Face Forward

“I’m not Buzz Lightyear – I’m not going to infinity and beyond!”

- Gemma Collins on the importance of pensions, Sky News. People don’t want to think about getting older, especially when it comes to pensions, which are often seen as complex, dull, and ultimately far-off. Add in the context of the rising cost-of-living, and it’s no wonder people are burying their heads in the sand. People do, however, think about getting older when it comes to another industry: beauty, from face creams to Botox and even LED light therapy. Our Face Forward campaign, on behalf of the pensions industry, lent into this insight. To break people – and especially the target audience of women aged 35-55 – out of ‘pension procrastination’, we used behaviour change modelling to create a parody advert which followed the tropes of beauty industry about a pot of face cream… but which was revealed to actually be about your pension pot. Starring the uniquely straight-talking Gemma Collins, the content was designed to drive talkability and make pensions more relatable, as well as driving headlines and media interviews, where ‘The GC’ was paired with money expert Iona Bain. Together they outlined the simple pension actions people can take to prepare for their future. While PR was at the campaign’s heart, it was fully integrated, including paid/organic social, and OOH. We exceeded all KPIs: 400 earned media hits, leading to a 30% campaign recall rate and 87% of those recalling the campaign taking a positive pensions action.