46 DC plan education programs honored

PNC Financial Group Inc. opted for posters of sunflowers. McLaren Health Care Corp. provided wildflower seeds. And MGM Resorts International sent seeded postcards that could be torn up and planted to produce wildflowers.

While the tactics differed, the sponsors' goals were similar: Encouraging employees to grow their retirement savings.

Those garden-themed campaigns were among 46 education programs honored in the 22nd annual Eddy Awards sponsored by Pensions & Investments. Other winning efforts, highlighted March 7 at P&I's Defined Contribution East Conference in Miami, included one that featured retirement lectures by a so-called 9-year-old professor and another that used retro board games to help a software company's employees learn more about retirement savings.

To promote electronic delivery of retirement information, Las Vegas-based MGM sent participants postcards saying that paper statements were as passe as Lava Lamps or Pet Rocks. MGM's seeded paper postcards strategy earned a first-place finish in the special projects category for corporate plans with more than 5,000 employees.

“There's a lot of paper in 401(k) plans,” said Julie Donohue, benefits director, who confessed that her husband has a Lava Lamp. “This was a new approach to a standard message of growing green. Our goal is to change the way we do business.”

MGM stood out from the crowd in another aspect: its other entry tied with its postcards campaign for first place in special projects. Prudential Retirement was the service provider for both.

MGM presented a “Ready, Set ... Grow” theme, as it demonstrated how contribution increases over time can produce greater retirement savings.

“Small adjustments can make a difference in how your plant will grow — water, sunlight, climate,” said a brochure sent to participants that features drawings of plants in increasing stages of growth. “Just like small changes to your lifestyle can allow you to save more and grow your 401(k) account.”

At annual enrollment events at several MGM casinos, participants received a planter kit with soil and seeds. “Go plant your seeds,” said MGM, which staged a contest for participants to submit photos of their plants.

Ms. Donohue said the plants and photo contest helped reinforce the savings growth message. “You care for your account just like you care for your plant,” she said.

McLaren Health Care Corp., Flint, Mich., told participants to “Seed it. Feed It. Water It. Grow It.” in brochures that featured pictures of seeds, plant food, a watering can and a flower-filled pot.

“We wanted something very eye-catching and simple,” said Donna Aho, corporate manager of retirement services for McLaren, a health-care system that includes hospitals and physicians' practices.

McLaren sent seeds or gardening gloves to participants in its campaign to get them to raise contributions to take full advantage of the company match. “You're growing a wonderful asset for your future,” one brochure said. “But we want to remind you not to just set it and forget it.”

The education campaign targeted two groups — people who hadn't enrolled in the McLaren 403(b) plan and those whose contributions remained below the company match.

Ms. Aho credits service provider MassMutual Retirement Services for the gardening-theme strategy that enabled McLaren to place first in the special projects category for not-for-profit plans with 1,000 to 5,000 employees.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Pittsburgh, featured a field of sunflowers in an education campaign that told participants “your future is looking brighter,” especially if they contribute enough to meet the employer match.

The campaign was aimed at employees who hadn't contributed to the 401(k) plan or hadn't contributed enough to qualify for the full corporate match.

“A lot of the problem is due to inertia,” said Sharon Hazy, vice president and manager of the PNC retirement plan. “If we could get their attention, we could get them to join.”

PNC sent direct mail and e-mail appeals to employees, mailed a personalized retirement statement to participants, held employee meetings and conducted webinars.

Its education campaign also cited typical excuses for missing the full match — such as “I'll start later” and “I just haven't gotten around to it” — with responses to each excuse.

“We tried to identify the barriers based on what we heard from employees, what we read and from talking to consultants,” Ms. Hazy said. Among its responses to the excuses, PNC cited auto enrollment for convenience, the availability to take a loan or hardship withdrawal for participants concerned about emergencies, and the “magic of compounding” for the “I'll-start-later” excuse.

For its efforts, the PNC campaign boosted participation in the 401(k) plan and led to more employees qualifying for the full match. PNC and its service provider, Buck Consultants LLC, earned a first place in the auto re-enrollment category for plans with more than 5,000 employees.

Agriculture played a role in the Navajo Nation's comprehensive education campaign that tied culture to the goals of retirement investing and savings. For example, in its retirement education booklet, the Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Ariz., referenced the importance of planning for future corn harvests.

“Our ancestors knew that part of each harvest must be set aside to be planted for next year's crop,” the booklet said. “Planning for the future is one of the many philosophies that we hold dear.”

Carol Martinez, a retirement officer, said the corn analogy and other culture references were common-sense ways to convey a message. “We knew what the audience wanted,” Ms. Martinez said. “We wanted laymen's terms. We teach that you need to plan for the future.”

Eddy awards judges praised the Navajo Nation's use of colorful images and photos, the cultural references and the presence of a Navajo-language interpreter at a call center to support its education efforts for a defined benefit plan and a 401(k) plan.

These elements were especially important for reaching out to older people for whom “trust is a big issue,” Ms. Martinez said.

The Navajo Nation — and service provider Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust — tied for first in the not-for-profit special projects category for plans with fewer than 1,000 people. The other winner was the Online Computer Library Center, Inc., Dublin, Ohio, and its service provider, Lincoln Financial Group.

BMC Software Inc., Houston, used a different type of tradition — classic board games — to win first place in the special projects category for companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees.

Eddy Award judges were impressed by the company's effort to infuse defined contribution themes into the board games, resulting in greater attendance at retirement planning sessions.

