NTUC Income pushes retirement plan to end 'sandwich generation' woes

NTUC Income has launched a campaign that looks to end the "sandwich generation" cycle faced by Singaporean parents. According to Income, Singaporean parents with young children are financially squeezed between supporting their parents and providing for their children. This has been dubbed as the cycle of filial piety and financial pressure.

Developed by BBH Singapore and executed by DentsuX, the campaign comes with the tagline “We can be the last sandwich generation, when we plan our retirement”. It positions Income as a partner in retirement planning and aims to educate young parents of the role they can play in ending the vicious cycle of financial dependence on their children by planning for their retirement.

The film at the centre of the campaign captures the pressures of a young man caught between caring for his parents and providing for his own family, eventually leading him to ensure he liberates his daughter of the financial responsibilities that he has been burdened with. The campaign will run for three months and is accompanied by social, digital, OOH and in-store components to further amplify the central idea - “We can be the last sandwich generation”.

The campaign which drew insights from a study commissioned by Income and conducted by Kantar, showed that 94% of individuals that fell within the sandwich generation feel financially pressured while 80% of young Singaporeans feel they will become the next sandwich generation. The research, done on 200 parents aged 35-55 years old and 200 young Singaporeans aged 21-29 years old, also showed that close to 60% of the sandwich generation has not started planning for their retirement. However, nine in 10 parents said that they have better opportunities to prevent their children from becoming the next sandwich generation.

Marcus Chew, chief marketing officer, Income, said today’s generation of parents have better access to the knowledge and financial tools to be financially independent in their retirement years, as compared to their own parents before.

"By planning their retirement, they can ensure their children will not have to be ‘sandwiched’ in future since their parents are financially independent. We hope that our target audience will embrace this message that we have shared through a relatable campaign," he added.

Janson Choo, BBH Singapore said: “The thing about being a sandwich generation is that many of us have a defeatist attitude towards it. We think of it almost like part of adulthood or growing up, and it becomes a vicious cycle from parent to child. So when Chew and his team proposed the idea of ending the 'sandwich generation', it immediately resonated with us. There is a way out. It's not going to be easy, but we can be the last, so that our children won't have to be sandwiched in the future.”

Credit list
Agency: BBH Singapore
Chief creative officer: Joakim Borgstrom
Executive creative director: Sascha Kuntze
Creative directors: Janson Choo & Khairul Mondzi
Account director: Manavi Sharma
Account manager: Priscilla Lim
Head of planning: Thomas Wagner
Strategist: Amanda Lim
Agency producer: Kim Lim
Production company: Freeflow Productions
Director: Roslee Yusof
Audio production: Fuse Adventures in Audio

Client credits:
Chief marketing officer: Marcus Chew
Head, brand marketing: Chloe Fair
Senior executive, brand marketing: Charis Leong