2011 Eddy Award winners in detail

What a tribute to TCW that a company with fewer than 1,000 employees won the only award given to corporate plans of all sizes for initial education! Judges were impressed that the program cost less than $1,500 and was rolled out quickly. It also produced great results: Participation rose 17%; fund rebalancing increased 25%.

Service provider: Charles Schwab & Co.

Using the theme “Your missing piece” was an excellent way to communicate to participants that there are multiple pieces to retirement income. And conducting a seminar in conjunction with Social Security was terrific. Best of all was the giveaway: a mouse pad designed to look like a puzzle and printed with the plan's phone number and website.

Service provider: Nationwide Retirement Plans

Judges were blown away by HP's “Finance Central,” and you have to see it to understand why. It was created after an employee survey showed, for example, that 93% wanted information on maximizing the 401(k) plan's earnings potential and 30% were uncomfortable with their investment choices. Some 46% of employees have viewed the portal since it debuted last April.

Service provider: Fidelity Investments

“A lot of thought and care went into this,” one judge said about American Express' game that is part of its “Smart Saving” campaign. The retirement planning wheel-spinning game, played at the company's financial fairs, included flash cards with the question on one side and the answer on the other. A bonus: giveaways such as dollar-sign paper clips and tote bags.

Service provider: Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust

FedEx raised the bar on a classic ongoing investment education vehicle – a newsletter. By using a broadsheet format, readers didn't get stuck with small type and items crammed together. The newsletter was well laid out and easy to read – more like USA Today than, say, the New York Times, with a good mix of words and graphics.

Service provider: Vanguard Group

Schwan's, which manufactures frozen foods, wisely chose “Look what's cooking” as the theme for its program. The materials were well-written and appropriate for its work force – including one in Vietnamese. Judges thought the cookware giveaways were great.

Service provider: J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services

Judges lauded Plexus for being creative and clever, and including a call to action. When the company increased its match to 4% of pay from 2.5%, a sock was sent to all employees not contributing at least 4%. To get the matching sock, they needed to increase their deferral to a minimum of 4%. Some 10% of employees did just that, plus participation increased 3.9%

Service provider: The Hartford

If you think targets have been overused in investment education pieces, think again. HAVI used a very colorful graphic in every piece of its campaign to educate participants that the default option had switched to target-date funds from managed accounts, and it worked. And, almost all of them picked the age-appropriate fund.

Service provider: Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust

Forest Labs switched to an electronic format and used contests to attract attention to its Financial Health Week. The education was excellent, as were the results: The number of participants invested in more than two age-based funds dropped 46%; and those investing only in stable value decreased 3.6%.

Service provider: J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services

Talk about success. “They really moved the dial,” one judge said of the results of Norton Healthcare's project that featured a nurses' campaign. Indeed, the faith-based health-care provider's participation rate jumped to 55.3% from 37.4%. The key was using very focused messages – such as “saving can be a hard pill to swallow” – and photos of nurses at work.

Service provider: Diversified Investment Advisors

Since employees of Pepperdine prefer to learn online, making “Brainshark” the ongoing investment education site for the university's participants made perfect sense. The information presented on diversification and asset allocation was top-notch.

Service provider: Diversified Investment Advisors

Ohio's materials were very comprehensive and direct, and written in plain English. They were multidimensional and available through multiple channels. The goal was to educate employees about target-date funds so they would choose the fund most appropriate for them. The results: Some 51% of new enrollees chose the funds in 2010, up from 33% in 2009.

Service provider: Nationwide Retirement Solutions

The “What's Stopping You?” theme used by Federal Retirement Thrift features a simple, but powerful image of a stoplight – with all of the lights green – on the cover. The goal: to get non-contributing employees to begin deferring to take advantage of the matching contribution. It worked; almost 20% of the targeted employees began contributing.

Service provider: none

Educating employees at Republic National, which is in the wine and spirits business, was a big task because not only was the company converting to a new record keeper, but it also was consolidating nine plans into four. The graphics — wine bottles and glasses — were strong and visually appealing, and the materials were well-organized and easy to read.

Service provider: J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services

TAMKO's headquarters lobby features art the company commissioned of workers on roofs and decks. That's TAMKO's line of business, and the company used these super-hero, comic book like images in its conversion materials as well. The result: branding at its best. Judges also liked that there were two brochures – one pre-conversion and one post-conversion.

Service provider: Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust

This entry featured strong branding and good graphics, including photos of employees at work and of slot machines and gaming chips. In addition, Gila River made good use of a tear-off enrollment card, which resulted in a 10.4% response rate. Judges also liked the company's transition brochure.

Service provider: New York Life Retirement Plan Services

Nestle has been disclosing fees to participants for more than a decade, and the way it does so is terrific. The information is given in jargon-free plain English and is clear, concise and easy to read. There is a breakdown between investment management and administrative fees.

