It might seem absurd that women are still facing battles on so many fronts – from harassment, discrimination and pay disparity to unconscious bias, fewer career opportunities and attitudes to the menopause – but Scottish Widows is at least doing its bit to try to tackle one key issue, the gender pension gap.
Launching what is claimed to be a first of its kind, the firm’s new digital tool combines data from its annual Women & Retirement Report overlaid with ONS data on average incomes and working patterns, to help raise awareness and understanding of the problem.
The tool – Beat the Gap – has been created by Adam & Eve DDB, with data modelling by Frontier Economics, underpins a wider International Women’s Day campaign, with media planning and buying handled by Zenith UK.
The campaign marks Scottish Widow’s 5th IWD partnership and represents its long standing commitment to improving financial outcomes for women.
Despite being more than double the size of the gender pay gap, very few people are aware of the gender pension gap or the unintended consequences that life events and choices can have on women’s financial futures.
Scottish Widows’ latest data shows that the gap between the average woman’s and man’s pension grows from £100 to almost £100,000 between the ages of 22 and 65.
In light of this, the Beat the Gap tool and supporting campaign is designed to make more women see how they are personally affected by this hidden inequality, highlighting how the gap will unfold over the course of their own working lives.
Based on a few simple life questions, the tool reveals the size of pension gap individual users will likely experience alongside the moments where their outcomes differ from men (such as having children). By offering tailored tips on how to navigate these challenges the tool aims to help women get ahead in a pension system more suited to men.
Alongside the tool, the wider ad campaign sees Scottish Widows launch a TikTok takeover to drive impact and awareness to a younger audience. Women (and men) in their 20s and 30s have the best chance to avoid falling into the pension gap and this campaign is all about making it personal and relevant, at the time when we can have the biggest impact.
The takeover aims to help more young women, in particular, feel better informed about the future financial risks they face. TikTok content creators such as Patricia Bright, Emma Stephenson (and her partner Ryan) and Coco Sarel demonstrate how to use the pension gap tool and learn how their individual experience affects their pension pot.
This will be supported by tactical OOH activity placed at high-dwell sites to give audiences time to process the message and act, driving action from women and male allies and traffic to beatthegap.com. A sponsorship across The Independent also offers the opportunity to champion women’s voices this International Women’s Day.
Scottish Widows head of marketing Lindsay Montgomery said: “Scottish Widows has a long-standing commitment to helping women plan for a secure financial future. Highlighting the gender pension gap and giving women the information they need to avoid it is at the core of this 2024 IWD campaign.
“Our new Beat The Gap tool shows when and how the gap emerges and offers personalised tips designed to improve women’s outcomes in retirement – from saving more in their 20s through to talking about pensions in divorce.”
Adam & Eve DDB planning director Sarah Morning added: “So much evidence shows that life events impact women’s financial futures more significantly than men’s and yet most financial services communications are of the one-size-fits-all variety.
“It’s vital that women – and in particular younger women – are made aware of the risks and pitfalls they face and what they can do ahead of time to lessen those risks.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Well, first up, everyone knows women have had a raw deal on pensions for many years – just ask those who have joined the Official WASPI Campaign – but successive Government’s have sat on their hands.
In the depressing absence of state help, young women will be forced to sort it out for themselves; the first step is raising awareness and hopefully this activity will get the message across. If not, the younger generation, who are already facing years in rental properties, will endure a miserable retirement too.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A ‘ignorance is not bliss’ 10 out of 10
