Active Super looks to better engage members with retail-linked rewards
- 21 June, 2022 14:24
Keeping members engaged with the ability to constantly top up their superannuation funds has prompted Active Super to launch a new rewards program.
The ‘set and forget’ rewards program will allow members to have a percentage of the value of a retail purchase added to their super balance when shopping with supporting partners. The percentages available range from 2 to 25 per cent of the value of the transaction, with the cash top-up paid for by retailers.
Called ‘Super Booster’, the program has been created in partnership with fintech player, Loyalty Boomerang, which provides tech connecting retail loyalty programs with existing bank debit and credit cards. The super fund said it has exclusive rights to the program for 12 months.
Retails on-board include The Iconic, BWS, General Pants, Forever New, Glue and Pizza Hut. Notably, members can also continue to claim other rewards such as frequent flyer points on the same transactions.
Super Booster is available to all Active Super members. To participate, members need to nominate at least one and up to five debit or credit cards.
Active Super chief member experience and growth officer, Chantal Walker, told CMO part of the ethos of the business and its recent brand overhaul was ensuring members are more consistently connected to their super.
“It’s about ensuring we not only give members information, but also innovative ways to stay engaged with their super, as well as the opportunity to grow their super balance in a simple way that is funded by someone else,” she said.
“My strong consumer marketing background has seen the success of programs where members are rewarded with access to member-only benefits. I thought it was appropriate to apply some of this knowledge to the super industry, and Active Super in particular. Regulation is forcing super brands to adopt consumer marketing principles like acquisition, retention, lifecycle and loyalty marketing.”
Super Booster has been designed to be effortless, allowing members to use it in-store as well as online. To give an idea of value, Active Super estimated the average member could add more than $150 to their balance annually.
“The Active Super Booster is hassle-free, requiring little effort from members to redeem their rewards. They do not have to scan a loyalty card or log onto a website, so members can boost their super balance easily,” Walker said.
Walker said the partnership with Boomerang came about after the startup approached Active Super following its rebranding.
“The timing was fortuitous as we were looking at a number of players in the market,” she continued. “We really liked the ‘set and forget’ card-linking approach, which is different to the regular points or cashback reward programs and that are predominately online-only. Being able to simply link your card and then shop as normal in-store or online is a big benefit to members. Boomerang was also very agile in its approach to program development and a good cultural fit for our organisation.”
Being a fund with strong regional presence in NSW as well as members in other states across Australia, Walker said it was also important to ensure rewards were nationally accessible.
“At the moment, the reward partners are a combination of big national brands like BWS and The Iconic mixed in with local restaurants, fast food, retailers, take away and day to day services like hairdressers, car washing or dry cleaning,” she said. “In time, as we grow the program, we anticipate that the selection of retailers will also grow.”
Super Booster’s short-term success will be measured by the number of members who engage with the program and contributions they receive into their super from various retailers.
“The long-term success will be judged on whether or not these members feel a closer affinity to the Active Super brand as a result of the rewards program and therefore have a higher retention rate and NPS [net promoter score],” Walker added.
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