The Prudential 4.01K Race for Retirement

America is on the verge of a retirement crisis, with over a third of the country projected to fall into poverty due to lack of adequate savings. And while it’s an issue that will affect all of us in some way, the problem has gone largely ignored.

We wanted to change the way people think about retirement—to not only raise awareness and create urgency around the problem, but to help people feel empowered to become part of the solution. So we treated retirement as a cause like any other, but instead to raising money for charity, we asked people to give a little more to their own retirements.

The Race for Retirement was a massive undertaking. We began with a three-month runner recruitment effort that included digital, social, radio, PR and out-of-home. In addition to a 4.01K fun run, we created an immersive festival, featuring a wide range of interactive experiences designed to help people better understand the importance of retirement planning.

In total, more than 200,000 people took part in the Race for Retirement and pledged increase up their retirement contributions by 1%. Collectively, those pledges are projected to grow to more than $2.9 billion in savings over time.

Recognition

D&AD Impact Award (Financial Empowerment)

In 2016, we took the event across the country to Los Angeles and made it even bigger and better than before.