CPA Australia's YouTube campaign to encourage Australians to love their super has won the prestigious Lightning Rod Award at the 2008 ASFA (Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Limited) Communications Awards.
CPA Australia President Alex Malley welcomed the award, saying CPA Australia had developed the campaign earlier this year to impart an important message on superannuation to a mainly Gen Y and X audience.
'We are concerned that many Australians, particularly younger Australians, will face a lifestyle shock in retirement if they simply rely on compulsory super contributions alone,' Mr Malley said.
'Our research shows how valuable it is to make extra contributions to super when you're younger. Over time they can make a massive difference. But people often feel disconnected from their superannuation because they can't access it until later in life, so we knew we had to try a new approach to reach those audiences.'
'Government and industry research also shows that Gen Y in particular is just not hearing or heeding the message about cocontributions so we thought we'd try another way to get the message across.'
Learn to Love Your Super is a mockumentary about the unrequited love Superannuation has for his owner, Kim. Super wants to do the right thing by Kim, to support her and make her feel secure, but Kim wants to live in the moment.
The video was posted to YouTube and the CPA Australia website in late January and has attracted more than 18,000 hits (16,000 on YouTube and more than 2000 through CPA Australia's website).
CPA Australia engaged Catfish, a Melbourne-based corporate video production house with a track record of helping organisations such as World Vision, Google Australia and Victoria University to communicate via YouTube.
'We're serious about the importance of super and we're serious about trying new communication approaches. The fact that our approach has received industry recognition is very satisfying and if it contributes to a growing awareness among Gen Y and X about the need for their own super contributions, that's everything we could hope for.'
ASFA CEO Pauline Vamos said the ASFA Communications Awards had been held for more than 20 years and evolved in line with market trends.
'The Lightning Rod Award recognises excellence and innovation in electronic communications. Virtually all our entries now have an ecomponent to them, whether through website development or production of audio visual tools,' Ms Vamos said.
'The judges said CPA Australia's entry targeted Gen Y in particular, which we do feel is the hardest market for the super industry to effectively communicate with.'
