TaxSlayer is taking “cash cow” and “money tree” to a realistic level with its latest “File Fearlessly” campaign. The tax-filing service is rolling out an all-new brand campaign—its largest since 2017—in hopes of challenging TurboTax and H&R Block by capturing 40% of taxpayers who file in the first six weeks of the new year. 

The new campaign was created by creative agency Party Land, and puts a literal spin on familiar money idioms such as “cash cow” and “money tree.” The agency came up with two 30-second-commercials that show two different people filing their taxes using TaxSlayer. 

The first shows a young man clicking “file now” only to see a cow covered in cash appear. The second shows a mom who whips out a chainsaw and instead of taking off a few branches takes down the whole money tree. 

The campaign is leaning towards humor in order to highlight TaxSlayer’s approachable service. It will continue running on TV until mid-April.

A honey of a campaign

Nature Nate’s Honey Co. launched a national brand awareness campaign called "Ingredients: Honey." The U.S.-based company produces 100% pure, raw and unfiltered honey.

The bright-colored orange bottle is pictured next to sayings like “Bees make honey. We make cool bottles. It's a beautiful thing” and “We took the honey, then decided to not put our own spin on it. Enjoy.”

The integrated media campaign was led by Lerma while creative agency Bill and Todd led the new creative. It includes a mix of streaming audio, programmatic out-of-home and paid social debuting in January, and connected TV debuting in the fall.

“It’s no surprise that once consumers try pure honey, it becomes their favorite sweetener. Yet only 42% of American households buy honey today,” said Nathan Sheets, founder and CEO of Nate’s. “By launching a bold campaign, we’re on a mission to not only remind consumers about the natural goodness of pure honey, but to emphasize that honey is the perfect natural sweetener for drinks, breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between.”

Who will be the champion?

ESPN picked McKinney to help promote the College Football Playoffs, which began on December 31. The latest spots in the campaign launched this week promote the National Championship game between Alabama and Georgia which will take place on January 10. The montage-style 30-second and 15-second spots include clips of fanatics and players over intense music as the voice-over builds momentum for the highly anticipated game.

On the hunt for tunes

Issa Rae’s Audio Everywhere company partnered with Community, a text-message marketing platform, to create a live scavenger hunt activation with the help of creative agency Keithcity Group. 

Producer, writer and actress Rae starred in the HBO comedy “Insecure,” which featured a new soundtrack every season. This season, a scavenger hunt was created to celebrate the final soundtrack. 

It was designed for “Insecure” superfans to celebrate the show’s final season and took place last month in Inglewood, California, where the show is based. Keithcity Group planned and executed the videography of the event and also created the post-event reel.

Fans who did the scavenger hunt received exclusive “Insecure” themed messages and videos via text that led them to several landmark locations and small Black-owned businesses that were on the hit series. Upon arriving at each location, fans found a QR code that led them to a clue about the next location. It culminated with a private event where fans got to listen to the soundtrack and were gifted with prizes and tote bags.

Winning accounts in the new year

Sports nutrition supplement manufacturer Universal Nutrition has named Terri & Sandy as its first agency of record.

The independent agency will be tasked with helping take Universal Nutrition and its brands “to the next level” by evolving the brand’s use of digital marketing and social media, according to a statement by the agency. Although there was no formal review for the business, Terri & Sandy helped seal the win when its Creative Director Mike Cicale shared his background as a former weightlifter.

“There are brands you have to work on because it’s your job and then there are brands you have to work on because it’s your life,” Cicale said in a statement. “As a former competitive powerlifter, I see partnering with Universal Nutrition as a chance to market incredible products to some of the most dedicated, hard-working athletes you'll ever meet.” 

This is a significant move for the company as the sports nutrition market continues to see continued growth. The market is expected to increase in revenue by approximately 10% to 11% between 2022 and 2028, according to a recent market analysis report by Grand View Research.

Wells Enterprises, the parent company of Blue Bunny, Halo Top and Bomb Pop, has named Gale as its lead agency for the brand’s media, growth strategy and social businesses. Creative duties will be split between Gale and Stagwell sibling agencies Observatory and Wolfgang for Bomb Pop, Blue Bunny and Halo Top, respectively.

“This is an exciting partnership as it enables us to demonstrate our data-driven, strategic approach to storytelling and rooting ideas in real audiences,” Gale CEO Brad Simms said in a statement. “Wells was looking for a fully integrated marketing partner, and we look forward to helping them end-to-end, from audience definition to brand and media strategy to modern storytelling.”

Gale’s first work for the brands is expected to roll out in April 2022, including a national creative campaign for Bomb Pop.

Just Briefly

Brand and communications agency Human Design has brought on Lou Pinto as its first executive director, people and operations. Pinto has 17 years of experience in multiple human resources and operations roles, most recently serving as a consultant to startup and small agencies across the country such as Green Stone, Colossus Creative, Spectacle Strategy, and The Venturous. Previously, she was the HR and operations lead at WorkInProgress and associate director at CPB.

All Star Code, an organization dedicated to teaching young men of color to learn how to code, this week unveiled a new brand identity and website created pro bono by IPG agency Elephant. The website design and voice is the first iteration of the organization’s new brand platform called “Hello World.”

E-bike and e-scooter manufacturer Pure Electric appointed London-based agency Above+Beyond as its first creative and strategic partner.