“Help Us Take Over Tax Season.” 

In the fall of 2005, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service engaged CooperKatz to build and sustain leadership visibility for the company from the beginning of the 2006 tax season, January 1, through the filing deadline, April 17, with the goal of continuously driving customers to the firm’s 5,400 locations nationwide.

To promote the Jackson Hewitt name and its expert services, CooperKatz developed and implemented an aggressive media strategy. Starting in the first week of January, CK arranged face-to-face briefings for CEO Mike Lister with top tier journalists, encouraging them to begin thinking and writing about taxes far earlier than in the past.      

This outreach resulted in coverage in key outlets, such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Associated Press, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and Marketwatch.  Importantly, this early media engagement positioned Jackson Hewitt as a top-of-mind, valued resource throughout the remainder of the tax season.

Subsequently, CooperKatz wrote and distributed a continuous stream of tax tips and advisories, conducted regional media tours with the company’s tax specialist, Mark Steber, proactively pitched radio stations across the country each week, supported two major national sports sponsorships and booked ongoing interviews for the company’s network of local PR Representatives around the country.

The saturation campaign resulted in 80 broadcast and 38 print placements over the three-and-a-half-month tax season. More importantly, Jackson Hewitt reported its strongest business performance ever in terms of both returns prepared and revenues generated.