We sit down with Dave McCaughan as we continue exploring "The New Contract of Retirement" across Asia.

Dave has coined, championed, and now serves as the epitome of "The New Life Builder" . But what is this "New Life" actually built on, and why should brands look to be part of its foundations?

With four decades of advertising experience with McCann across Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, Dave spotted the implications of this emerging demographic shift far earlier than most. Where his focus groups among older adults kept revealing a mindset of 'what's next?'....rather than what's been.

Even since, Dave's passion has been to rethink what is happening within the region's fast-aging population. And in particular understand and debunk the myths which underpin marketers' common reluctance to target the over 60's.

From Japanese electric guitar booms and the rituals of "Macca's Mondays", to rediscovering the wonders of Disneyland and intergenerational travel, Dave brings to life inspirational anecdotes that dismantle marketing myths about the older demographic, one after another, including:

1. "They don't buy stuff" (Reality: 50%+ of value sales across most categories)
2. "They don't try new brands" (Reality: they've been switching for 40+ years)
3. "They can't use technology" (Reality: your research problem, not theirs)
4. "We don't need older employees" (Reality: you can't target what you don't understand)

Dave's Reality Check: "60 is the new 60" - stop trying to make them look 25, start serving them as confident 60-year-olds who know what they want and have money to spend on it.

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

As we're continuing our journey into the world of retirement, our guide today is Dr. Shiori Shakuto, author of "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia." In this episode, Shiori is helping Drago and Scott explore the evolving perceptions of retirement across Asia. Dr. Shakuto's groundbreaking anthropological research reveals how Japanese retirees are rejecting traditional expectations and embracing hypermobility, self-discovery, and new forms of community.

What We Discuss:

Debunking Retirement Myths

• Is retirement a time of immobility or hypermobility?
• How do 20-30 years of healthy post-work life create opportunities for self-discovery?
• How is the old social contract being renegotiated?

The Gender Divide in Aging

• How are men and women's expectations of post-retirement marriage experience different?
• What are the different ways in which men and women choose to create and maintain networks and what does yogurt have to do with it?
• What is the nureochiba - i.e. men as wet fallen leaves - phenomenon about?

Transnational Retirement Migration

• Why is Malaysia attractive to Japanese "silver backpackers"?
• What does their perception of Malaysia say about the way they view present-day Japan?

Redefining Contribution

• What does the retiree's desire to be 'useful' look like and how is it manifested?
• How are domestic and neighborhood contributions evaluated in comparison to public volunteering?

About Our Guest: Dr. Shiori Shakuto is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Sydney and a feminist anthropologist specialising in gender and household dynamics in Japan. Her book "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia" explores how Japanese retirees are redefining post-work life through transnational migration and community building.

Resources:

• "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia" by Dr. Shiori Shakuto

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

Scott and Drago return, introducing their new research: Retirement: The New Contract.

Silvers, Seniors, Boomers...labels that dismiss older adults as a homogeneous audience. Yet, across developed Asia, the older demographic is growing not only in size, but also in its diversity, influence and spending power.

So, why are they so often ignored or misrepresented by brands?

With the nature of work rapidly changing and the official retirement age rising, we wanted to shine a light on one of life's key inflection points: retirement. Our proprietary research among 55–75-year-old Singaporeans and Japanese, alongside academic experts, revealed how diverse and complex this life-stage can be. And crucially, how the old contract of retirement is no longer fit for purpose.

In this episode, we introduce the 6 dimensions that define modern retirement, each representing an opportunity space for brands.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing episodes covering perspectives from experts reimagining what retirement, and in turn aging, means in Asia today.

Want to learn more? Get in touch to request a bespoke presentation of our findings, and their implications.

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

Objects: things we covet, collect, display, share and utilise. But what do they mean as ‘stuff’ increasingly integrates with our digital lives, or even morphs into virtual worlds?

Who better to ask than Justin Peyton from Wunderman Thompson, whose BRAND N3XT platform explores the people and ideas that are working to make Web3 and Metaverse a positive force for people, business and society.

