Retirement: an impressive campaign

One of the most important aspects of blogging is topicality, so I apologise that you may have already read about this elsewhere. However, if you haven't - please do read on.

Last month,  Prudential  and their agency, DROGA5 New York, won an award at the Cannes  Advertising jamboree  for their ‘Day One’ campaign, which tackled the subject of retirement. 

Whatever you may think of advertising industry awards, the campaign is  impressive.  I love the way it addresses the clichés and stereotypes surrounding retirement, as well as the challenges and problems that people face as they retire.   In fact, the only two negatives are: once again, the USA is ahead of the game; and I had no involvement in this campaign whatsoever.   You can watch the video here:

http://www.canneslions.com/work/2012/integrated/entry.cfm?entryid=34240&award=2

Here’s what they said:

“While the rest of the retirement category has promised shallow hopes of vineyards and yachts, we seized reality and captured what it felt like to wake up on a person's first day of retirement in 2011. We collected and documented personal experiences from across the country and launched 'Day One Stories', an integrated campaign encouraging people to start the conversation around retirement and to pro-actively plan for their own.”

 “In 2011, the biggest generation in U.S. history began to retire during the worst recession in a century. So instead of the false promises and intimidation that define the retirement category, we concentrated on one moment that everyone shares: Day One. We asked thousands of people to document their first day of retirement. We received over 5,000 Day One photographs, and they became the faces of a nationwide television and OOH campaign. Next we sent camera crews across America, and created a documentary series about people on their Day One. We put their stories online at www.dayonestories.com and invited others to join the conversation. We even took over NYC’s most prominent billboards and turned them into radio stations that broadcasted stories of New York’s newest retirees. Since it launched, Day One has reached tens of millions of people and touched nearly every medium.”

“Day One has redefined Prudential’s role in the category and has begun to change the national conversation about retirement. More than 250 retirees participated in the campaign, and more than 6,800 photos were submitted. More than eight million people have viewed the three-minute documentaries, and more than one million unique visitors have used the Day One site. In less than a year, Prudential has become exponentially more recognizable and connected to those who need its services most. And hopefully, the millions of people who have been touched by Day One have begun to think more about planning for their own.”

 It is also worth noting that Pfizer has recently launched a major US social media campaign to help it learn more about how Americans of all ages are tackling the issue.  The 'Get Old' site raises  “a simple, but profound question” – How do you feel about getting old? The site allows users to share and view stories, photos and videos about getting old, and even vote on how they feel about ageing.

Even if the result of all this is more and better financial services products (Prudential) and new and better drugs (Pfizer), that has to be a good thing. Doesn't it?