BBH Singapore creates ‘worst parents in the world’ in bid to solve financial retirement woes
A groom who begins his wedding speech by branding his parents the worst in the world forms the launch pad for a BBH Singapore campaign for insurance firm NTUC Income.
In a near five-minute video, the groom shocks guests by lamenting how little he had as a child while his friends went on lavish holidays and were sent to expensive schools.
But the speech turns on its head mid way through when he thanks his parents for an “amazing childhood” – and for planning for their retirement.
Under the tagline The Best Gift for your Child, the campaign is designed to encourage parents to plan their financial future rather than rely on their children to bail them out in later life.
NTUC Income said research revealed that 66% of parents were concerned about having insufficient funds in retirement yet would still sacrifice their retirement planning in order to spend on their children today.
BBH Singapore planning director Thomas Wagner said the campaign creative is designed to “start a conversation” about the issue.
“Parents spend a lot of money on their children so they can enjoy the best possible life now and in the future,” he said. “However, in doing so, they sometimes forget about themselves and the impact their own financial future has on the life they want their kids to have. This is the tension Income wants to start a conversation about and help solve.”
Income chief marketing officer Marcus Chew said the insurance firm wanted to articulate its message through story-telling “via an engaging film set in the backdrop of a wedding”.
“We hope this initiative will encourage Singaporeans to think more deeply about their retirement plans and, in so doing, take a step towards securing their own financial future so their children can be future ready,” he said.
The multi-channel campaign launches today and will run until the end of November.
Credits:
Client: Income
Executive Creative Director: Joakim Borgstrom
Creative Directors: Janson Choo & Khairul Mondzi
Planning Director: Thomas Wagner
Account Planner: Amanda Lim
Content Strategist: Audrey Phoon
Account Directors: Chloe Fair & Manavi Sharma
Producer: Kim Lim
Production house: Freeflow Productions
Director: Roslee Yusof
A very well crafted ad, thought-provoking with great insights. Always admired Income’s work for caring about the minor details. Well done team Income and BBH. Super! You guys are super consistent man! Another viral film in your pocket.
ReplyAmazing piece of work. Respect!
ReplyCongrats Khai and Janson for another great piece of work. You are showing what consistency means.
ReplyAgree. This is excellent. Real work for a real client. It can be done.
ReplyWell done!
ReplyWow, I want to meet this client! Never see such consistent work ever. He should conduct a class on how to create impactful campaign.
ReplyNice film, brought to life real well….no dreaded hammy singapore acting for once.
Im just confused about the ending….the endine….”the best gift for your child is a retirement plan for yourself”?
I thought this ad was about parents being prudent with money, ‘depriving’ the kid earlier on to focus on meaningful things, that would give their son an education and opportunities, a leg up….which is what got sonny boy to where he was today.
Where was the nod to retirement?
Or have i lost the plot?
Also, this was a big homage to the treatment in Yasmin Ahmad’s film titled The Funeral. Not that it’s a problem….but still worth pointing out.
ReplyStill, heroic job considering how crap singapore ads have become.
Go check out the comments on their Facebook and you will get the answer if you have lost the plot.
ReplyA retirement plan is ‘the best gift for your child’ because the parents are not depending on their son’s income, which he can now use to focus on providing for his family instead of worrying for his parents. With retirement funds, his parents can enjoy life, and he can take comfort in knowing his parents are happy and is financially able to do the things they enjoy.
ReplyThat didn’t quite come out in the film.
ReplyI agree it didn’t come out in the film. If people have to guess the message of the film after watching the film, and have to explain it to other people, then the film hasn’t quite succeeded.
ReplyThe messaging confusion is real. Not many people outside of those with the benefit of the entire media & marketing plan understand or know what this is all about.
ReplyAlmost as real as the volume & speed of praise for this.
The massive ‘love’ for it looks like an ad for an ad created by ad people
This is modern campaign ‘orchestration’ at its finest.
I don’t think there is any confusion about the retirement part. It’s clear that because the parents had a retirement plan from day one, they were able to be dependent in their old days and not have their son worry about them financially-speaking (and he enjoys more financial freedom). If the son was a low-income earner, he would have struggled to provide for both his family as well as his parents. Or his parents would still have to work a job after officially retiring. This part is insinuated, for sure, but in my opinion the main message is very clear.
