Marking 20 years of retirement insights with Scottish Widows

While the summertime is typically considered a quieter period, it hasn’t been the case for our busy PR team who have been powering through the warm days and launching some fantastic work across a number of our clients.

One of those campaigns has been Scottish Widows' landmark Retirement Report, which is now in its 20th year. Examining how people think and feel about the future while charting the nation's preparedness for retirement year-on-year. This year, the findings show an alarming number of people aren’t on track for the retirement lifestyle they would like, people are having to work longer to save the money they need later on, and the heavy reliance on the state pension will continue for the foreseeable future.

Working closely with the team at Scottish Widows and other agency partners, we launched the report at the end of July. Armed with the landmark findings, exclusive data, case studies, expert spokespeople and the support of sporting legend Paula Radcliffe as third-party spokesperson, the findings landed with a bang across broadcast, national, consumer and trade media. Coverage spanned from BBC You & Yours to The Times, The Telegraph and FT with over 100 pieces achieved to date, and more still to come.

We love working on campaigns like this for a number of reasons.

Firstly, engaging with a third party spokesperson, like Paula Radcliffe, added a different perspective on the findings. Paula was able to share her own experience of what it was like to retire from her ‘job’ at an early age, and the emotions she encountered. While this isn’t possible with every campaign, adding a third party spokesperson and well-known voice can really amplify the findings into a different space, to a different audience. And for us, the interviews coincided with the day that Andy Murray announced his retirement from tennis after the Olympics - a nice extra news hook.

Secondly, Scottish Widows is forging a path in the financial services industry and spotlighting the experiences of marginalised communities. The team understands that we don’t all have the same experience and if we are to improve retirement outcomes across the entire population, we need to understand diverse experiences from those living with disabilities, minority groups and the LGBTQ community. And importantly, equip everyone with the tools, conversation starters and small actions they can take to make a positive change to their financial futures.

Thirdly, with the formation of a new government we’ve been able to work closely with the public affairs team to call for changes needed to get more people in the UK on track for retirement. From lowering auto-enrolment age, widening the scope to bring in self-employed workers, and increasing contribution rates, these calls, if implemented, would have a really significant impact on people’s retirement outcomes - especially for the next generation of retirees.

We’re incredibly passionate as an agency about transforming the world of finance for the better and these values align closely with Scottish Widows ambitions. And, with Pension Engagement Season around the corner, this certainly won’t be the last you hear from us!