Service provider: ING Institutional Plan Services

Milwaukee's entry was truly educational and not just about disclosing fees. It was the only one, for example, to compare the fund's offerings to their benchmarks. The information was basic, but clear and simple for participants to understand. Judges also liked the fact that the expense ratios were translated into dollars.

Service providers: Nationwide Retirement Solutions, MBO Cleary Advisors

Unlike other entrants in this category, UPS smartly used in its fee-disclosure handout the same graphics it used in the rest of its plan materials. In addition, the company made the fee information available in multiple media channels. UPS also had the most detail on administrative fees of any plan sponsor.

Service provider: Prudential Retirement

Unique and innovative are the words judges repeated when viewing MGM's entry. It's also has great visual appeal, which isn't always found in online materials. Because the company's website is integrated with the provider's record-keeping system, participants can go to one place and get everything they need. And it's all personalized.

Service provider: The Hartford

A boarding-pass theme with excellent train imagery was simple, compact and clever. Aiming to get newly eligible employees “on board,” Parsons had a clear message and a call to action. Mailings were sent each month for six months. Enrollment ranged from 2.4% to 19%, while the average deferral rate ranged from 4% to 10.4%.

Service provider: Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust

Participants at Advantage were engaged from the get-go in this special project featuring garden graphics because the company began with a contest to submit ideas for a theme for 401(k) Day. The project continued after the event, targeting non-participants. And to reward them, those who signed up got a garden kneeling pad.

Service provider: Principal Financial Group

Recycled paper, soy-based ink and nature-oriented images were parts of the green theme that CROSSMARK used in a brochure titled, “If only money grew on trees.” The plan streamlined to eight pages the volumes of information given to participants. The campaign succeeded at boosting participation through a simplified enrollment process.

Service provider: The Hartford

Safeway's “feed your dreams” and “feed your future” theme continued its winning streak. The simple, but clever, campaign featured food imagery and wording tied to the grocery business. Results: Participation increased 2.8%; and 62 of new participants enrolled at a contribution rate higher than the minimum.

Service provider: J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services

The cover of this elegant, yet creative, card is a cutout of the Minneapolis skyline with the Minnesota Twins' new stadium – which Mortenson is constructing – put into the foreground. The exterior grabs the participant's attention, and the message on the inside is simple and direct, personalizing information on the employer contribution.

Service provider: Strategic Graphic Design

“Run with it,” was the tagline of Merial's small, compact mailer discussing participant deferrals and the company match. The use of photos of horses and images of horseshoes was great branding for the company, which develops health-care products for animals. The mailer got results: Some 14.1% of targeted employees increased their deferrals.

Service provider: Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust

“Refresh your plan” featured creative posters introducing the “Retirement Refreshment Center.” Those who visited the center got treats, and those who submitted photos about “refreshing” were given handheld fans. In addition, the stick figure known as Sticky from previous campaigns now had a first name, Max, representing maximizing the employer match.

Service provider: Diversified Investment Advisors

Judges admired the way the organization combined its beliefs with preparing employees financially for the future. “Helping you sow the seeds of your financial future” was the theme. The message was simple, clear and thoughtful. Giveaways included a tote bag.

Service provider: Principal Financial Group

In a campaign to boost participation at a unit in Texas, Ascension Health used a rear-view mirror theme resembling a Texas highway and the tagline, “It's closer than you think — retirement, that is.” Participation (unadjusted for terminated employees) increased about two percentage points, while enrollment jumped 64%.

Service provider: Diversified Investment Advisors, Adams & Knight

The “retirement market” theme was chosen after testing ideas with employees. Judges said the two Indiana plans chose well. From “market,” it was a short jump to “supermarket,” enabling the funds to put a DVD in a small grocery bag and provide a shopping list of information available on the plans. Materials had produce graphics that jumped off the page.

ING and UPS moved away from traditional print and into video for the first time, and it was a winning move. The video was engaging and easy to understand, with the right look and feel for its employee base. The animation was pleasing and appealed to a younger generation. Judges especially like the ladders graphic.

Client: UPS

The only other service-provider winner in initial education – OppenheimerFunds – also chose a non-print route. Designed for employees new to participant-directed plans, this enrollment DVD was highly informative and easy to follow. It very effectively and relatively painlessly took people through the entire process.

The superior use of graphics and color make this entry a winner. Each piece is colorful, bold and striking. Judges also liked the theme: “Get focused, get ready, get going.” The materials are well-written and succinct; each has either “Looking out for #1” or “It's time” on the cover.

Client: Hanesbrands Inc.

ING created a series of short, animated videos to explain such topics as diversification and target-date funds. The videos were entertaining and easy to watch. The results were impressive: In a survey, more than 97% of respondents said the video did a good job explaining target-date funds and 91% said they might transfer assets into the funds.

Client: UPS

This entry is the only one to win in both the service provider and plan sponsor contests. Judges lauded Plexus for being creative and clever, and including a call to action. When the company increased its match to 4% of pay from 2.5%, a sock was sent to all employees not contributing at least 4%. To get the matching sock, they needed to increase their deferral to a minimum of 4%. Some 10% of employees did just that; plus, participation increased 3.9%.

