The ads are designed to counter an “antiquated” reputation TurboTax has for being DIY-only and build on the success it has seen in generating revenue from the Live Full service, said Karen Nolan, principal communications manager at Intuit Consumer Group. While much of the brand’s revenue comes from expert-free self-filing, it saw a 17% increase in TurboTax Live revenue from filers during the 2023 tax year as it ran a campaign focused on Live experts, she added.
The new campaign comes after TurboTax in October pulled an ad following backlash from the National Association of Tax Professionals and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The ad encouraged consumers to “break up” with their tax preparer, to the chagrin of critics claiming it undermined the value of accountants. At the time, a TurboTax spokesperson said the campaign would be changed “to ensure it has the intended impact so the benefit of filing with a tax preparer is crystal clear” and would “actively promote” filing with a professional tax preparer.
“Now This Is Taxes” was designed to correct for this pulled ad, Nolan said.
“The benefit to the filer is front and center in this brand campaign,” she said. “Intuit will continue to actively and loudly promote the benefits of filing taxes with and the value provided by a professional tax preparer.”
The Christmas Day start of the tax season campaign comes earlier than normal. “We just want to get ahead and get people thinking about taxes before January,” said Jamie Lasser, director of brand marketing at TurboTax.
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Reaching Gen Z
TurboTax’s free mobile offering is an attempt to appeal to members of Gen Z, who are far more comfortable performing important tasks on their phones than the computer-oriented generations that came before them, Lasser said. (Gen Z refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.)
Gen Zers are also more comfortable relying on AI to do their taxes given how stressful they find the task, according to Stagwell Harris Poll research released with Fast Company in February.
While tax-filing software like TurboTax is the most popular way Gen Z files, the generation is also least likely to turn to professional tax preparers, according to a March report from ACI Worldwide. By bringing Gen Zers to its app with a free offer, TurboTax is also introducing them to its paid Live Full Service plan that connects users with tax experts and lets them hand off the filing process.
“This $0 mobile app offer is one way to reach them but they also need assisted solutions as well,” Lasser said. “They may also use the app to talk to their expert or may want to have the ability to hand off their taxes entirely.”
Read more: 5 ways financial brands are connecting with Gen Z
