Prudential Launches ‘Race For Retirement’ Campaign to Take on America’s Retirement Challenge

Campaign asks consumers to pledge an additional 1 percent more of their annual income toward retirement
Dec 2, 2015 8:00 AM ET

NEWARK, N.J., December 02, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) launched a new national campaign, “Race for Retirement,” that aims to promote retirement readiness and features a call to action for consumers to start saving an additional 1 percent more of their annual income for retirement.

The campaign debuts today with the launch of the first of two television commercials featuring Harvard University psychology professor and best-selling author, Dan Gilbert. Scenes for the two spots – “The Prudential Race For Retirement” and “The Gates Experiment” – were filmed on November 7 at the Prudential 4.01(k) Race for Retirement in Washington, D.C. At the event, more than 5,400 people took the pledge and ran 4.01 kilometers on a course containing retirement readiness questions they could answer by running through specific gates.

A recent study from Prudential revealed that one-in-three Americans isn’t saving enough for retirement. With 10,000 Americans expected to retire every day for the next two decades, it is an issue that affects everyone, from Baby Boomers to Millennials.

“Retirement Readiness is an important issue that affects us all,” said Colin McConnell, Prudential’s chief brand officer. “The purpose of Race For Retirement is more than just education – it’s an empowerment campaign created to inspire people to start thinking differently about how they plan for retirement. Challenges can either be obstacles in your way or the thing that gets you up in the morning. Our intent is to showcase retirement as a solvable problem while creating a sense of urgency for people to take action, starting with the pledge to save an additional 1 percent more of their annual income.”

In addition to the television creative, Prudential has also unveiled www.RaceForRetirement.com, a digital hub where consumers can take the pledge and see the impact that saving an additional 1 percent more can have on their retirement savings. The site tracks all pledges and aggregates the collective impact that saving an additional 1 percent more can have on retirement savings in the U.S. over 30 years. The campaign also features a partnership with MapMyFitness, where people across the country can chart and complete their own 4.01(k) runs and share their participation across their social media channels.

The Race For Retirement TV spots are a continuation of the Prudential Bring Your Challenges series that includes “The Magnets Experiment” and “The Dominoes Experiment,” also featuring Gilbert. In these commercials, Gilbert highlights the behavioral challenges that often get in the way of retirement planning, such as procrastination and optimism bias.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion of assets under management as of September 30, 2015, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.