In Potluck’s latest episode, hear Justin’s thoughts on…

· How he defines the Metaverse amidst all the babble

· Why ‘identity brands’ lead the way in this space, but take note of ‘experience brands’ as the fast-followers

· The increasingly blended interface between the physical and the digital, including concepts like digital twins and tokenised memberships

· Opportunities for elevating both brand experiences and communities

· And how the real experimentation - and application - is only just beginning…

Check out Justin's BRAND N3XT content via: https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

This time, it's Chris Arning who's come to stir the pot with Drago and Scott. Chris runs boutique consultancy Creative Semiotics, teaches an online course titled How to Do Semiotics in Seven Weeks and is the co-founder of Semiofest, and more...

What did we get up to stirring up:

- We start off with that perennial question of what is Semiotics.
- Chris shares some examples from applying Semiotics to work in Asia; Chris is an unashamed Japanophile, so of course he mixes in Japan examples, too
- Then we talk about the raison d'etre of an online course on Semiotics: Chris shares the trials and triumphs of his journey setting it up and running it; and he offers some generous advice on how one could share their knowledge and experience with others--and turn it into a product
- Finally, in the run-up to our miniseries on The Meaning of Objects (working title!), Chris helps us wrap our head around how Semiotics approaches 'things' with some examples from his and his colleagues' work.

Important to note that Chris is wearing a baseball cap throughout the interview.

https://www.creativesemiotics.co.uk/
https://www.semiofest.com/

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

Potluck returns for our 3rd season, and the first episode of 2022.

Pei Ying Loh is Head & Co-Founder of Kontinentalist, an organisation dedicated to telling data-driven stories about Asia. As a collective of writers, designers, developers and data-visualisers, they tackle topics connected to Culture, Politics, People and History through various creative approaches.

Our discussion charts:

- The parallels between Pei Ying’s background in History and storytelling, and Kontinentalist’s origins

- Cartography of culture: how maps have played a pivotal role in taking readers on a journey, and building empathy for the issue at hand

- Bridging the gap between research and the public: with much of the work being cause-driven, we discuss the need to turn heavy data into digestible stories for a wider audience

- Asia misunderstood: the motivations that lie behind debunking myths and being sensitive to the region’s data and cultural contexts

- Data-visualisation: lessons on what makes it effective, and avoiding the trap of style-over-substance

Plus Drago and I share our views on how brands are approaching the War in Ukraine.

Check-out some of the stories we discuss:

http://v1.kontinentalist.com.s3-website-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/stories/the-rohingya-in-myanmar-a-refugee-crisis-at-sea/

https://bri.kontinentalist.com/

https://kontinentalist.com/stories/a-cultural-history-of-han-chinese-names-for-girls-and-boys-in-china

https://kontinentalist.com/stories/sexual-assault-and-abuse-in-singapore-need-more-than-the-law

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

Before Scott and Drago hang their aprons and ladles for the year, they sit down to stir the pot one last time in 2021.
The two hosts discuss their favourite parts of the conversations they've had throughout the year with Katie Dreke, Ambrish Chaudhry, Charlotte Wilkinson, Ajay Jilka, Jocelyn Tse, Simon Chadwick, Vasuki Shastry and Peter Smyth.

Among other things, they're discussing...
- If Asia's not overhyped, then what is it? ...and some words of caution about the future of Asia in a digest of what people see when they Lift the Lid on Asia..
- A summary of our guests' strategies to learn about people and cultures in the region: the top Human Hacks
- ..and finally, the top peeves that people shared - in a summary of Brand Burns

www.potluckpodcast.asia/

Hear the full feast of our conversation with Peter Smyth, a man of many talents, analogies and stories! We follow his cycle from Toronto to Hong Kong, onwards to Tokyo – and now back. Where his career has spanned both big agency life (BBDO) and the world of luxury marketing with Louis Vuitton and latterly Van Cleef & Arpels.

We lift the lid on Asia and particularly Japan via his deft tips for navigating Japanese culture (it’s all about finding your role in the play), the Darwinian approach to biz and marketing strategy and a comparison between Western and Japanese strategic thinking.

With the pot fully boiling, part 2 sees us uncover Peter’s modus operandi for understanding people and culture, whether it be ‘thinking in bets’, the role of insight to illuminate (vs validate) and balancing gut instinct with ‘what the data is saying’.

Before we finish with an eclectic flurry – from Honda motorbikes and the bullshit of ‘linear’ strategic thinking, to the quirks of young ad executive life.

www.potluckpodcast.asia/