Liberty Life has launched a new marketing campaign to foster financial prudence among consumers while building the professional image of the intermediary.
The 2008 version of last year’s hugely successful ‘Get a Plan, Get a Life’ competition is currently rolling out nationwide. Entitled ‘The Magic of a Financial Plan’, the promotion again stresses the need to consult professionals to develop a proper financial plan.
Liberty and associated intermediaries were widely applauded for promoting financial prudence with the 2007 ‘Get a Plan, Get a Life’ campaign. The focus on professional planning proved timely as rate rises and spiralling inflation soon had consumers at full stretch.
The 2008 competition promotes the key role of industry professionals while offering a consumer prize with total value of R250 000. The consumer with the winning plan will be rewarded with a magic two-week holiday for four, encompassing a week at Disney World Orlando and a week’s cruise of the Caribbean.
The structure of the promotion fosters professionalism by encouraging the involvement of all professionals eager to get their clients to plan properly.
Any accredited intermediary can enter and submit the plan worked out for the client. The intermediary does not need to work for Liberty.
The intermediary who draws up the winning plan will be going on a R50 000 trip for two to Mozambique. The administrative assistant providing back-office support gets a debit card loaded with R25 000.
The promotion begins on October 6 and ends on December 12.
To qualify for entry, the intermediary must develop a plan that adheres to the Financial Planning Institute’s six-step process:
The FPI structure enables comprehensive planning across retirement needs, risk cover (life, disability and dread disease), the capital and income required for specific objectives, targeted saving for educational purposes and other needs.
The savings strategists at Liberty believe that thorough discussion with a financial industry professional is especially important at times of market turbulence.
Howard Fox (pictured), Liberty Life’s Divisional Director: Marketing, points out: “Developing a well thought out plan is vital at times of market volatility. Sometimes a well-motivated plan is already in place, but discipline is needed as it will usually need time to work and deliver the anticipated gains.
“If the strategy is sound, it is usually a mistake to chop and change. Hasty decisions can be costly.”
Last year, the magic of the financial plan helped to protect the financial security of 120 000 South Africans.
“That’s the estimated number of people whose financial position was bolstered after more than 30 000 financial plans were completed during our ‘Get a Plan, Get a Life’ campaign,” says Fox.
“Professional advisers can take pride in the fact that just before the onset of extreme credit and budgeting pressures they alerted consumers to the dangers of failing to provide for future financial security.”
On the pattern of last year, entry to the promotion is not linked to product purchase.
“This ensures single-minded focus on professionalism and the intermediary’s ability to fulfil a vital, socially responsible role,” says Fox.
Liberty is confident that in the current economic environment the promotion will again trigger positive response and help industry professionals build and retain business.
“Many consumers who last year decided to ‘get a plan’ were engaging in professional financial planning for the first time,” says Fox. “This year we hope to prompt a thorough review among those who already have a plan while encouraging more first-timers to take the plunge.
“It can be a life-changing exercise with magic consequences for the consumer and can create enduring and mutually rewarding relationships for industry professionals.”