Aware Super and Thinkerbell launch 30-episode micro-drama on retirement

Aware Super has launched The Second Act, a 30-episode micro-drama created with Thinkerbell, in which seven Australian entertainers deal with retirement.

The cast includes Denise Scott, John Wood, former Perfect Match host Greg Evans, Lynne McGranger, Pia Miranda, Jay Laga’aia and Matt Day.

The storylines draw on work by Aware Super’s retirement experts, who mapped the most common problems Australians face in retirement and wrote them into the characters instead of a brochure.

Wood’s character, a TV cop, can’t bring himself to spend any of his super or give up his old identity, or uniform. Day’s character put his self-managed super fund into an overseas property deal and lost all of it. Scott’s character is lonely in retirement and is catfished at least once a week.

Todd Stevenson, GM of Brand, Marketing & Digital at Aware Super, said: "Retirement planning is easy to put off, so we made something people won’t want to put down. 

Through ‘The Second Act’, we’ve created an engaging vehicle to start a conversation most Australians avoid. Instead of telling people to plan for retirement, The Second Act shows them what happens when they do… or don’t, two-addictive-minutes at a time.”

By combining engaging content and retargeted ads with Aware Super’s practical tools and guidance, we’re helping Australians build their understanding and take action with confidence. It's all supported by a dedicated Second Act hub on our website, featuring a range of super helpful tools, calculators and articles designed to encourage people to take the next step in their retirement journey.”

Ben Couzens, Executive Creative Tinker, Thinkerbell, added:  "We’ve created an Aussie soap opera for social feeds that turns an often avoided topic into bingeable entertainment.

"Taking iconic names from the 80’s and 90’s and putting them all into a quirky retirement retreat to sort their retirement out feels like something that will engage Australia, and maybe engage Australians with the idea of their own retirement.”

Ben Davies, Founder, Ronde, said: "As the producers making The Second Act, in collaboration with the great team at Thinkerbell - we’ve loved seeing Aware Super take a leadership position on what entertainment will look like moving forwards.

“Sitting down for 30 or 60 minutes at a time to watch something is becoming a luxury most time pressed people don’t have. Microdramas have taken the world by storm, and Ronde is intentionally at the cutting edge, with the most significant production of the genre made in Australia to date.”

Adam Ferrier, Chief Thinker, Thinkerbell, added: "The Second Act has been conceived, designed and engineered for trans-media storytelling across podcasts, social, and terrestrial. We will be where our audience is with entertainment, not just advertising, allowing people to easier engage with concepts such as retirement and superannuation.

“A strong background of the entertainment ecosystem is the microdrama - hopefully engaging people for years to come, not just as a one off burst of activity. Season 1 of ‘The Second Act is 30 episodes, we’ll see what the ratings are before committing to Season 2.”

The campaign runs across TV, BVOD, OOH, social, digital and earned media, with a podcast promoting the show. Retargeted spin-off ads featuring Scott and Wood link the financial problems in the series to the solutions Aware Super offers.

The Second Act began streaming on November 12 on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and The Second Act microsite, with new episodes of The Second Act, dropping every week. 

Credits

Client: Aware Super
Creative: Thinkerbell
Production: Ronde
Media: Atomic212