ReplyThank you BBH, for continuing to have the highest standards
ReplyAnd for producing good, old fashioned, solid traditional work that works
Thank you Steve for planting the seeds and nurturing the next generation of creatives. May your legacy grow.
ReplyThis is a well-crafted film, but something didn’t ring well in my head. Then I figured out what it was. The problem is that there are TWO DISTINCT IDEAS in this film:
1) By avoiding spending on the frivolous things that don’t really help your child’s development (e.g. trips to Miami), you’ll spend on the things that matter (e.g. his education), shaping your child to be the best version of himself.
2) By ensuring the best retirement plan for yourself, you’ll ensure that your children won’t have the burden of supporting you.
For most of the film, it embraced Idea 1, but the wrap-up embraced Idea 2. Hence the slight disconnect and the feeling that “something is missing”.
ReplyI think the connect is….
ReplyThe parents channeled the money saved from choosing modest upbringing methods over frivolous ones into their retirement plan, therefore not sacrificing one for the other?
It makes sense when you explain it like that. But the film didn’t make that point. Maybe it was there in some internal strategy decks but got lost in the final execution.
Reply“The parents channeled the money saved from choosing modest upbringing methods over frivolous ones into their retirement plan, therefore not sacrificing one for the other?”
So what is their son so happy about then? I thought they deprived him of holidays and frivolous treats to channel the money into HIS education and betterment…. that’s why he was happy.
According to your interpretation, he is happy they didn’t spend on him but put the money in there retirement account…that is not a natural reaction. In fact, it beggars belief.
BTW is 480K + views and 7,000 + shares the equivalent of a huge viral hit? I don’t know the answer.
ReplyYou don’t know becoz you have never created a viral campaign.
ReplyGosh, suddenly this thread has become filled with vitriol from those defending this work.
By the way, 480K views is definitely not viral. The gold standard for virality, Dumb Ways To Die, has 170 Million views.
ReplyIs this really that good? Well made for sure but found it boring and derivative myself. And way too long. Does anyone outside of the industry really sit down and watch five minute brand videos? Be a pretty sad individual that does. Give me a concise 30s spot any day of the week
ReplyGo check out the shares, reaction and comments. If you remain inside the box you will never see beyond a 30secs.
https://www.facebook.com/ajax/sharer/?s=11&appid=2392950137&id=311797179384940&p%5B0%5D=311797179384940&share_source_type=unknown&feedback_source=22&av=639992923&feedback_referrer=%2FNTUCIncomeInsurance%2F
ReplyI agree with m that it’s not as good as some people think. That seems to be a general theme with BBH Singapore, where their creatives think they’ve come up with world-beating work but the world doesn’t quite agree. So many pieces of work that BBH Singapore creatives thought would win Lions only ended up bagging shortlists. The only truly pathbreaking work out of BBH Singapore was the Nike Stadium, but then again, the brain of that work is not at BBH anymore.
m2, I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s an accepted fact in the industry that likes, shares, comments etc. are directly proportionate to paid media spend, and everything (even the best content) sinks without a trace when there’s no media spend, and even mediocre work can get 10 million views if there’s a big pool of paid media budget available.
ReplyThe SOP is obvious.
Get pre-launch press in ST with self-funded survey or outlandish [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] by celeb.
Serve up the campaign.
Back it with huge social media budget, get everyone involved in its creation, production and approval to tap their own social network to push it hard.
[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Proclaim it’s a viral hit, success & future Effie winner.
Coming soon- a follow up article in ST, Sunday times or other media to close the feedback loop.
QED.
ReplyThe industry issue is taking awards as success. So what if you win a lion? It is also a know fact that you need people in the room to support your work to win a lion. This is real work for real clients and real consumers. It should be celebrated more than a lion.
ReplyYou probably have not done any digital marketing in your life. I am from a digital agency and you can certainly buy views but not shares and comments. You need to just look at shares and comments, ignore the views. I hope I have added some knowledge to make your future work better.
