The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins will front the latest ‘Pension Attention’ campaign, run by the The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The latest campaign will feature Collins in a parody beauty ad, designed to address concerns many people have about ageing – and encouraging them to put savings before cosmetic concerns. According to research, published by the campaign 57 per cent of Britons purchased anti-ageing treatments in the last year, but only 23 per cent made steps to plan their financial future.
This year’s campaign, which follows two previous campaigns led by Big Zuu and Timmy Mallett.The campaign includes short films with Collins and financial expert Iona Bain offering practical guidance on pension-related actions. These include tracking down lost pension pots and reviewing pension accounts to determine prospective retirement income.
Pension Attention campaign spokesperson Chris Blackwood says: “By getting Gemma Collins on board, we’re hoping to engage more people than ever with their current pension pots. This year, we’re urging the nation to ‘Face Forward’ by parodying some of the stereotypical ads for anti-ageing cosmetics.
“Our research shows that many people aged 35-55 have started to think about physical ageing and taking steps to prevent it but many have not yet started planning financially for later life. As such, we hope that by aligning beauty, ageing and finance we can reach those who haven’t yet engaged with their pensions.”
He adds that the industry has an important role to help UK adults engage in and understand their pensions and prepare for later life. “By coming together – under a single umbrella – with a simple, bold and memorable campaign, we can build on the successes of the last two years and continue to increase saver engagement in pensions.”
TV star Gemma Collins says: “To be honest, I hadn’t previously given much thought to my retirement and the money I might need for it. It has always felt such a long way off.
“But working on the Pension Attention campaign has opened my eyes to the importance of thinking about my plans now and facing forward.”
The campaign is being support by the new minister for pensions Emma Reynolds. There was also support from the industry. Now Pensions chief commercial officer Eleanor Levy says: “The Pension Attention Campaign is a valuable initiative to help people recognise the importance of their pension and to think more actively about saving for their retirement.
“While savers themselves need to take a more active interest in their pension preparedness, as an industry we must work closely with government, savers, and employers to ensure we have a pension system that benefits as many people as possible. We welcome the Government’s announcement of a part two to its pension review which will tackle the question of what adequate saving looks like.“This will be essential for the development of a much needed roadmap on the future of Auto Enrolment, to better enable the pensions system as a whole to meet the needs of all future retirees, and also help people to understand the impact of their expenditure and saving trade-offs.”
