Operating with a User-Centered Design/Design Thinking methodology we relied heavily on research insights and data to inform our approach.

The team identified a target for our efforts, one that was tied directly to the business objectives at the home office as well as with the business aspirations of advisors in the field. We worked closely with teams across MassMutual as well as Agencies/Advisors in the field to identify target demographics, the markets they would like to engage with in the future, and defined what makes an individual a “quality” client.

Armed with this knowledge we went deep into understanding the mindsets of these newly defined “quality” clients as well as agents in order to inform approach and better refine our scope of work. We built a deep understanding of what goals they might have, identified friction points, what kept them up at night, etc.

These insights were the foundational knowledge needed to build an offering that attracted, provide value to, and position content for, this group of quality customers as identified by our business partners.

Understanding the importance of “knowledge” in any decision-making process and seeing a void in the market, we moved to create an interactive and engaging experience around financial education and wellness. We wanted to design, build and test advisor-led, community centric financial education capabilities that would be built for distribution through MassMutual’s financial advisors. One that would be fun and engaging, relevant to customer needs and free of sales pitches and confusing jargon. One that would position our advisors as a trusted source capable of moving individuals from awareness to action when appropriate.

We crafted our hypotheses, identified guiding principles and began working on a platform that drove awareness of services, products and create a better understanding of how and when MassMutual, and its financial advisors, fit into a customers financial journey.    

We operated with a test & learn approach and needed an efficient way to rapidly iterate as we moved abstract ideas into the world of concrete experiences. We knew it would be beneficial to build a large-scale living prototype to conduct multiple tests simultaneously. This systems-level approach would allow us to test elements real-time within an ecosystem in order to create appropriate context while allowing some level of separation.

Our prototype was a human-scale, working model built to test a holistic offering as well as individual concepts, and acted as a platform upon which to observe, learn, and iterate.

Over our four year study this approach proved invaluable as we were able to make several major changes to our model in response to performance and feedback.

We knew we wanted to build an offering that was unique to the industry. Not a “sit-and-get” seminar or hyper-focused on a single product solution.

Our mission was “to strengthen people’s confidence in creating the future they aspire to achieve” and we planned to do that with an offering that was personal, engaging and approachable. One that was built around guests’ personal values and their financial goals. We planned to use interactive activities to drive participation, story telling techniques to keep guests engaged and deliver it through a thoughtful brand experience.

At the same time we needed to consider the needs of MassMutual and our advisors. Our solution would help get advisors in front of higher “quality” leads in order to build relationships and drive conversion, highlight and illustrate the benefits of working with a financial professional, and assure that prior to one-on-one meetings guests have topical awareness and understand application of products & services.

When selecting topics for our workshops and curriculum we identified life-events and topics that usually bring a customer’s finances front and center... then we built classes around those events. Our classes were designed to stand on their own or strategically layered to create a series. We approached content development differently as people learn and retain information in many different ways. All of our classes use the V.A.R.K. (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, & Kinesthetic) learning model to assure everyone leaves with greater understanding and feeling more empowered.

Each of our workshops were led by an experienced financial professional with one goal in mind – to help our guests better understand their financial future and how working with a financial professional might help. No jargon, no scare tactics, and absolutely no selling in our classes.

We built workshops not seminars- we knew that a “sit and get” approach wasn’t getting the job done. Think back to college and the differences between a lecture hall and a hands-on lab, the takeaway is so much more impactful.

Our presentations are lean on copy, big on visuals and used to keep the conversation flowing and on track.

Our knowledgable financial professionals can answer specific questions and present anecdotes to make topics relatable.

We developed engaging and informative workbooks as a companion piece for each of our workshops and series. Guests could apply their new knowledge right away, and reference it later.

We introduced a range of personas and real life scenarios to enable guests’ to better relate to in-class examples and exercises.

There are plenty of group and self-reflection activities. What better way to learn that actually doing it under the watchful eye of a knowledgeable professional.

The arrival of a global pandemic in March 2020 expedited our conversion from in-person to virtual, building a platform for remote learning and retraining our advisors on new systems and processes. We were running classes within 3 weeks. All classes now have the option of in-person or remote.

In Good Company was a turn-key program for advisors and agencies, providing all the content, support, materials and training needed for our partners to lead workshops successfully and with confidence.

Advisors went through a multi-level on-boarding process where they would learn about the program, dive deep into workshop content and learn new ways of engaging with customers. Dedicated resources answered questions, trained advisors on the latest material, set up event registration and helped manage workshops & tech.

We established procedures to elicit and capture user feedback on the program performance, class topic and advisor. This feedback was openly shared with the advisor in order to make necessary adjustments to optimize the performance.

I was handed a credit card and the keys to a retail space exactly 6 weeks before our committed launch date. I designed and built-out the space, orchestrating trades, working with the city on permitting, late-night carpentry, constructed plant walls, custom machined signage, acquired and set-up furniture, fixtures and accessories.

The result was a 3,000 sqft retail experience, working studio and “test kitchen”. Two floors of open, inviting and flexible space that definitely didn’t say “insurance company”. Beyond the obvious visuals, having the ability to control everything from temperature and lighting to audio and even the smell allowed us to create true theater for our advisor partners and guests.… oh, and it was dog friendly too.

To say print is NOT dead in finance is an understatement. While we had always encouraged our advisor partners to adopt our suite of digital assets we lovingly built for them, we were aware that there are times when physical assets make the biggest impact.

Whether an advisor was looking for a single page brochure as a leave behind, or an over-stuffed business development toolkit to generate interest, we had them covered. Highly branded with bold colors and quality materials, these pieces were sure to make an impact. And since there’s a large design population at IGC these assets drip continuity right down to the last detail.

With such a young brand, and scaling so quickly, we needed to be responsive to feedback. It was important for us to have a robust website with plenty of information on our offering, ways to contact us, and access to relevant information.

Our site had the obvious stuff... about us, what we offer, etc. but it also had interactive tools, access to sample activities, videos, class descriptions, curriculum outlines, our blog, and more.

As the program grew we converted our initial website for the New England Region into our National Website and created templates and tools to quickly stand-up regional microsites. These agency-level sites were geographically appropriate as you don't want to show an image of Fenway Park at an employer campus in NYC. These small changes meant a lot to the agencies as it showed we understood the pride and value they place on their community.

We were prolific on social media and our numbers reflected it.

Whether it was Insta, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook we were constantly building campaigns, testing posts, measuring impact and using that information to keep improving performance. Our social efforts covered our core-business as well as comprehensive libraries for use by our partner advisors and agencies.

The In Good Company blog was a great way for us to share knowledge and insights with our communities outside of the classroom. Our Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) partnered with our copywriters to create magic. Easy, approachable reads full of insights and considerations relevant to our demographics financial journey. We also used this platform as a way to position our advisors across the country as thought leaders.

Scalable Program & Best-Practices

We built and delivered an end-to-end Financial Education & Wellness Platform with in-person and virtual engagement capabilities. In addition to the material assets, we provided many additional services and optimized practices for our agents and MassMutual including; lead generation/revenue generation, expansion/introduction to business markets, value-add for employer relations, skills enhancements, agency marketing capabilities and talent attraction & retention. All learnings and insights were openly shared across the organization.