Through digital technology, we painted shocking portraits of what DIY investors will look like in 30 years to introduce them to their future selves, along with how much they will need to live, to get them thinking about saving for retirement. At faceretirement.merrilledge.com, consumers input their age and gender and the site application uses a person’s webcam to take a current photo. It ages their photo to reflect what they will look like in future years and forecasts how much it will cost to live at that age. By enticing sharing across social networks with the option to share directly to Facebook built right into the app, people shocked like-minded friends with their future selves, showing how Merrill Edge can help them face retirement.

DIY Investors were now more willing to Face Retirement with Merrill Edge and brand awareness increased 11.2 percentage points in digital media as a result. Over 434,000 people visited the app, with 80% completing the tool. Social media exposure reached another 193,000 estimated people and organic search increased 156%. Before, people and the media refused to even talk about Merrill Edge, but now over 500 outlets have written posts or talked about about the “Face Retirement” app. Now, people have seen what retirement looks like and realize Merrill Edge can help make it happen.