Legal & GeneralDigital PR

The strategic challenge

The primary objective of the campaign was to position Legal & General’s ‘Deciding How to Use Your Pension Pot‘ online tool as a leading resource within the retirement planning sector. To achieve this, we aimed to secure high-quality media coverage from authoritative financial and pension-focused publications. By amplifying the tool’s visibility, we looked to ensure that Legal & General could perform better than their competitors in retirement planning.

Our key objectives included:

• Highlighting the real-world challenges retirees face in planning for their futures – By using research-backed insights, we intended to emphasise issues like financial preparedness, the complexity of pension terminology, and the factors that contribute to a happy and fulfilling retirement. These insights would not only support the tool’s messaging but also create a strong narrative for media outlets to feature in their coverage.
• Driving targeted, relevant traffic to the ‘Deciding How to Use Your Pension Pot’ tool – This traffic would primarily come from individuals actively engaged in retirement planning – whether retirees or those approaching retirement – ensuring the tool reached the right audience. Our goal was to generate measurable increases in both referral traffic from media placements and organic traffic through improved search rankings.

Our approach

We developed a targeted strategy that focused on our target media organisations as part of our digital PR and SEO link building plan. To achieve this, we created compelling stories backed by research, demonstrating the real-world impact of retirement planning challenges. Our approach involved creating a narrative with a newsworthy hook coupled with the data to back it up, in order to capture media interest.

This would ensure that the story resonated with both the publications and their readers. At the same, we needed to position Legal & General’s ‘Deciding How to Use Your Pension Pot’ tool as a credible solution to these challenges.

In order to support the pension tool’s messaging, we conducted a survey of 1,000 retirees using OnePoll. The purpose of the survey was to explore three key areas:

• The potential barriers to pension planning created by pension terminology
• The level of financial preparedness for retirement in the UK
• The factors that contribute to a happy and fulfilling retirement

The survey was conducted online, targeting 1,000 UK adults who had retired within the last five years. To ensure diversity and balance, data splits were provided based on age, gender and region. The survey was divided into two main sections: ‘Pension Planning and Preparedness’ and ‘Important Factors for a Happy Retirement’.

We consulted with Professor Alberto Montagnoli, Professor of Finance at Sheffield University, an expert in behavioural economics and retirement planning. He provided a detailed analysis of the data, which was crucial in identifying key factors contributing to a happy and fulfilling retirement. These insights were integrated into our story development.

Once we had the key themes from the survey, we focused on crafting compelling narratives that would support the pension pot tool. The insights provided clear, data-driven narratives that highlighted real retirement challenges and the importance of proper pension planning.

By aligning these findings with the messaging of Legal & General’s online tool, we were able to position it as a vital resource for retirees looking to navigate the complexities of pension planning.

The survey results, supported by Professor Motagnoli’s expert analysis, gave our outreach a strong foundation. This allowed us to present a well-rounded story to media outlets. We emphasised how Legal & General’s tool could address the key issues retirees face, such as confusion around pension terminology and a lack of preparedness for retirement.

Our pitches focused on presenting the online tool as a solution grounded in real data, rather than a generic resource. By highlighting the survey’s findings, we ensured that the tool was positioned as a timely and necessary solution for retirees.

We also worked closely with Legal & General’s internal PR team to make sure that our external communications were fully aligned with their wider strategy. This collaboration helped amplify the tool’s messaging and remained in line with the brand’s objectives.

The result

Our strategic approach delivered impactful results that reinforced Legal & General’s ‘Deciding How to Use Your Pension Pot’ tool as a leading resource in the retirement planning space. Through the compelling data and Professor Montagnoli’s expert analysis, we secured high-quality media coverage across reputable financial planning outlets.

We had coverage from key publications, including:

• Money Marketing
• Pensions Age
• Employee Benefits
• Good With Money

Beyond immediate coverage, the media placements generated meaningful, targeted traffic from the tool’s core audience – people actively engaged in retirement planning. The survey’s findings were highlighted in the media, helping to drive both organic and referral traffic to the tool, demonstrating its relevance and value.