siân melton

content, community, cat herding

The Block-iest Tax Return Ever.

Role: Community Management, Content Coordinator

Ask: 2020 was a confusing tax season. With its offices closed because of COVID-19, H&R Block needed to clear things up for people and stay top of mind. So we opened a new office: the first tax office in Minecraft.

Executive Creative Director: Jeffrey Da Silva Creative Director: Matt Fraracci Art Director: Sammy Lo Copywriter: Peter Sreckovic VP, National Accounts: Amelié Gundy Account Director: Andreea Vernescu Account Executive: Jamie Flatow Account Coordinator: Marteen Sevier Strategist: Amber Smith Media Planner: Evan Fernandes Media Assistant: Eric Sutherland Client: H&R Block

SELECTED
Communication Arts Interactive Annual (2021)
ADC Shortlist (2021)
Cannes Shortlist - Social and Influencer (2021)

AWARD
Applied Arts Branded Content - Single (2020)
ADCC - Bronze: Social Media (2021)
ADCC - Bronze: Media Innovation, Single (2021)

Plan.

I was brought on to to help manage and bring to life the community management. Using the original concept and a copy sample from the creative team/copywriter, I fleshed out the social media content plan to include a pre-promo phase and live phase, with the social run-of-show, copy samples, and social assets all being approved by the client in advance.

The pre-promo phase focused on teasing the live date on Instagram. Folks had already been commenting on H&R Block’s Instagram about how their posts reminded them of Minecraft so we gave them a little nudge a few days before and then again right after TaxCraft went live. We also did some day-before teasers on IG Stories, Twitter, and Facebook.

H&R Block Instagram page showcasing various block designs and a follower comment that reads "what are you doing, just film all your ads in Minecraft, don't you want money?"

Comment on the H&R Block Instagram page that reads "I thought this was a Minecraft ad for a second," with a reply from H&R Block that reads "We've been working on something exciting we think you'll like! Watch our social pages on September 15!"

Once TaxCraft was life, I focused on reactive community management. The bulk of conversations were happening on Facebook so that’s where I spent a lot of time. We ended up having a bunch of fun back-and-forths and overall echoed the spirit of TaxCraft on all the social feeds. Plus I got to spend the day making puns; it doesn’t get much better than that.

Conversation on H&R Block's Facebook page. Follower: "LMAO WTF." H&R Block: "Why not, it's the blockeist way to file." Follower: "I love it."

Conversation on H&R Block's Facebook page. Follower: "What a time to be alive!" H&R Block: "Alive and blockified!"

Screen Shot 2020-09-15 at 3.15.57 PM.png

Conversation on H&R Block's Facebook page. Follower: "lol, what." H&R Block: Y'konw, because expert tax advice should always just be a block away." Follower: "Not gonna lie. This is some A1 advertising and pun game."

Takeaways.

If you’re going to have a social stunt, community management is key and reactive community management is essential. By keeping conversations going, we piqued interest and kept our posts showing up in feeds.

Planning is also essential. We developed numerous copy samples and scenarios in advance so that when the time came to be reactive, I was able to pull from that pool instead of wasting time starting from scratch. I still wrote new copy when it felt right but using the pre-approved samples as inspiration was way more efficient.

Something inherently boring (taxes, yawn), can actually be a lot of fun! We surprised folks with this stunt and more brands should be stepping outside their boxes (ehehe) like this and show up in unexpected places liike Minecraft and Twitch.