Annie Dieu, senior benefits analyst, said BMC and its service provider, SimplyConnect Consulting LLC, wanted to attract younger workers. “I focus on these workers because the sooner you start, the better off you will be,” Ms. Dieu said.

When asked how employees of a software technology company responded to old-fashioned games as a retirement education tool, Ms. Dieu said: “They loved the board games.” Employees played games at lunchtime during a weeklong Retirement Week education campaign at offices in Houston and Austin, Texas.

Several other Eddy Award winners used video to reinforce their messages of saving more and saving early for retirement.

Leading the way was the Ohio Public Employees Deferred Compensation Program, Columbus, which introduced 9-year old Professor Penny, who discussed subjects ranging from fees to auto escalation to required minimum distributions.

“We tried to keep information as simple as possible and stay away from jargon,” said Keith Overly, executive director of the deferred compensation program, which captured first place in the not-for-profit/other special projects category for plans with more than 5,000 employees. “We wanted to introduce humor and make it engaging for participants.”

Professor Penny's mini-lectures were augmented by animated chalk drawings. For movie fans who like to remain in theaters to watch the closing credits, please note that Professor Penny reads closing credits — the regulatory investment disclosures.

Another video star was Casey Fick, defined contribution plans' communications manager for the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System, Jefferson City. Mr. Fick appeared in several videos — standing in the woods wearing an orange hunting vest; standing in a swimming pool — that used humor to convey messages about retirement savings.

“As we've gotten more experienced, we've added more presenters for the videos,” Mr. Fick said. “We have recruited employees to be in the videos because peer-to-peer marketing is really strong.”

MOSERS chose investment/retirement themes based on discussions with participants about issues for which they want more information, he said.

“These are fun, engaging videos that would be good for young employees,” one Eddy Awards judge wrote about the campaign that took first place in the ongoing education category for public plans.

“They were funny and pithy and presented important messages clearly and succinctly,” another judge wrote. “Using employees rather than actors made it more relatable.”

Two plans in Connecticut used familiar sights to help participants relate to — or at least accept — record-keeping changes.

Yale University, New Haven, Conn., took first place in the not-for-profit category for plan conversions. Eddy Award judges praised the university for capturing a sense of place by using campus photographs in its campaign to explain why it was reducing the number of record keepers to one from two for its three 403(b) plans and one 457 plan.

“Brand identity was a key element,” said Hugh Penney, senior director of compensation and benefits. “When we moved to a sole record keeper, we wanted to rebrand as the Yale University Retirement Plan.”

The university presented a theme of “One provider, more options,” and it marketed the change as an “evolution.”

Yale used postcards, internal e-mails, the university benefits website and e-mails sent to participants' homes' to deliver the message. A highlight was a series of town hall meetings that attracted more than 1,000 participants that “put a human face” on the discussion about the university strategy, Mr. Penney said.

Yale was pleased with both TIAA-CREF — the service provider for the conversion campaign — and Vanguard Group Inc. as record keepers, Mr. Penney said. But Yale opted to keep the former because the university could reduce costs and achieve other administrative benefits.

The Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller, Hartford, won the public category for conversions, using a “Work. Save. Play.” theme to explain its switching of record keepers to Prudential Retirement from Voya Financial for its 403(b) and 457 plans.

“Public employees don't always embrace change,” said Thomas Woodruff, director of health-care policy and benefit services. That's why his office decided that a “lighter, positive theme” was the best approach. Prudential was the service provider.

“We wanted to give people the idea that retirement can be an opportunity,” Mr. Woodruff said, noting that the print portion of the campaign contained Connecticut-based photographs. It was augmented by 35 employee fairs.

As a result, the reaction to the record-keeping switch “was almost a non-event,” Mr. Woodruff said. “We were out front early.”

Ring Cos., Oakland, Tenn., showed that a small DC plan can make a big effort to improve retirement savings. The maker of plastic containers, which has a 401(k) plan with $33 million in assets covering 642 employees, conducted information sessions at 15 U.S. plants.

“It is important to enhance a trust level,” said Michelle Redmond, vice president of employee services at Ring Cos. The company — and service provider Securian Retirement — won first place in the corporate ongoing investment education category for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.

Ring Cos.' print campaign featured photos of a seesaw with the headline “Two Simple Ways to Balance Your Retirement Options,” referring to the plan's target-date fund series and its risk-based model portfolios with differing levels of risk.

Ms. Redmond said the campaign was based on conversations with employees, who were uncertain about investing. “Confusion causes them to take no action,” she said. “They said, "Talk my language. Use words I understand.'”

The print campaign and the employee meetings — which included one-on-one sessions with participants — was augmented by Ring Cos.' arranging for financial advisers to go to plants to set up one-on-one meetings as well.

Sonepar USA had to keep things simple as it merged two 401(k) plans, chose a new record keeper and offered a revised investment menu, said Annette Grabow, the Charleston, S.C.-based retirement program manager. “We have many challenges here,” she said.

Sonepar USA, a distributor of electrical products and related services, chose a “Your Plan Rocks” print campaign, plus webinars and e-mail. Sonepar used several cartoon-like drawings as well as a chalkboard-like illustration — “Helping You Plan For Your Retirement.”

Ms. Grabow said her company had to describe several changes — improving investment diversification and rebranding the plan — while encouraging greater participation. “We have a lot of millennials who don't think about retirement,” Ms. Grabow said.

Sonepar and its service provider, Schwab Retirement Services, took first place in the corporate conversions category for companies with more than 5,000 employees.