Jill Cress on Gen Z
From H&R Block’s Jill Cress on AI, Digital Tax Prep & Rebuilding Brand Relevance · · Matt Britton
“There's a general sense of financial optimism from Gen Z in particular and Gen Z is really important to us because they are one of the only big new entrance into this category every year. For example, like income is outpacing inflation for that demographic and so they feel generally optimistic about their financial future. Debt is the thing that's looming over them, but their confidence in being able to earn and weave together income through things like the gig economy gives them a lot of optimism.”
On , Jill Cress, Chief Marketing & Experience Officer at BLOCK H & R INC, spoke about Gen Z during H&R Block’s Jill Cress on AI, Digital Tax Prep & Rebuilding Brand Relevance on Matt Britton.
About Jill Cress
Jill Cress, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at H&R Block, discussed the company's approach to the 2025 tax season in a January 2025 podcast appearance. She described the period from January 1 to April 15 as a "sprint" to reintroduce the brand and capture demand, noting that 150 million Americans are required to file taxes by a specific date. Cress stated that the company's role is to "drive growth through bringing in more new customers and retaining our clients," and that marketing activities are evaluated based on whether they deliver business results. Cress highlighted Gen Z as an important audience, citing their financial optimism and status as one of the only large groups of new entrants into the tax category each year. She mentioned that H&R Block invests in social media platforms like TikTok and uses creators and influencers to produce platform-specific content. Cress also noted that changes to 1099-K reporting thresholds, which will decrease to $5,000, will affect people with side hustles or income from platforms like Venmo and Facebook Marketplace, and that the company is considering how to address this through content and storytelling.