Q&A with B2B Research Project finalist, Principal Financial Group
Editor’s note: Principal Financial Group is a finalist of the 2025 B2B Research Project award, a category in the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards. The winners of the awards will be announced on November 19 during a virtual celebration. To find out more about the awards, visit QuirksAwards.com.
There are many paths to retirement. Principal Financial Group understood this and wanted to know how businesses could better understand and support nontraditional retirement paths.
Not only did this project address the needs of the client but it had a lasting impact on Principal Financial Group. The organization’s product strategy, client consultations and retirement policies were all affected based on the results of this project.
Ultimately, this project was selected as a finalist in the B2B Research Project Award Category, part of the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence awards. One awards judge commented on how timely this study felt due to the rapidly evolving ideas around retirement.
“I appreciated how the findings unpacked generational differences while reflecting broader shifts in the business environment. I also valued that the study went beyond financial milestones to explore how retirement can mark a new phase of identity, purpose and self-understanding,” the judge said. “The B2B2C lens made the insights all the more actionable for both employers and the employees navigating this transition.”
Libby Sheckells, GBX research and insights page at Principal Financial Group, gave Quirk’s an in-depth look at this insightful project and told us what this recognition meant to the team.
Describe your project and the effect it had on your business.
This project from Principal Financial Group looked to address knowledge gaps as more employees seek phased or flexible retirement options.
The employers we work with lacked clarity on how to respond to their employees, and as a leader in the retirement services industry, we wanted to help them fill this void by giving them top-tier expertise and guidance. Our research and insights team launched a multi-phase, mixed-methods study tailored to address the needs of both businesses and their employees. In partnership with our communications team, our research and insights team promoted the findings through thought leadership efforts.
Initial qualitative signals from internal teams informed a bespoke, large-scale quantitative study embedded within ongoing research. Findings were further validated with Principal’s own client community and enriched through in-depth interviews, ensuring insights were deeply actionable and grounded in lived business, employee and retiree experience.
This research didn’t just answer a current business question – it sparked lasting change.
Results directly influenced product development, client advisory strategies and even internal HR policy, with Principal implementing its own formal phased retirement program. Additionally, the research elevated our public thought leadership and advanced the broader industry conversation and resulted in record tier one media coverage.
What does it mean to your team to be named a finalist in the 2025 Quirk’s Awards?
Being named a finalist for the 2025 Quirk’s Awards B2B Research Project category is a tremendous honor for our research and insights team and our strategic internal partners.
As an in-house corporate research group, we take pride in deeply understanding our business and delivering insights that shape transformation and product innovation across the organization. While our work often happens behind the scenes before the final product, this recognition shines a spotlight on the impact our team makes every day. We’re thrilled to see our efforts celebrated on such a respected stage for our niche industry.
What methods did you find most successful when working with retirees?
Working with retirees requires a nuanced approach to make sure you’re talking to the people you’d really like to target. It’s easy to lump specialty demographics together. For example, when you think of a “retiree,” we often picture the cliché of a couple in their 60s playing with grandchildren, driving a boat in the sunshine or strolling through a vineyard based on how we’ve been trained through traditional advertisements. Retirees are just as diverse as society at large and it’s crucial to consider specifics when screening during recruitment.
In addition to the basic question – “Are you currently working?” – there are many considerations like how much of their income comes from savings vs. Social Security, whether or not they retired voluntarily or for something like a health condition/caregiving responsibilities, or if they are still working but have moved to a different industry from their primary career and consider themselves “retired.”
The information you get and the insights gained can vary widely based on the specific parameters put around sample requirements, whether it’s for retirees or any other sub demographic we tend to incorrectly homogenize.