Client: Plexus Corp.

“Retirement: making your dreams a reality,” featured a visually enticing main brochure that looked like a journal. Results were excellent: an increase of more than one-third in enrollments vs. a year earlier. The entry also had an unusual feature: an explanation of why someone should not participate in the plan.

Client: County Commissioners Association of Ohio

One reason the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System became administrator of the deferred comp plan was to improve participant communication. Among the changes: an online tool, “My Retirement Outlook”; and regularly distributed newsletters and postcards with catchy slogans like “Unwrap your future.”

Client: Kansas Public Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

Targeting five groups of employees, ING's series of medical-themed postcards instantly captured attention. One was a pill bottle saying: “Warning: Joining the 401(k) plan may cause long-term feelings of financial security.” The campaign garnered more than 600 new participants, the majority of whom deferred at least 5%.

Client: Baylor Health Care System

In just five minutes on retirementroadtrip.com, participants learn how to navigate the obstacles and roadblocks to retirement savings. It's entertaining enough to educate painlessly. And, according to Mercer, more than 95% of its U.S. defined contribution clients are using the road trip on their own websites.

A series of visually appealing mailers – most of them with easy tear-off calls to action – combined to make DWS' materials stand out. Results were impressive among clients that used them, including a three-percentage-point increase in participation and a five-percentage-point increase in the average deferral rate.

OppenheimerFund's entry consisted of creative, clever postcards and mailers that can be personalized for participants and non-participants. The graphic images were delightful, including a rabbit and a turtle with the heading, “You know the story...”

“Picture your future” is the theme ING used in a campaign that was clever and easy to understand. The titles of the materials created for this satellite TV company were great, including “same show, different channel,” “tune in to what's ahead” and “now showing.” Everything focused on the plan sponsor, not ING.

Client: DirecTV

This entry had the best identification with the plan sponsor of any 2011 entry. “Amazing branding” is how one judge described it. Every piece had great photos of people pursuing outdoor activities in Eddie Bauer gear. Interestingly, the materials deliberately omitted the word “retirement.”

Client: Eddie Bauer

While the content might be the same here as in other entries, what sets apart New York Life's work for Gensler is the custom graphics. They simply make the materials much more appealing. One rare piece: a resource guide explaining what business can be conducted online vs. voice prompt vs. telephone support.

Client: Gensler

The conversion materials Great-West did for New Hampshire show that campaigns can be comprehensive and effective without being expensive. Judges especially liked the use of state photos, and applauded the completeness of the transition information.

Client: State of New Hampshire 457 plan

There's nothing gimmicky or creative here. Instead, it is the thoroughness of the information Aon Hewitt provided to Land O' Lakes that impressed the judges. For example, a graph shows the effect of fees on account growth. Plus, there's a glossary and a good explanation of administrative and transaction fees.

Client: Land O' Lakes Inc.

This was one of the few entries in the fee disclosure category to include artwork, making it visually appealing and breaking up the dense information. ING's “star reports” for SUPERVALU contained basic information that included transaction fees.

Client: SUPERVALU

When North Carolina hired Prudential, Pru wisely used the conversion as an opportunity to ramp up fee disclosure. Indeed, providing easy access to fee information in multiple ways made this entry a winner. Judges especially liked the quick reference sheet and glossary.

Client: North Carolina Supplemental Retirement Plans

ING used humor and a high-impact graphic to let PPG Industries' participants know the company match had been restored. “Missing your match?” featured a simple picture of a red sock. One nice touch: The company thanked participants for their patience during the economic crisis.

Client: PPG Industries

“We saw a lot of flower and planting imagery, but this is a standout. This is something you'd open if you got it in the mail,” one judge commented on Wells Fargo's entry for Four Seasons. Not only was the mailer visually lovely, it also was hugely successful: Participation jumped to 96% from 67%.

Client: Four Seasons Hotels

With a birthday party theme, Wells Fargo's piece was simple, but clever. “I hope I get what I wished for: a pony, a baseball glove, a solid retirement,” the birthday boy is shown thinking. The four-sided pamphlet was designed to look like a birthday card, and participants could take action with a tear off.

Client: University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation

In a graphically appealing – and brief – video and series of e-mails, Diversified successfully appealed to the masses in an attention-grabbing campaign that was dynamic and creative. Judges liked that other media were employed, including Facebook, and that the e-mails were in multiple languages.

ICMA-RC cleverly used multiple channels of social media to reach out to younger participants, including Facebook, Twitter, a smart-phone application and a website called “Dream Big,” where visitors were invited to share their G-rated dreams (“a helicopter to skip the traffic” and “vacations and cruises”).

“Unique” and “innovative” were two of many words judges used to laud Francis Investment Counsel's entry, in which participants were asked to grab a fortune cookie and find their fortune in conjunction with National 401(k) Day. Judges noticed this entry took a completely different approach that was “out of the box.”