WA Super knows that ‘Super is boring… until it isn’t’ in latest creative campaign via Meerkats
Superannuation. Just the mere mention of the word is enough to make you yawn, especially when using terms like contributions, retirement savings and asset classes are anathema to their happiness and wellbeing. WA Super, Western Australia’s largest independent super fund, knows this to be true, and wanted to do something about it. So it partnered with Meerkats to create a campaign that bravely smashed through the industry stereotypes and advertising jargon to deliver something bold and fresh to the market.
The campaign has launched with a rollout of high-impact outdoor across some of Perth’s biggest static and digital sites, with support media including a 2 minute song on Perth’s largest digital radio station, Smooth FM, a Boring book for members and staff, social integration across Linkedin, catch up TV and Coles Radio in-store.
Says Fabian Ross, CEO, WA Super: “After extensive stakeholder interviews a common theme around superannuation was boring, so boring in fact most people’s eyes rolled back in their head when we said the word superannuation. So when Meerkats came to us with a solution that not only flipped the script in
terms of marketing, but actually had something really honest and fresh to say about the whole industry, we were very excited about the possibilities. It’s simple really. By doing something boring with your super today, like contributing a little extra or understanding your investment options, you can relax enjoy the benefits one day in retirement.”
The ‘lightbulb’ moment for the new campaign
came when the creative and strategic team at Meerkats started to play around with the language of ‘boring’, and discovered something surprising.
Says Josh Edge, creative director, Meerkats: “We knew we had a human insight with the ‘Super is Boring’ message. But it wasn’t until we really started to play away around with the ‘Boring is Super’ idea that things really started to fit into place. You don’t get to do the fun stuff in life without getting through the boring bits, from weddings to holidays to school and retirement. This opened up the campaign in a way that none of us were expecting, but we’re stoked with the results.”
Says Barry Walker, senior strategist,
Meerkats: “The research groups did something really interesting when we started to talk to them about the things that were important in their lives. They were quite passionate around topics like money, retirement, death, security, and happiness. But superannuation, as a word, was quite distant from all that important life stuff. By opening the door to admitting that, yes, this topic is a little boring and dry at
the beginning, we were able to talk about the ‘power of boring’ in a really engaging and human way. And once we started to talk about super, people acknowledged that yes, super is boring. But they also agreed it was very important.”
The campaign was launched to staff with a grey iced ‘boring cake’, that exploded with colour and chocolate candies when cut. The campaign has already garnered tremendous support within WA Super, with a recent staff polling tracking the campaign approval ratings at 4.62 out of 5, with over 48 staff rating it a perfect ‘5’. Amongst the staff feedback comments, one in particular stood out: “We need to be different…and it is. I love that it’s so different and engaging in our industry!”
VIEW THE ‘SUPER IS BORING’ BOOK HERE – Book_Inside_Boring_Complete_small.pdf
Meerkats
Business Director: Lucy Stoelwinder
Business Manager: Anita Swami
Senior Strategist: Barry Walker
Chief Creative Officer: Martin Beecroft
Creative Director: Josh Edge
Associate Creative Director: Rikki Burns
Design Director: Melissa Radman
Writers: Gordon Haynes and Annie Sullivan
Finished Art: Ben Mills
Illustrator: Blake Cantrell
Experience Strategist: Isabelle Hooper
Technical Director: Marcus Collier
Developer: Kenrick Wu
Production Director: Danny Coleman
Project Manager: Gemma Pavlovic
Sound Production: Soundbyte
Engineer: Brad Habib and Shaun Sandosham
Music: Shaun Sandosham and Robert Woods
Media: Match & Wood
Michael Wretham, Victoria Valova, Claire Dewhurst
2 Comments
Damn nice work! Well done.
Great campaign Rikki and Josh. Meerkats are going to find it very tough without you.