TurboTax, in partnership with MKTG, set out to increase awareness of TurboTax’s offerings among Gen Z during peak tax season by addressing common filing doubts and demonstrating how simple and supported the process can be. Using TurboTax’s NCAA partnership as a foundation, the program activated a 360 campaign based on timely, social-first content that connected TurboTax to cultural moments throughout March Madness. Central to the approach was a series of NIL student-athlete partnerships that drew natural parallels between the support athletes rely on to perform at their best and the expert help TurboTax provides to help filers feel confident. Content was captured in real time during the tournament, tapping into athletes’ viral moments and authentic voices to maximize relevance and reach.The initiative deployed quick-turn social posts, PR interviews, and cross-channel extensions including use on TurboTax social channels to build excitement before and throughout the tournament. Official March Madness marks reinforced authenticity and strengthened the connection between TurboTax, college sports culture, and young filers. Overall, the goal was to meet Gen Z where they are, on their phones, in their feeds, and immersed in the games, and show that with TurboTax, filing taxes can feel as supported, straightforward, and confidence-boosting as stepping onto the court with a great team behind you.
Drawing on key insights that the NCAA March Madness tournament dominates TV and social media for three weeks prior to Tax Day, TurboTax in partnership with MKTG tapped into this highly engaged audience and created a social-first program to reach Gen Z fans. To ensure we never missed a cultural moment, the program was strategically built for speed, allowing partnerships to be activated within hours based on breakout performances throughout the tournament. TurboTax and MKTG’s content strategy leveraged the excitement of March Madness and the “Now This Is Taxes” campaign to authentically engage Gen Z through nimble, trend-driven partnerships with breakout college basketball stars. By rapidly initiating and executing NIL partnerships, within 12–72 hours, the campaign delivered fun, real-time content that stayed timely and relevant. To kick off the program, five prominent athletes launched pre-recorded content released ahead of the first-round games. Among them, Koby Brea and Clara Strack from the University of Kentucky were featured, having previously starred in TurboTax’s national TV commercial, which strengthened recognition and authenticity for the campaign. From there, TurboTax monitored every March Madness matchup to identify standout performances for NCAA-approved social prompts tailored to each player and their audience. Players posted on Instagram, TikTok, and X, each featuring unique tracking links to TurboTax, while PR amplified the content and partnerships across traditional and emerging media in lifestyle, sports, college, and marketing verticals. This agile, influencer-driven approach kept TurboTax’s messaging top-of-mind, driving engagement, brand awareness, and timely calls to action throughout the tournament. During the tournament, McNeese State’s Amir “Aura” Khan went viral as the first-ever student-manager to sign an NIL deal after gaining fame for leading McNeese out of the tunnel with his giant boombox. Following McNeese’s First Round upset win over Clemson, the school’s first-ever March Madness victory, Amir peaked as the #2 trend on X that evening. MKTG reached out immediately and finalized a deal within one hour, enabling content to go live before McNeese’s next game with his own unique TurboTax tracking link across social platforms. All athletes maintained creative freedom within guidelines, showcasing their personalities while connecting their achievements to TurboTax messaging and calls to action. The campaign emphasized diversity across conference, gender, ethnicity, and academic focus, coordinating simultaneous cross-platform posting to maximize reach and impact.
The campaign secured (77) pieces of content and (29) player partnerships across (19) universities with (16) men and (13) women. In total, the content achieved 47.9 million+ in social views, 580,000 in organic engagement, and an average engagement rate of 3.10% (well above brand benchmarks). The program also drove more than 200 earned media placements (yielding 402.7 million impressions, (+118% YoY)). Additionally, our partnership with viral sensation McNeese State University student manager Amir Khan’s TikTok post accumulated over 11.7 million views, 122,000+ engagements, along with another 545,000 views on X (Twitter), and 910,000+ views on Instagram. Amir recreated his viral tunnel walkout at the ESPN dunk challenge alongside fellow McNeese player, carrying a TurboTax-branded boombox. Prior to the walkout, ESPN aired Amir's original TurboTax ad reaching an estimated 780K national audience and thousands of in person fans. Additionally, we secured social media deliverables with paid media support that went live immediately following the contest, as well as time for Amir to participate in on-site interviews with media outlets .An exponential increase in awareness was achieved among Gen Z users.
