Ogilvy Continues Hot Streak, Snagging H&R Block Without a Formal Review

Filing taxes is typically one of the biggest financial moments of the year for most people. It's a moment that H&R Block thinks it can build on to reposition itself as a company that inspires consumers to have more financial confidence. H&R Block needs consumers to be considering the brand year-round instead of just during the four-month period people have to file their taxes. To do this, it is bringing in WPP's Ogilvy as its new creative agency of record to insert the brand into culture, as new CMO Jill Cress puts it. H&R Block previously worked with IPG's Carmichael Lynch, which won the account in August 2021. The brand will still retain Stagwell's Gale to handle other parts of the business, including media planning and buying, data and analytics and CRM. According to COMvergence, H&R Block spent $75 million on measurable media from July 2021 to June 2022, with $52 million of that coming via traditional media. Cress looked at the way the brand had structured its previous agency relationships and whether they could deliver a more end-to-end experience, an understanding of the behavioral sciences behind consumers' financial confidence and a better relationship with those consumers that extends beyond tax season. "That started to have me thinking about how we structured the partnership and relationship with our agency so that we had a broader set of capabilities," Cress, who arrived to the brand from PayPal in May, told Adweek. Her goals for the brand are defined, accord to Ogilvy global CEO Devika Bulchandani: "Jill's hallmark is that she's got a clear vision about what needs to be done. The pathway to that is efficient and respectful for all agency partners." The marketing challenge Cress wants to reposition the brand by showing how its historical expertise can help consumers with any tax needs they have. It needs to meet customers where they are with more digital solutions, regardless of whether they are filing on their own or taking advantage of the brand's 11,000 locations. H&R Block is also balancing messaging to attract individuals, but also small businesses who need services throughout the year. "How that comes together in a really cool omnichannel experience requires us to continue to challenge how we've thought about ourselves and think about how we position ourselves for the future," Cress said. With the help of Ogilvy, Cress wants the brand to show up in unexpected ways, potentially through activations and perhaps even the Super Bowl, which often features tax filing competitor TurboTax. "Watch this space; all things are under consideration," said Bulchandani. H&R Block last appeared in the 2017 Super Bowl with a spot voiced by actor Jon Hamm touting the brand's integration with IBM's Watson. Bulchandani believes brands are never going to be part of the culture until agencies make them part of the culture. "If you get the strategy right, and you have the ambition to play a role in people's lives. Hell, yes." Why Ogilvy Putting a brand into culture in a modern way is "one of the things that Ogilvy does really well," said Cress, who opted not to have a formal competitive pitch as only Ogilvy and the incumbent saw the brief. "The best work happens not through a complicated pitch process. It actually happens through intense trusting relationships," said Bulchandani, adding the lack of pitch allowed her team to focus on solving the problem at hand instead of worrying about winning or losing. "That mindset shift to me [is something] I wish all clients would realize is so important." Cress will lean on Ogilvy's behavioral science team to better understand the motivations of consumers and how H&R Block can better position itself to be the brand customers look to for financial guidance. In total, four lines of Ogilvy's business will work on the account—advertising, PR, consulting, which behavioral sciences is part of, and digital experience. Ogilvy has had a strong new business run behind a number of key creative hires in the U.S. Since November, the shop has snagged a large portion of the Coca-Cola work to support WPP's bespoke shop Open X, Audi and SC Johnson, which consolidated all of its creative work with Ogilvy and fellow WPP agency VMLY&R. Bulchandani is seeing that investment in talent pay off in three ways—current clients are growing, the work has performed well (she pointed to the agency's strong performance at Cannes) and new clients are coming to them. Ogilvy Elevates Devika Bulchandani to Global Chief Executive Officer