MassMutual’s Retirement Campaign Increases Deferrals by 3.33 Percentage Points

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MassMutual's

Retirement Services Division is dedicated to helping participants get

- and stay - on track to have sufficient replacement income in

retirement. Leveraging the fundamentals of behavioral economics,

MassMutual's action-oriented 2012 RetireSmart(SM) national campaign

simplifies and clarifies retirement planning to help participants cut

through the clutter and take action. Segmented by quarter and four

simple action steps, the campaign is designed to help participants 1)

Enroll, 2) Save, 3) Consolidate and 4) Allocate their retirement plan

savings to meet their individual retirement goals.

Using a combination of targeted postcard mailings and email messages,

MassMutual Retirement Services' 2012 Save campaign reached more than

308,000 participants across all age groups. The combination of

motivational participant messaging and imagery used in the mailings

resulted in a 4.23 percent response rate, more than doubling the

industry benchmark of 2.06 percent.

To provide the most relevant messaging by demographic, participants

were segmented by gender and further into three age groups: 18 to 34,

35 to 54, and over 55. "We understand the simple fact that different

generations of men and women approach investing differently, and

developed our campaign to specifically speak to the behaviors and

needs of each gender during three important stages in their life,"

says Kris Gates, assistant vice president of participant and

interactive marketing with MassMutual Retirement Services.

As a result of the Save campaign, participants increased their

deferrals, on average, by 3.33 percentage points. Average deferral

rates for women rose 3.53 percentage points vs. 3.34 percentage points

for men. Although MassMutual saw the highest deferral percentage

increase in the over 55 age group as expected (8.75 percent),

participants in both the 18 to 34 and 35 to 54 age groups

substantially increased their deferrals by 5.25 percentage points and

6.62 percentage points, respectively.

"Our RetireSmart participant engagement platform targets the

individual with relevant information, not the masses with watered-down

messaging. It breaks down retirement planning step by step to help

drive participant action to achieve a true state of retirement

readiness. By getting participants to focus on a single action and

increase their saving rate, we were able to help them take a step

towards becoming better prepared for retirement," adds Gates.

"MassMutual Retirement Services not only provides participants with

exceptional service and innovative tools to meet their retirement

goals, but also strives to increase education and awareness - a

combination of actions so vital to successful retirement planning

today," states Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of

MassMutual'sRetirement Services Division and chairman and CEO of

MassMutual International LLC. "To break through today's information

overload and to drive action, messaging must be at the individual

level and focus on the single most effective next step a participant

can take on the road to retirement. We could not be more pleased with

the results of the Save campaign, and look forward to seeing the

positive action the Consolidate and Allocate campaigns will encourage

as well," adds Sarsynski.

For more information about MassMutual Retirement Services, please

contact your retirement plan advisor or call MassMutual at

1-866-444-2601.

About MassMutual MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) 1/8of which

Retirement Services is a division 3/8 and its affiliated companies and

sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield,

Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital

Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real

Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual

International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC;

OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company

that is run for the benefit of its members and participating

policyholders. The company has a long history of financial strength

and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed,

MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyholders

every year since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its

foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial

needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance,

long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and

annuities. In addition, the company's strong and growing network of

financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions

for the long-term.

MassMutual'sRetirement Services Division has been serving retirement

plans for 65 years. It offers a full range of products and services

for corporate, union, nonprofit and governmental employers' defined

benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation

plans. It serves approximately 1.6 million participants.

For more information, visit http://www.massmutual.com or find MassMutual on

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+. For information

regarding MassMutual'sRetirement Services Division, you may also

visit massmutual.com/retire or find us on Facebook.com/retiresmart and

YouTube.com/retiresmart.

Copyright 5/82012 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

(MassMutual) and affiliates, Springfield, MA 01111-0001. All rights

reserved.

Contact: Jessica Barry 413-744-8334 [email protected]

SOURCE MassMutual Retirement Services

-0- 08/09/2012

/Web Site: http://www.massmutual.com

CO: MassMutual Retirement Services

ST: Massachusetts

IN: FIN

SU: SCZ SVY

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