A survey of Health Industry Plan Super members showed they did not want to be contacted on their mobile phones, the fund's marketing manager and deputy chief executive, Stephen O'Donnell, said last week.  

"About 85 per cent of respondents said they didn't want to be contacted on their mobile phones," O' Donnell said.

Australian Ethical Investments strategy and communications general manager Paul Smith said his company received a similar response from its super members.

"The response we've got was: 'Stay away from that world, because it is our social world,'" Smith said.

Participants in last week's Talent Web Recruitment roundtable, including representatives from REST, EISS and LG Super, agreed SMSs or phone calls for marketing purposes were too intrusive and had the potential to cause damage to a fund's reputation.

But the member survey responses also raise questions about the need to develop mobile phone apps aimed at engaging members with their super funds.

Although apps require a member to take the initiative, there does not seem to be strong demand for this technology.

First State Super is one of the first industry funds to offer an iPhone app.

Feedback on the iTunes website has been predominantly negative, lamenting the fact the app acts as a portal to the fund's website.
 
But Bantermob founder and director Kelly Slessor, who researches, develops and designs mobile marketing strategies, said apps should not be underestimated.

Slessor draws a parallel with the discussion about the need for company websites in the early days of the Internet.

"Imagine today if you didn't have a website. Would you still be in business in a year's time?" she said.

Mobile phones were taking an increasingly important role in people's lives, she said.

"The average person looks 150 times a day at their mobile phone," she said.

But she also said funds should spend the time to research what their members wanted from an app.

"If you are planning to spend $25,000 on developing an app, why not spent $2000 more to see how people are planning to use them?" she said.

One of the most successful features of mobile apps was the calculator, she said.

"People love mobile calculators. They use them in their so-called 'squeeze time', when they have a few extra minutes," she said.

Media Super said in an interview with InvestorDaily last week that it was reviewing its communication methods with members.

The fund was considering the adoption of games-style applications to engage fund members, Media Super client relations general manager Lisa Collins said.

AustralianSuper has been trying to reach its members through Facebook and Twitter, leveraging off its sponsorship of reality talent show The Voice.