ReplyHahaha, resorting to personal attacks because you can’t think of any objective ways to make your points? I have news for you. I’ve worked in 4 digital agencies including my first one and my current one. I agree you can’t buy shares and comments, but all it takes is a few hyper-aggressive people to spam a video with comments and to share it from lots of fake accounts.
ReplyIf the creative here cannot figure out the work while the consumers get it, I worry for clients who employ these guys. Who are they really creating work for? [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]?
ReplyMay I know which consumer gets it? Find me one consumer who gets it. Sorry, but fake FB accounts don’t count as “consumers”.
Reply“Under the tagline The Best Gift for your Child, the campaign is designed to encourage parents to plan their financial future rather than rely on their children to bail them out in later life.”
If the son had said in his speech….’let me tell you people, I am so glad ma and pa put away money for their retirement, so they didnt have to rely on me later’….I would have got it…..but what a shitty thing that would be for a son to say, even though a lot of them think that way.
Since the creatives could not say this, they chose to still make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear…but that’s what confuses the message.
Now if the tagline had said….the best gift for your child is an investment plan for your family….then it would be much clearer.
I also didn’t care much for the tabloid style, clickbait of worst parent in the world….how they got that through a government insurer that is so into family values boggles the mind…still, i wouldn’t be proud of it.
ReplyCan I atleast please know what the title of the song at the end??
ReplyThis may be a well-shot film but it is not good.
Starting with the title, ‘the worst parents in the world’ which is the equivalent of a cleavage shot that Influencers use as click bait.
Then there’s the premise that gets lost in the indulgent narrative. The set up that most Singaporean parents seem to get is that the young man’s parents scrimped on stuff so that their son could have a better future. Most parents, low or high SES, who buy policies can relate to that because that’s their reality. The suggestion of parents quietly stashing away for retirement is and will always be secondary to them wanting better for their children. Was there no Asian parent in the room when this was discussed?
The ‘success’ of such a spot in today’s anything-can-be-faked-online is very debatable. Clicks, shares, comments, viral – everything can be bought so the client-agency that swears by this formula deserves to be conned by digital agencies and media people.
BBH and Income have the mucle to get ink and clearly, they have gone to town with this commercial (I won’t be surprised if the defensive salvo can be traced back to them). Sure, most Singaporeans are suckers for a family-themed spot but this feels rehashed in a gimmicky sort of way. More so because of the category. Seen the yawn-OCBC spots, carbon copies of the UOB spots?
What happened to BBH and its zig when others zag? They hung the entire previous campaign on one gimmick word play ‘Fearless vs Fear Less’ and now this. This is zag to the max. And at 4 plus minutes, seriously maxing the viewer’s patience.
One last thing. Can the industry – clients and agencies – at least come to an agreement after this that there will be no long format commercials for at least 2 years? Please. Look at Malaysia, they have gone through the gamut with Petronas, telcos, banks/insurance and are now onto quirky, funny stuff that are STILL rooted in real local insights. Or go the recent StarHub Fastest commercial way which is smart, single-minded and very current with the use of social media stars. Even better when you see how it leads in to the selfie spot for the new Samsung Note.
A good spot can still be done. Just not this BBH-NTUC way. ‘The worst parents in the world’ have produced an ewww example of what not to do.
ReplySaw if for the first time in a full cinema of people waiting for Crazy Rich Asians (ironic!) It entertained and engaged – based on the laughter and lack of crunching and talking. Immediately after came the overlong schmaltzy piece for the same category from another company (OCBC) who used Gurmit Singh as some sort of ghost of Christmas past character to sell the same category. One entertained and amused and engaged. The other forced the cinema back to their popcorn and Instagram. Well done BBH.
ReplySure a not? maybe it was a screening exclusively for [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyJudging by the reactions…hahahaha
i guess every audience is different, my experience was the reverse of this as ppl seemed to respond to the ocbc film. But between the ocbc spot, the income spot and there was also this aia spot about nurses… it did feel like a lot of the same.
ReplyIf you think this is bad, you are bad.
The Facebook engagements are overwhelmingly positive and you can never achieve sentiment like that even with infinite media spend unless the film is good.
One of the few FB videos in Singapore this year that has achieved that sorta engagement. Well done bbh.
ReplyHave your say