Since 1942, the Ad Council has offered trusted advice and inspiring calls-to-action. In fact, they created the category of public service advertising, and their icons and slogans are woven into the very fabric of American culture. The Ad Council is where Smokey Bear lives. The Ad Council saw that “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” and reminded Americans that, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” 

Today, they are working with AARP to help people save for their retirement. 

The campaign's target audience (people who are about 10-15 years away from retirement but who are not yet financially prepared to retire) find the resources on the AceYourRetirement.org website to be actionable and helpful and Avo's tone of voice to be empathetic and empowering. 

With the current financial crisis – which was highly unexpected and came on suddenly – people recognize the importance of saving but need to understand and feel like it is something they can start doing today, despite the challenging economic environment.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THESE REFERENCE VIDEOS FOR INSPIRATION ON MESSAGING FORMAT: 

• Check Ad Council's existing saving for retirement campaign. This should give you a good idea of the tone the Ad Council is looking for.
• Also, visit AceYourREtirement.org and go through the chat experience to review the personalized action items.

***Please Note that only U.S. Residents are eligible to submit for this project.***

Ad Council, in partnership with AARP, is looking to create a suite of direct response videos that drive viewers to AceYourRetirement.org. The goal of this project is to empower people who are about 10-15 years away from retirement to take control of their savings and financial futures. By completing the free, three-minute online chat with Avo^SM, the friendly digital retirement coach you can find here, users will receive a free personalized retirement savings plan.

Our goal is to make sure people understand the value AceYourRetirement.org’s online chat provides and are thus motivated to click through to take the chat. And for this, we need your help. How do we inspire people to take action and clearly explain the website and how it works? What’s the creative hook that ties everything together? That's where your concepts come in!

The greenlit concepts will be turned into :60, :30, and :15 broadcast and social/digital videos as an extension of AARP and the Ad Council's existing saving for retirement campaign. 

EXPOSURE: 

• Broadcast
• Social media
• Digital media

 

TARGET AUDIENCE: 

• Adults 45-60 who are employed full or part-time and who have access to retirement savings vehicles such as an employer-sponsored plan
• They are about 10-15 years away from retirement, but may not feel prepared for their financial future because of a lack of savings and/or uncertainty of where to begin
• Household income is between $40K and $99K
• Adults who are a part of the “underserved middle,” meaning they have the resources to prepare for retirement but are also pulled in many directions financially

 

TONE: 

• Empowering
• Respectful
• Empathetic
• Urgent – it’s not too late to start saving for your retirement
• Acknowledging the current financial environment and public health crisis

 

EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES: 

• Must include Avo, drive to the AceYourRetirement.org website, and clearly explain what users will receive on the website and what the online chat experience entails.
• NO references to a perfect retirement, where someone is relaxing on a beach without a care. We need to be realistic about what retirement will look like for this audience. NO overpromising.
• NO using “Ace Your Retirement” language when not in context of the website i.e. we can’t say “Ace your retirement!” but can say “visit AceYourRetirement.org”; always present AceYourRetirement.org as a destination.
• AVOID concepts that rely on or reference statistics, calculators, or a “magical number” since those can frequently change and don’t capture any emotional response.
• NO profanity or allusion to inappropriate behavior or action. Do NOT use language that could be considered racist/homophobic/misogynistic.
• NO references to politics, individual policymakers, or elected officials. Do NOT make any references to religion or religious figures (including "God" or “oh my god”).

Tell us your Concept in 250 characters or fewer. Remember, a concept is not a detailed script - it is a spark of inspiration or distillation of what will happen in the video. As always, concepts should be clever and engaging.

1. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
   
   
2. BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
   
   
3. Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.
   
   
4. Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor.
    
5. By submitting to this project, you acknowledge that your work may become subject to public voting on the Tongal site. Public voting may be used to help the project sponsor determine the final rank order.
    
6. Limit 5 submissions per member, per Phase.
    
7. You must be at least thirteen (13) years or older to enter.
   
   
8. The Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest.
   
   
9. Winners must submit the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment.
   
   
10. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.