Prudential | Race for Retirement
2016 D&AD Impact Award • 2018 Effie Award for Sustained SuccessHow do you convince people to save more for the future, today? With an event and multiplatform campaign that treated retirement like the important cause that it is.

Too many Americans aren't saving enough for retirement.
So we helped Prudential inspire everyone to start saving a little more... 1% more, to be exact.
Thousands of people showed up to run 4.01K for their 401(k).
To join the race, you had to pledge to save 1% more of your income for retirement.





We turned the race course into another experiement.
Gates throughout the race served as a real-time experiment and put saving more in perspective. By the end of the race, everyone was running through the YES gate, saying they could save 1% more for retirement.



After the race, we celebrated.
Over 40 games and activities helped people learn even more about saving for retiremen, culminating in a celebratory concert.










The event kicked off the national campaign.
We used the momentum of the Race to kick off a multiplatform campaign that inspired people across the country to save 1% more for retirement, including TV spots that started running two weeks later.
Changing people’s perspective, we positioned retirement as a very important cause that needs your attention.




We partnered with MapMyFitness so that anyone could run 4.01K for their 401(k).



All added up, people saved over $1B for retirement.
Within a month, tens of thousands of Americans had pledged to save 1% more, adding up to over $1 billion for their future selves.

Before we could race, we spread the word.
To throw an event this big, we needed runners. We developed a campaign that had its own unique tone of voice and look & feel. And luckily for us: it worked.





Today, our country is a little more prepared for retirement.
Nearly 200,000 people have run a total of 486,000 miles to raise awareness for America's retirement challenge. Collectively, their pledges to save more could grow to over $1 billion in additional retirement savings.
The message didn’t just connect with runners—it resonated throughout the entire DC community.
• 73% said the Race for Retirement raised their awareness of the importance of actively contributing to a retirement plan
• 20% said they spoke to others about the importance of saving for retirement
• 10% of said they began contributing to a 401(k) plan
• 17% said they increased their retirement contributions
• 20% said they intended to increase their retirement contributions
Beyond DC, the Race for Retirement gave the press a lot to talk about... and earned a D&AD Impact Award.
Credits:
Agency: Droga5
Role: Creative Lead/Sr. Copywriter
ECD: Kevin Brady
AD: Andy Grant
Broadcast Production Company: Reset
Editorial: Work Editorial
Post Production: The Mill
Experiential Production Companies: IMG/IMGL