Government spends £37,000 on Pension Wise branding
30/04/2015
The UK government has spent £37,000 on developing a “brand identity” for the guidance service it created in the wake of the new pensions reforms, Pension Wise.
Pension Wise was set up by the government as a free, impartial retirement guidance service that's open to everyone seeking information about how they can turn their pension fund into a retirement income.The website was created after pension reforms, which came into force at the beginning of April, meant that anyone over the age of 55 could access their pensions through income drawdown. The aim of the website is to try and help people make the best choices in regards to their retirement income.
The Government has paid £22,000 to a company called Jigsaw Research “for the provision of research to test brand names, logos and straplines” and £15,000 to Red Stone Design for similar work on what the service should be called and its “brand identity”.
Financial advisers are set to contribute £4.2 million towards the estimated £35m cost of Pension Wise over 2015/16.
Informed Choice executive director Nick Bamford said:
“£37,000 is a lot of money but in context it’s not much compared to some of the figures you hear for large financial services firms’ rebranding exercises. The logo itself though looks like a cartoon, it’s not particularly dynamic or modern.”
The advertising for Pension Wise has been limited throughout April and May as there are rules blocking the advertising of political campaigns during election periods. The Cabinet Office made an exemption for Pension Wise but the Government was still forced to pull television ads.
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