ING Launches New Campaign To Help Make Retirement Planning Easier; Wants Americans To Know Their 'Number'

ING, one of the world's leading financial services organizations, announced today the launch of a new integrated marketing campaign entitled 'Your Number.' The goal of the campaign is to help simplify the process of retirement planning for Americans -- by encouraging them to identify and calculate the total amount of money they need to have saved by the time they retire. This 'number' is unique to each individual or couple, and depends upon their individual retirement goals.

As proof of how daunting retirement planning can be today, ING conducted a survey in conjunction with the new campaign and found that nearly 50% of Americans say calculating their retirement number is not easy and they wouldn't know where to begin. More than 35% admitted that all they could do is guess.(1)

"Americans today are shouldering a greater part of the retirement planning burden than ever before. This can be overwhelming, and lead many people to take little or no action at all," said Tricia Conahan, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing for ING Americas. "The average investor often doesn't know how much they should be saving, or even how to go about achieving this number. ING's 'Your Number' campaign is meant to make the process less intimidating. We believe one of the easiest ways to do this is to start by knowing your retirement number."

ING's 'Your Number' campaign is the next step in marketing for the global, Dutch-based institution which established a U.S. presence in 2001. Since 2006, ING has been focused on making financial services 'Easier' for consumers.

When ING first launched in the U.S. market, the company introduced the trademark ING 'Bench' and positioned itself as a humorous, offbeat financial services provider that used the color orange and did things differently than its competitors. In 2006, ING rolled out its 'Your future. Made easier.' brand message, marketing itself as a company that made it 'Easier' for customers to save, invest, protect and manage their money. Based on the success of these past initiatives, consumer awareness for ING today rivals that of companies which have been building their brands for decades.

'Your Number' Advertising and Microsite

The 'Your Number' campaign represents a natural evolution of ING's young brand and aggressive business goals in the U.S. While still leveraging the iconic Bench, orange tone and successful 'Easier' message platform, ING is now focusing the message on retirement savings, and the products and services that can help making retirement planning easier for consumers.

Conahan noted that initial market testing for the 'Your Number' concept far outscored financial services norms. "We found this was such an easy way to approach the complicated topic of retirement. 'Your Number' is how the average consumer could think about their retirement savings goals. 'Your Number' is also how a financial professional could begin a conversation with their client."

In one of the new television spots, a series of people go about their normal lives, except they each have a large six- or seven-figure number with a dollar sign accompanying them. The characters are seen interacting with their numbers -- at home, at work, shopping and traveling -- as if these numbers are a natural extension of themselves and their lives.

The narrator explains that everyone has their own retirement number, yet most don't know what that number is, how to reach it or what to do after they've reached it. The campaign positions ING as a resource for determining one's retirement number, with the company's familiar brand promise to help make the process 'Easier.' A second spot uses the same concept, but suggests how the ING family of companies, through their array of products and services, can help consumers use their number to generate a steady income stream in retirement.

The last scene in each ad showcases the ING Bench, and directs viewers to visit www.INGyournumber.com. This new microsite guides visitors through an interactive, user-friendly experience that helps calculate their number. It also facilitates a connection with a financial professional, if they are interested, and provides access to information on the ING family of companies' products and services. The ads are also viewable on the microsite.

"The message we're driving home is that when it comes to successfully planning for and living in retirement -- in other words, achieving your retirement number -- ING can make it 'Easier,'" Conahan added. "With ING's straightforward approach, we hope more people will focus on the importance of knowing their number and see this as a first step to reducing the complexities of retirement planning."

ING's 'Your Number' advertising campaign will air on a variety of cable and TV networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNBC, ESPN, the Golf Channel, Discovery and TNT, among many others. There will also be a print and digital component to the campaign, with ads appearing in the Wall Street Journal and various websites.

ING developed the campaign in partnership with BBDO Atlanta. John Dolan directed the TV spots and Bill Pope served as Director of Photography. Both have worked on award-winning commercial and film projects, including the Got Milk campaign and the Matrix and Spiderman movie franchises.

About ING

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to more than 75 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 120,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

In the U.S., the ING (NYSE: ING) family of companies offers a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients which include life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves over 14 million customers across the nation. For more information, visit www.ing.com.

1. Statistics were generated from the ING Retirement Number Study, commissioned by ING and conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs in January 2008. The study was undertaken in conjunction with ING's 'Your Number' campaign. A randomly selected sample of 1,008 adult Americans were polled to find out what numbers are most important in their life and how they view their "retirement number," which is the amount an individual or couple needs to have saved by the time they retire. Complete results from the ING Retirement Number Study will be available on March 17, 2008. For more information contact ING's press office.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: joseph.loparco@us.ing.com

SOURCE: ING

CONTACT: Joe Loparco, ING Americas, +1-860-580-2677, Cell:
+1-860-462-6525, joseph.loparco@us.ing.com

Web site: http://www.ing.com/