Income Encourages Singaporeans to Look beyond Pet Peeves with Insurance Campaign

In relationships, do we judge our partners too quickly? Do we get too caught up in the little things that we fail to see the bigger picture? NTUC Income (Income), Singapore’s largest insurer, is encouraging Singaporeans to reframe their attitude towards insurance plans and view them as a sign of True Care from their families, in a new campaign developed by BBH Singapore. 

The campaign’s final line “True Care isn't always obvious. Like protecting the family with a life insurance plan” hinges on the insight that in relationships people tend to judge their partners based on the more obvious signs of care, rather than the less visible ones that are also important, and involve financially protecting their loved ones.

This idea is supported by a study commissioned by Income and conducted by Nielsen, which surveyed more than 329 married adults aged between 25 and 49 years. 9 in 10 respondents perceived having life insurance as an act of care, as it protects the family in the event something untoward happens to them. Having a life insurance policy, however, was not the obvious form of care. The top five acts of care listed by respondents included showing appreciation, caring for a sick spouse, regular communication, showing physical intimacy and helping with household chores.

Targeted at married adults between 30 to 50 years, who don’t have a life insurance plan or sufficient protection coverage, the campaign comprises of a 2.5-minute long-form film along with a 60-second cut-down version, as well as a digital and outdoor component. 

The film shows a harried mother returning from work to a messy home where things are not in order. Even though she ignores all the signs of disregard - scattered toys and clothes, water rings on the table, a dripping tap in the kitchen - the last straw for her is when her husband emerges out of the toilet without putting the toilet seat down. Horrified, she starts a social rant against her “inconsiderate” husband using the #putthetoiletseatdown and #uncaring, which are picked up by bloggers and influencers - mrbrown, Xiaxue, Shigga Shay, Wah!Banana and SGAG – and becomes a trending topic online. Just when the mother rejoices at her victory, her husband reveals an important piece of information that completely changes her perspective towards him; he’s bought a life insurance plan and if anything happens to him, she and their child would be well taken care of.

The film is designed to act as a conversation starter by inspiring couples to reflect on what being a caring partner is, specifically by demonstrating how common everyday household pet peeves are trivial matters when compared to the importance of financially protecting one’s family with life insurance. 

Commenting on the campaign, Marcus Chew, chief marketing officer of Income said: “Given that couples do not have the habit of sharing details about their life insurance plans with each other, we wanted to help them kick-start conversations on their coverage needs and to plug protection gaps more effectively. Being married myself, I’m aware that couples have the tendency to sweat over small things and overlook what truly matters. Having adequate life insurance protection is one such matter and we would like to lead couples in Singapore to be more cognisant about the fact that true care may not always be obvious. We want them to consider adequate financial cover in the event of death, disability and critical illness so as to close their protection gaps more intentionally.”

 

Janson Choo, creative director, BBH Singapore, said: “Our creative strategy revolves around using common couple dynamics to communicate how sometimes we can miss the woods for the trees and fail to notice signs of true care when they are not that obvious and visible.”