It's Open Enrollment! Tips for Benefits Super Bowl Season.
Janine Gianfredi, Chief Marketing Officer, Transcarent
Benefits Super Bowl Season is Here!
No, we’re not talking about touchdowns, halftime shows, or who’s bringing the best chili (though we definitely have opinions). We’re talking about something just as high stakes for your team: the Benefits Super Bowl, also known as open enrollment. For HR teams, open enrollment is game day. Months of preparation come down to a few intense weeks where every play counts.
The Benefits Playbook
Open enrollment is where employees make decisions that shape their health and finances for the year ahead, but the process can be confusing. Terms like HSA, PPO, and coinsurance often leave people guessing instead of confidently choosing what’s best for them. For many, it’s simpler to stick with last year’s plan and hope for the best. The good news: you don’t have to go into overtime to make benefits easier.
HR Needs Marketing
Here’s the truth: HR is the new marketing. In the same way great brands connect with their customers, HR leaders now have to engage their people to help make benefits easier to understand and use. Open enrollment is not just about distributing information. It’s about building connections, generating excitement, and landing a message that matters. And just like a great Super Bowl ad, benefits communications need to have heart. Great ads/communications are like award-winning chilis – they don’t all follow the same recipe. But there are a few tips to make them excellent:
Bring leaders into the work. In the same way that many brands put celebrities in their ads, benefits teams can rely on trusted leaders throughout their organization to emphasize the importance of making good decisions.
Connect on a human level. Whether you take a humorous, informative, or emotional approach, make sure you are keeping it real.
Drive action. Make sure your ask of the viewer or reader is clear. Show them what you want them to do.
Edit ruthlessly. Truman Capote once said “I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.” Keep it short and sweet!
Find your influencers. Employee Resource Groups, a people manager who had a great experience with one of your benefits, a spouse who wants to be part of a testimonial video. Bring them into your plan.
The best HR teams know that benefits communication can’t be dull or confusing. It must feel human, trustworthy, engaging, and clear, just like the best marketing campaigns. When people feel informed, engaged, and know where to find the answers they need, they can make better decisions, leading to smarter care choices, lower costs, and healthier teams. That’s what we call a championship play.
The Post-Game Plan
Open enrollment may be the big game, but real success happens year-round. Every day, employees have questions about their health and benefits and that is where the Transcarent WayFinding™ experience enters the game. With WayFinding, employees can instantly find answers, understand their options, take the next step, and get on-demand care all from the palm of their hands, right when they need it most. They can Just Ask Transcarent™ questions that help them understand their benefits, like:
“What is my deductible?”
“I have knee pain. What should I do?”
“Is my therapist covered?”
“What health benefits do I have access to?”
“Can you help me find a new pediatrician for my son?”
The experience is simple, personal, and empowering, giving employees confidence to take charge of their health and care decisions all year long.
Open enrollment may be the headline event, but the real victory comes from keeping employees informed, engaged, and supported long after the final whistle. That is what turns a one-time decision into lasting trust.
Today, HR is the new marketing, and the most successful HR leaders know how to create connection, excitement, and trust through every moment that matters. At Transcarent, we help benefits leaders do exactly that. We built a health and care experience employees love to use with the trusted information and guidance they need to make confident decisions, helping every HR team bring home the trophy for better health and care.
