No one said you can’t have a little fun with open enrollment – so why not leverage a theme? Open enrollment themes make your benefits enrollment, education and engagement communications more eye-catching and memorable and are a step in the right direction.
To help you make your open enrollment season more fun and actionable, we have put together themes for your benefits communications and activities to help spark interest and engagement during the upcoming open enrollment season.
Open Enrollment Theme #1: Knock OE Out of the Park!
Baseball is a perennial crowd-pleaser, representing a perfect balance between the need for preparation and fun – like employee benefits, right? Plus, if your open enrollment season lines up with the World Series, this theme is sure to be a winner!
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Call your benefits fair “The [Company Name] Benefits World Series Expo,” hand out branded baseball caps and serve hot dogs and peanuts.
- Title your Benefits Summary guide, “Benefits Program.”
- Refer to your core benefits as “the Starting Lineup” and your new benefits as “Rookies.”
- Design your save-the-dates-for-OE mailer, flyer or email graphic to look like a baseball ticket.
- Produce your OE video to mimic a news highlights reel.
Open Enrollment Theme #2: [Company Name]’s [Benefits Year] Benefits Greatest Hits
If your workforce loves popular music – classic rock ‘n’ roll, R&B or country – OE season can be a time to tune-in to benefit chart-toppers and literally tap their toes! Position your employee benefits as the star performers of an applause-worthy employer value proposition, and who’s to say they won't take down the house?
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Refer to OE as “The Big Show” and the activities leading up to benefits selection and enrollment as “tech rehearsals.”
- Treat employees to branded headphones
- Invite musicians from your workforce to perform at your benefits fair.
- Refer to your benefits as “the Set List.”
- Design your save-the-dates-for-OE mailer, flyer or email graphic to look like a concert ticket or concert poster.
- Produce your OE video to mimic a music video.
Open Enrollment Theme #3: Benefits Safari
Isn’t every day an adventure during OE season? (Cue the wild animal sound effects!) Lean into a theme that delights employees with cute animals and the outdoors and they’ll hardly notice they’re “on the trail” of employee benefits!
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Call your benefits fair “Welcome to Employee Benefits Territory,” hand out branded water bottles and serve trail mix.
- Title your Benefits Summary guide, “Your Survival Guide to Employee Benefits”
- Design your OE education and communication materials with wildlife imagery, and have fun with taglines like, “It’s a jungle out there. Don’t monkey around with your health care benefits!”
- Produce your OE video to mimic a safari travel commercial.
- Team up with a local zoo or nature welfare organization to raise awareness and contributions for a cause your organization supports.
Open Enrollment Theme #4: Journey to Better Benefits!
What conjures up a sense of exploration more than adventure and travel? Position your employees as the ones on a journey of benefits exploration. Destination: optimal benefits decisions. Adventure and travel are just the combination to create excitement and the feeling that employee benefits are worth exploration.
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Generate excitement by sending a save-the-dates-for-OE mailer titled “Your Benefits Adventure Awaits,” designed to look like a trail map.
- Host a benefits fair styled like a travel expo and offer travel-themed prizes or incentives for participation, such as luggage, travel vouchers or adventure gear.
- Title your Benefits Summary guide, “Benefits Travel Guide.”
- Share testimonials from employees where they describe their "journey" with different benefits.
- Hold webinars and title them with travel themes like "Passport to Wellness."
Open Enrollment Theme #5: Your Benefits, Your Superpower
Everyone has an inner superhero or superpower, so let your employees’ shine through! This OE, lean into a theme that will tap into the hero within. Before they know it, they’ll be stepping into the spotlight to make heroic choices around which benefits suit them best.
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Create quizzes like "What's Your Superpower?" to help employees discover which benefits suit them best.
- Transform the benefits fair into a "Superhero HQ," with booths representing different benefits as superhero powers.
- Workshops and Webinars: Name them with action-packed titles like "Power Up Your Benefits," "Training for the Hero Within," or "Master Your Superpowers."
- Create a "Hero Handbook" with information about benefits, presented as a superhero manual.
- Share testimonials from employees framed as superhero spotlights, where they describe how they used benefits to overcome challenges.
- Try themed email campaigns with subject lines like "Unleash Your Inner Hero!"
- Share "Hero of the Day" posts, "Superpower Tips" for choosing benefits, and encourage employees to share their "superhero moments" using benefits.
Open Enrollment Theme #6: Benefits are All About YOU
Activating an ownership mindset can have strong and powerful benefits. Employees may feel happy to create a benefits package that best suits their individual lifestyle and circumstances. Plus, they’re likely to feel happy with you as their employer! That’s a win-win. So, this OE, lean into creating an engaging and tailored open enrollment experience with a customizable theme!
Theme ideas to bring out the fun:
- Use phrases like "Your Benefits, Your Way," "Customize Your Coverage," "Tailored for You," "Design Your Perfect Plan" and "One Size Doesn’t Fit All."
- Offer interactive tools or benefits platforms where employees can customize their benefits package and see how different options affect their coverage and costs.
- Share testimonials from employees who have customized their benefits packages to fit their unique situations, highlighting how the options met their specific needs.
- Send more targeted email campaigns based on employee demographics or expressed interests, using subject lines like "Design Your Perfect Benefits Package" or "Your Choices, Your Benefits."
- Offer access to "Customization Coaches" or benefits experts who can provide personalized guidance and answer specific questions.
- Offer customized gifts or incentives for participation, such as personalized stationery, monogrammed items, or gift cards for customization services.
For more ideas and inspiration, visit our Benefits Fair in a Box!
