Fund members turned off from TV ads

Superannuation fund members are least enthusiastic about television advertising despite super funds focusing much of their marketing on it.

That's the finding from CoreData's 2014 Member Growth Report, which found members rank TV advertising as second last in terms of preferred super communication, with sponsorship for sporting teams or entertainment events coming in last. Television advertising scored 1.1 out of 10.

Members most commonly said (51.2 per cent) they have seen super fund communications and marketing through TV advertising in the past 12 months.

"Splashing your brand on the TV might be cutting through to members in terms of awareness but it is not an engaging communication tool for members, who would much prefer to hear from their fund via e-mail," head of financial services at CoreData Kristen Turnbull said.

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Turnbull also suggested funds should provide economic and investment commentary on the news like banks, with 65.1 per cent of the respondents preferring this method.

Meanwhile, retail fund members are most likely to switch (64.8 per cent), while self-managed super fund members are least likely to switch (38.1 per cent). This means retail members are least likely to be happy with their fund (52.1 per cent).

Members rated robust investment returns and low fees as the top drivers to join a fund, with a score of 9.4 and 8.4 out of 10 respectively.

Also, 65.6 per cent of the 858 respondents in APRA-regulated funds said they would not be comfortable with any merger activity in their fund.