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On the Brink: TaxSlayer taps new CMO amid digital display ad spend shift (Score 66)

Benefits package company TaxSlayer has named Missy Polhemus its CMO, effective July, to replace incumbent Chris Moloney, who departed this summer for a position at Brinks Home Security. Previously the marketing SVP at Shipt, Polhemus brings additional marketing leadership experience from companies such as Books A Million, Daxko, Hoffman Media and Southern Progress Corporation.

TaxSlayer recently teamed up with MundoHispanico to launch TaxSlayer Latino (more

According to iSpot, a YTD national TV spend of $330,060 has gone towards commercials targeting male and sports-oriented audiences (see targeting right). Its total 2018 spend was focused in H1 and decreased to $4 million from that of $5.3 million in 2017.

Within the past year, Adbeat reports that the company has spent $2.1 million on digital display ads placed primarily through Google (48%) and TribalFusion (37%) onto site destinations including mundohispanico.com, topix.com, buzzfeed.com, xfinity.com and someecards.com. During the past 24 months, TaxSlayer's spend has totaled $3 million.

Because of these figures, it seems as though the company is shifting spend away from TV channels towards digital and social. Its spend typically spikes in Q1, when consumers are preparing to do their taxes, and it tends to also invest in print and radio. However, TaxSlayer seems to have pulled out of outdoor this year. Per Kantar, its Q1 2019 spend of $6.1 million already surpassed its total 2018 spend of $5.9 million. The company usually targets Gen-Xers and boomers (male skew), but its digital shift reflects that this demographic may be expanding to include millennials.

Agency & martech readers - since, as you're well aware, newly-hired CMOs often conduct reviews, reach out soon to get on Polhemus's radar. She is located near TaxSlayer's HQ in Augusta, GA, so local shops may have an advantage here. Focus on differentiating TaxSlayer from competing tax management companies like TaxAct, H&R Block, TurboTax, Credit Karma and Intuit. In the past, the company has worked with Luquire George Andrews.