Even though it's Super Bowl weekend, it's still tax season. Thus, H&R Block has purchased YouTube preroll ads that will run against every big-game spot that's repurposed on the social video site.
To put this blanket approach into perspective, there were 62 paid Super Bowl spots last year. So while the tax preparer doesn't have a big-game commercial, it will be all over YouTube on Sunday in an effort that runs through Feb. 9. The Kansas City-based brand wouldn't divulge spend for this piece of its three-month "Get Your Billion Back" campaign.
Kathy Collins, H&R Block cmo, suggested the strategy was a smart way of working around the $4 million Fox is charging per 30-second spot. "The high price of a Super Bowl ad is often talked about this time of year and provided a perfect opportunity to show just how big a billion dollars is," she said.
And Collins' brand isn't the only notable marketing player going with a YouTube-heavy strategy this weekend. According to sources, Newcastle Brown Ale has dropped considerable coin on the video site's preroll units to push the beer's awesome Anna Kendrick online spot in the coming days.