned channels with bite-sized NIL facts and tax tips, while our athlete partners posted content to their own pages and feeds.

The program culminated at the close of March Madness with a TikTok Hashtag Challenge (#AFairShotwithBlock) featuring South Carolina star Zia Cooke inviting people to “Imagine a World” where women could get everything they deserve. The #Challenge amplified the voices of our women athlete partners and prompted TikTokers to join in.

The program generated significant results positioning H&R Block as a modern and inclusive company, providing help, and breaking out of financial-only media into outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, Fansided and Yahoo Sports. Media coverage resulted in 1,657 media placements and 1.3 billion impressions. Our hashtag #AFairShotwithBlock has 10.1 billion video views. Beyond successful earned media and social reach, favorability jumped 23% with college students who saw the campaign and 65% said H&R Block would be their first choice after seeing the campaign.

Perhaps most importantly, H&R Block brought significant attention to every one of its women athlete partners, including Zia Cooke, one of our primary program spokespeople. Heading into championship weekend, OpenDorse ranked Cooke one of the four highest-paid athletes in the Final Four tournament – male or female – serving as a hopeful reminder that change is possible when we give women a fair shot.