How did it come to be?
Ellis: “The desire was to translate the core of APG’s positioning into images. Instead of explaining exactly what we do, who we work for and how much money we manage, we show all kinds of everyday situations in this video. And we show how normal it is for people to talk to each other about money and about income for the future. In this way we subtly show how APG contributes to this. A video is ideally suited to depicting emotion. With the right combination of images, people, text, tone of voice and music, we provide the viewer with a feeling, a connection to what we want to convey. Together with our funds, we contribute to a good pension in a livable world.”
What challenges were you faced with?
Janine: “The idea of making this video arose just before the Corona crisis happened. Of course, because of Covid, we ran into quite a few challenges. It was not always easy to get together with coworkers because of the measures we were taking, and we were not able to film on location. This was important for the look and feel of the video. That is why we had to wait for a year and a half before we could actually shoot the scenes. Because there was quite a bit of time between having the ideas for the video and actually shooting it, the script changed a few times. Another challenge was finding the cast. We chose a mix of professional actors and employees to get an accurate reflection of society. Sometimes we also had to disappoint people, because we couldn’t guarantee in advance that everyone would actually show up in the video, or how long the scene would be. The only thing we could promise them was that they were going to have a fun day.”
What are you proud of?
Nina: “This was really a very big production. We had developed new positioning and a new corporate identity. But then the challenge is to translate the positioning you have thought up into a story and images. For us, retirement is about people, about living and about society. And that comes together in this video. It always starts with an idea in someone’s mind. The phases that follow, such as brainstorming, writing texts, writing scenes, selecting suitable people and looking for locations, all take a lot of time and energy. You prepare it in detail, but it always remains to be seen how it will work on screen. Does a scene have the right feel, does it come across well, do we achieve our goal with it; we always have to wait and see. And I can tell you, the first edit is never good or what you expected; what you thought it would be like. We produced this together with New Narrative and a few coworkers. Several coworkers collaborated in the video. That makes it extra challenging, because it's not their regular job. Being in front of the camera with a whole crew is always a little daunting. They really did a great job! It is important to us that the message comes across well and that it touches people. We managed to do all that together. We now share this video with great pride.”
What do you hope to accomplish with the video?
Ellis: “Awareness among our coworkers that we really do great work for many Dutch people. Even though it doesn’t always feel that way to everyone. You are often so absorbed in your day-to-day work that you just don’t recognize that anymore. The participant is the focus of everything we do. We hope that this video will make our coworkers proud. Outside APG, we give a little more nuance about what APG’s position is in the world and how it how it plays a role in the everyday lives of our participants. Everything we do through their fund with their money, i.e. their pension and income for the future, we manage and invest in such a way that it will benefit them and the world later. And that immediately brings us to the final line of the video.”
And you made not one, but two videos. What’s up with that?
Nina: “Yes, there is another video too: ‘APG: working on today, tomorrow and beyond’. We will use this one for our labor market communication. It is a challenge to find the right talents in this tight labor market. In this video, our own coworkers talk about what makes working at APG special.”
