H&R Block

Social marketing campaign raises
awareness for H&R Block Online

Challenge

H&R Block turned to 360i to create a social media strategy for the 2008 tax season that would drive consideration for H&R Block's online tax products and build up an online presence for the brand.

Goals:

• Change perception of H&R Block as simply "brick and mortar" to a digital brand with a strong online presence
• Increase awareness of H&R Block's online tax products
• Build online communities that engage consumers with fun and educational information on taxes

Solution

The campaign centered on creating a fun and educational online experience for consumers looking to find out more about taxes and H&R Block's tax solutions. 360i developed portable assets that proved taxes could be fun and engaging, including games and quizzes, which were then spread across the Web for consumers to find and share with friends. In addition, 360i created a robust social media strategy to distribute these assets and to support H&R Block's fictional "brand evangelist," Truman Greene.

The social media program also included:

• Creating a brand presence in social spaces, giving consumers a platform to interact with HRB on MySpace, Facebook, and eHarmony
• Highlighting HRB's digital products through interactive and sharable widgets
• Starting conversations with online influencers using Twitter

Results

360i's social media campaign with H&R Block raised awareness about HRB's online tax programs and strongly positioned them as a digital brand with a strong Web presence. The campaign saw excellent quantitative results and saw a wealth of qualitative consumer feedback, from comments to blog posts to "tweets" across Twitter.

• Total brand awareness increased 52%
• Word of mouth awareness increased 55%
• Internet advertising awareness increased 171%

Most importantly, the social marketing strategy put H&R Block directly in touch with its customer. Many consumers began to ask questions about the brand's products and their taxes directly on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. In these fun and useful community-based environments, H&R Block became the go-to brand for knowledge about online tax preparation.