There is no doubt baby boomers are worried about having enough money for retirement. A recent survey by ScottTrade found that fifty-one percent of people 55 and over say they wish they had started at a younger age and 40 percent say they wish they would have saved more. Now another financial services company is jumping on the bandwagon to help the financially challenged of a certain age.
ING has made a brightly-colored swath across the Internet with its Orange Savings Account and other services. Now ING is debuting a new ad campaign aimed at the “on-the-cusp-of-retiring” worried boomers.
And the ads are orange, featuring people carrying around an orange set of numbers that represents the money people need to retire. The tag line for the tv and print ads is “Your Number.”
A NY Times article says:
“The ads show professional, well-dressed baby boomers going happily about their busy lives — passing through airport security, crossing a Wall Street-type intersection, getting an ultrasound of a growing baby — all while toting a bright orange number with a dollar sign, like a flute case.
Guitar music reminiscent of the soundtrack to the hit film “Juno” adds an upbeat note to the sunny hustle and bustle. In the ultrasound scene, the number increases rapidly, a humorous nod to the cost of raising children.
Some of the orange numbers have five figures, and others have seven. The people carry their numbers everywhere, even to bed.”
ING is also setting up a website, www.INGyournumber.com that will let you calculate the amount of money you are likely to need to retire comfortably.
We like the Orange campaign. It addresses the problem of funding retirement in a light, breezy way that will make it seem easier and less gloomy to take on the actions needed to get to that “number.”
We don’t think scare tactics work well with boomers and certainly shaming will not. To compare approaches to retirement planning, take at look at Fidelity, Ameriprise, and MetLife. Which ones do you like the most? Let us know in the comments below.
Update: Here is a clever video of people carrying ING numbers in the Georgia Marathon.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Jonathan Boehman // Mar 13, 2008 at 9:45 am
Although the focus is to get you to contact a financial advisor, another great site to check out aimed at Baby Boomers is Smith Barney’s Working Wealth site.
2 Chris Thilk // Mar 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hi Joanne,
I work for MWW Group, a PR firm and ING is one of our clients here. I wanted to just let you know you can see the spots that make up the TV portion of this campaign on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/INGYourNumber
Didn’t see an email address otherwise I would have dropped this to you privately.
Let me know if you have any further questions about the campaign and I’ll see about getting you whatever you might be looking for.
–Chris
3 Joanne Fritz // Mar 13, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thanks, Jonathan and Chris! My email is joannef@second50years.com I’ll put into my about.
4 ING Has Baby Boomers’ Numbers — IRA 401k // Mar 13, 2008 at 11:12 pm
[…] White Sox Cards wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThere is no doubt baby boomers are worried about having enough money for retirement. Now another financial services company is jumping on the bandwagon of help for the financially challenged of a certain age. … […]
5 Rita // Mar 13, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Well, my general impression is that any innovative device to get people interested in planning for retirement is good. The orange number does get people’s attention.
I wrote a monthly 50-plus column for The Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune for more than 18 years. I wrote about retirement often because so many people put it off or don’t think it through.
Now I write a blog for boomer consumers The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide at http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com.
About one third of baby boomers, 25 million, have virtually nothing saved for retirement and face a shaky retirement, according to a recent AARP study. Skyrocketing health care costs, the rising age for full Social Security benefits, and recent lower returns on investments make retirement difficult for the 76 million boomers who will turn 65 in the next two decades.
6 Joanne Fritz // Mar 14, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Thanks Rita! Also for your blog link.
7 Chuck Nyren // Mar 14, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I’m not a big fan of this particular campaign, Joanne. I blogged about it just today:
http://advertisingtobabyboomers.blogspot.com/2008/03/ings-your-number.html
MetLife does good work. Just for transparency - I have friends over there - so I’ll bow out of your survey.
8 Joanne Fritz // Mar 15, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Thanks, Chuck!
9 Neva // Oct 24, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Keep up the good work.
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