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Revitalising a global banks DC scheme with a fresh perspective

Building your future

the problem

Many DC schemes face the issue of ‘defaultism’. This is where people get caught in the cycle of apathy, and simply ‘do nothing’ in terms of saving for retirement, and as a result can end up with less than optimal outcomes.

As a large-scale organisation, our client had their fair share of people in those circumstances. As a result, they wanted to redesign their pension plan and tackle that lack of engagement with retirement savings. They went back to the drawing board with a simple aim: how, within a set communication budget, could they maximise retirement outcomes without apathy pushing people off course.

The resulting redesign meant that people who found themselves not actively making choices about their savings would:
•    Get one-third more in their account from day one (10.5% of pay, instead of 7.5%)
•    Have an extra 1.5% paid into their Plan each year, automatically (until employee’s pay 8%)
•    After 6 years, have over 2.5 times more being paid in each year, automatically (19.5% rather than 7.5%)
Additionally, it was noted that where people did save, they noticed that they tended to target contributions that the employer matched. Whether the match was at 50% or 100%, didn’t have much impact on their behaviour.

The client also knew from academic research that peoples’ tendency to default could drive higher levels of saving if they avoided giving them a large one-off shock in their take-home pay.

the solution

like minds was appointed to help tell the new savings story to members and re-brand the scheme.

The story the global bank now tell’s its people about their UK Pension Plan is both vibrant and dynamic and has at its heart the new reality of saving for retirement: that the money members save – it’s for what you want it to be.

The truth is that no-one saves for retirement – we save for the things that retirement means to us:
•    Spending more time with the grandkids
•    Helping your own kids get on or move up the property ladder
•    That long-awaited holiday somewhere sunny, sandy and simply stunning
•    Just being able to chill out and not worry about the rent or mortgage

Whatever retirement means to members – that’s what saving through the UK Pension Plan can help make real. This is at the heart of all of the communications.

At the same time, tackling another of the traditional DC communication issues was really important. If people want to maintain a standard of living linked to their pre-retirement income, an idea of what kind of post-retirement income they will need is helpful.

At this global bank, they will do the hard work for you and tell members how much they’ll probably need in retirement. And so starting in 2016, with every annual benefit statement, they include a target income level, based on the Pension Commission’s target income replacement rates.

Using simple and relevant icons, as well as song lyrics and film references to grab members’ attention, like minds designed and implemented a vibrant, multi-channel campaign that took the ‘little-and-often’ approach when it came to getting the communications out there.

This was delivered across a range of different media, including:
•    Posters
•    Ecards
•    Leaflets
•    Booklets
•    Benefit statements
•    A series of short, colourful videos in keeping with the printed and online branding

Working with the Trustees to develop an overall engagement statement, a real desire was also expressed by both members and the Trustees for the engagement piece to bring things back to basics for a member: what is a pension? How does it work? Why should I care?

With those questions in mind, like minds created the STEPS website not only to help bring things back-to-basics, but also to help members self-identify where they were in their pension savings journey.

Taking a step-by-step approach, a member can use the STEPS website to familiarize themselves with the things they need to know, make their own decisions on what to focus on next and find the answers to their questions.
This website is also integrated with the client’s Pension Plan administrator’s website, so that the journey from the transactional to the educational is as seamless as possible.

like minds was appointed to help tell the new savings story to members and re-brand the scheme.
The story the global bank now tell’s its people about their UK Pension Plan is both vibrant and dynamic and has at its heart the new reality of saving for retirement: that the money members save – it’s for what you want it to be.

The truth is that no-one saves for retirement – we save for the things that retirement means to us:
•    Spending more time with the grandkids
•    Helping your own kids get on or move up the property ladder
•    That long-awaited holiday somewhere sunny, sandy and simply stunning
•    Just being able to chill out and not worry about the rent or mortgage

Whatever retirement means to members – that’s what saving through the UK Pension Plan can help make real. This is at the heart of all of the communications.

At the same time, tackling another of the traditional DC communication issues was really important. If people want to maintain a standard of living linked to their pre-retirement income, an idea of what kind of post-retirement income they will need is helpful.

At this global bank, they will do the hard work for you and tell members how much they’ll probably need in retirement. And so starting in 2016, with every annual benefit statement, they include a target income level, based on the Pension Commission’s target income replacement rates.