J.P. Morgan Revamps Engagement Program

The financial services firm says the re-launched Audience of One program is designed to be more interactive, personal and easy for participants to use. In adopting the program, plan advisers and sponsors will benefit from tools that provide tailored messaging, interactive online games, video content and other services designed as a “call to action” for employees to save and invest more effectively.

J.P. Morgan says the new Audience of One experience also leverages and improves the plan sponsor’s existing communication programs to help participants take better advantage of new plan design features, such as automatic enrollment and automatic contribution escalation.

Michael Falcon, managing director and head of retirement at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, tells PLANSPONSOR that the refresh of Audience of One is the firm’s most recent attempt to better leverage the expansive amounts of customer data and intelligence collected in modern retirement plans. 

“The refresh on Audience of One is focused on how we can better leverage all the data we have, as a provider, to improve outcomes,” he explains. “And with that information, we’re asking how can we be better at compiling and delivering it so that it has the strongest impact?”

Falcon says the first iteration of Audience of One has been available for more than a decade as part of J.P. Morgan’s retirement services offerings, and it has seen strong success on the goals of integrating participant outreach efforts with the principals of behavioral finance. He adds that the second release builds on the original program and incorporates new persona-based outreach efforts that can use plan and industry data to tailor communications for each participant, according to his or her unique savings circumstances.

The revamped program also includes a broader digital experience to educate and support participants as they pursue retirement goals and improved savings habits. In the pilot for the program’s enhancement, 87% of website visitors played the interactive games offered and overall engagement—measured by the number of historically disengaged people who went on to review their accounts—increased by 17%.

“Audience of One identifies participants who need encouragement to save and invest more wisely,” explains Greg Walker, director of participant experience with J.P. Morgan’s Retirement Plan Services unit. “Messages are highly personalized, actionable, and delivered through multiple channels, whether that is with an interactive game, on the phone, on the Web, face-to-face or by email.” 

Walker says the program’s aim is to connect with and educate participants about the steps they should take to save and invest more effectively—wherever they are on their financial journey. For example, a 35 year-old male participant with a history of disinterest in retirement planning will be presented with a personalized calculation showing how a relatively small contribution immediately compounds into a much larger account contribution thanks to tax deferral and match. Conversely, a 55-year old female with a history of stronger engagement will be given a specific estimate of her potential post retirement expenses, based on social norming with others in a similar locale making a similar income.

Participants also receive a custom calculation of what their current retirement plan might supply in retirement and how much that might be improved with a relatively modest increase in savings. J.P. Morgan says this persona-based strategy resulted in response rates more than twice that of traditional retirement campaigns and an average net increase in annual savings of more than $2,000 per participant.

More information is available at https://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/retirement.