Rest's head of marketing flags rising engagement in super

The challenge of how to build on elevated consumer interest in superannuation off the back of the COVID-19 crisis is firmly in the sights of Rest super’s new head of marketing, Jane Merrick.  

The former NRMA marketer joined in August to head up marketing for 12 months, with responsibility for increasing engaging with the Australian public and Rest’s 1.7 million members directly and indirectly through the brand. She reports to the group executive of member engagement, Tyrone O'Neill.   

“Historically, super has been a product with lower levels of engagement, particularly among young people. But with millions of Australians accessing their super early in recent months, the level of engagement has increased incredibly, especially for those members who may now be facing a financially insecure future,” Merrick told CMO.  

“The challenge is to build on that engagement in people and get them interested in what’s happening with their own money earlier and more often, so we can help them create their best-possible retirement.”  

To do this, Merrick said she’s focused on leveraging the history of the brand to cement it into the Australian psyche by communicating a strong brand proposition; accelerating and increasing the effectiveness of direct engagement to support members; and continuing to build a great team.       

Credit: Jane Merrick

Having previously built her career in marketing across insurance, financial services, telecoms and public sector categories, Merrick said she was also looking forward to the new opportunity to grow her skillset. Most recently, Merrick was general manager of marketing, distribution and sales for World Nomads Group, a travel insurance brand run by NIB. She’s best known for her eight years at IAG, rising up to general manager of marketing and customer in the consumer division. It was this work that saw Merrick featured in the 2015 and 2016 CMO50.

The superannuation industry is worth nearly $3 trillion in Australia, of which industry super funds manage around $750 billion. Rest is the one of the largest industry super funds with about $55 billion in assets under management and a 32-year history.  

“As Rest is an industry fund, all profits go back to members. That’s a great higher order purpose to be working for,” Merrick continued.     

Merrick also flagged the business transformation being instituted by Rest CEO, Vicki Doyle, who joined about two years ago, as a motivating force.    

“Vicki has great plans for the brand and the organisation and that is exciting to be part of. Rest is really setting itself up as a place people desire to work,” she said.   

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