Is an aged photo of yourself intriguing? Or is it alarming? Your response may determine if you stick around online and investigate Merrill Edge retirement savings or if you run screaming for the nearest exit. Merrill Edge’s “Face Retirement” tool relies on the first response, and it has Stanford-based research to back it up.
After capturing a current photo of yourself via webcam, you can see into the future: not only what the anticipated cost of living will be at your time of retirement but also what you will look like with a bunch of years piled on… and you can share the photo comparison (present vs. future) via Facebook. Of course, you can also learn about how to use Merrill Edge to prepare for the financial realities of retirement.
The goal of the tool? The Bank of America press release on the launch of “Face Retirement” describes it as “an effort to motivate Americans to save for their retirement.” And the tool itself offers this: “Retirement probably isn’t something you think about every day. But, if you could see yourself in retirement—if you could age your photo and come face to face with the future you—it just might change how you think about the future. And how you prepare for it.”
The Campaign Audience
The targeted group for the campaign is comprised of individuals currently putting off thinking about retirement. Generally, this is a younger market, the market investigated by the study out of Stanford University. The study revealed, as reported in the Bank of America press release, that “people who saw age-enhanced images of themselves were more likely to save more for retirement, compared to those who weren’t exposed to their future selves.”
Merrill Edge Prospects
As an online discount brokerage platform (and “challenger to Charles Schwab, E*Trade and TD Ameritrade”), Merrill Edge knows that many of its prospects are younger investors, those just starting out, including those who are part of the millennial market – which has vast growth potential for retirement firms.
But online trading also attracts the funds of older, do-it-yourself investors (mainly current Bank of America and Merrill Lynch customers who have between $50K and $250K in investments and want control over their trades), as well as experienced investors who go online to experiment and play with small portions of their overall wealth. How would this group feel about being aged by “Face Retirement?”
These typically older customers may differ from their younger counterparts who were the research subjects in the Stanford study: they may not appreciate the association of retirement with a wrinkled and gray version of themselves. Scare tactics aren’t what this group needs. Instead, more experienced investors want to feel confident that they’re on the right track; they want to imagine themselves happy, vibrant and “well” in the future.
Questions/considerations
Does Merrill Edge’s “Face Retirement” connect with the right consumer?
Participants in the Stanford research groups were, on average, in their twenties, and so “Face Retirement” does seem to be a strong marketing tactic… but only in this highly specific audience segment. It’s unlikely to work for – and may even be a turn-off for – other segments of Merrill Edge’s client base. Therefore, the concept may be best suited for marketing channels with extreme targeting capabilities – direct mail and email versus the Web, for example.
Is a social sharing strategy right for the “Face Retirement” campaign?
The curiosity factor with “Face Retirement” is significant. Once a person is aware of the tool, it’s very tempting to give it a try. Therefore, it’s desirable for Merrill Edge to put it in front of as many people as possible, and social sharing can often be a great way to accomplish that. Media Logic loves socially enabled efforts but wonders, in this case, if there’s a barrier to users sharing with their Facebook friends: vanity.
You can see below what the tool did to one of our account supervisors, for example. (Poor Fred! Thanks for taking one for the team!) If “facing retirement” does this to you, are you likely to share on Facebook? When considering including social elements in campaigns, be sure to evaluate the desirability of sharing the content.