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Company: Merkle, Columbia, MD
Company Description: Merkle, a dentsu company, is a leading data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Industry
Nomination Sub Category: Marketing Campaign of the Year - Insurance
 Nomination Title: Nationwide Indexed Principal Protection
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
Launched July, 2021
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 134 words used.
Due to the SECURE Act legislation in 2019, in-plan guarantees have become more accessible, flexible, and portable for retirement plan participants. With this, Nationwide developed a new investment option aimed at meeting the needs of both employers and employees. Nationwide’s Indexed Principal Protection (NWIPP) product became a solution for those who are looking to save for retirement and protect their savings while continuing to grow during market gains to offset rising inflation and longer life expectancy. For the first time, a fixed-indexed annuity product was offered in-plan, allowing participants to easily move retirement savings from other investments into Nationwide’s Indexed Principal Protection offering. Plan sponsors needed opt into the new investment option, but once they did, a product that provides asset protection and asset growth was now at the fingertips of all plan participants.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 227 words used.
During planning, Nationwide Retirement’s Participant Engagement Program, the 1:1 marketing engine for Nationwide employer-sponsored retirement plans, was chosen as a primary channel for the campaign and was expected to generate at least 30% of the total assets into the new offering. When a new retirement plan is offered, all plan participants receive mandatory messaging. However, through analytics and market expertise, Nationwide identified a targeted audience, who was near to, or in, retirement to receive additional email and direct mail communications.
The campaign launched in July with an initial email sent to all eligible plan participants, driving participants to an educational landing page. Participants who either clicked through from the email or were identified as a primary target received an additional email and direct mail communication. Calls to action were based on age and account balances, with higher age or account balances directed to call a Retirement Specialist, and lower age or account balances driven to an educational website where they could learn more and schedule an appointment.
Creative and messaging in the communication focused on encouraging participants to ‘protect and continue to grow’ their hard-earned savings. The landing page included easy-to-understand content with video, detailed examples, case studies, and downloadable content. After the initial launch, the campaign audience was optimized and set up as an ongoing series, sent out as new plans opted into the offering.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2020. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 222 words used.
The NWIPP campaign was successful, met goals, and was a catalyst to the launch of other annuity-based products and target-date income guarantee products for participants within their retirement plan. This made them easily accessible and highly exchangeable without incurring fees. Initial Participant Engagement Program messaging efforts led to significant call rates from participants and identified demonstratable lift (+27%) in the addition of direct mail to the messaging stream, as part of the initial testing strategy. This allowed the initial product adoption and revenue goals to be met.
- Unique open rates for the primary target were optimized to nearly twice the average open rates.
- Testing and audience optimization throughout the campaign led to significant lifts in calls (37%) and enrollment (36%) with the primary audience.
- Call rates averaged below 1% across all audiences, and were over 2% for the primary target audience.
- The effort led to over 430 new participants moving asset balances from other investments to Nationwide’s Indexed Principal Protection offering, resulting in over $42,000,000 in assets invested in the new offering, attributable to the campaign.
As Nationwide continues to focus on unique product offerings for employers and employees in retirement savings plans, the launch of an annuity-based product like NWIPP has supported Nationwide’s goal of providing the right product at the right time to uniquely support individual participant needs.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 42 words used.
Attachments include the primary target email, additional audience email, direct mail support, evolution from product launch to optimization to future testing and product additions, and high-level email metrics showing NWIPP messaging outpacing baseline Participant Engagement Program messaging through optimization and testing efforts.
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