Retirement Garden was created to transform how plan sponsors engage with retirement planning by moving beyond traditional presentations and creating a more personal, emotional and immersive experience.
Developed for AllianceBernstein's Defined Contribution Symposium, the initiative sought to help attendees better understand the long-term impact of retirement decisions through experiential storytelling. Rather than focusing solely on financial concepts and product information, the experience was designed to encourage participants to reflect on the human side of retirement planning and the life journeys those decisions ultimately shape.
By combining physical environments, sensory design and AI-powered personalization, AB aimed to create a memorable experience that would deepen engagement, strengthen understanding and challenge conventional approaches to retirement education
Retirement Garden transformed a symposium environment into a multi-sensory journey through the stages of life.
Attendees progressed through four themed environments representing Early Working Years, Mid-Career, Late-Career and In Retirement. Each stage combined visual design, sound and scent to create a distinct emotional atmosphere while encouraging participants to reflect on the long-term consequences of financial planning decisions.
A central feature of the experience was the integration of AI-powered age transformation technology. Participants could see themselves projected forward and backward through different life stages, creating a highly personal connection to the retirement planning process and making future outcomes feel more tangible and immediate.
The initiative required collaboration across marketing, creative, digital, AI and technology teams, as well as external agency partners, to seamlessly blend physical experience design with emerging technology. The experience extended beyond the event itself through personalized post-event content that incorporated imagery and visual elements from attendees' Retirement Garden journey.
By shifting retirement education from presentation to participation, AB created a more engaging and memorable experience than traditional event formats.
Retirement Garden became one of the most distinctive experiences at AB's Defined Contribution Symposium, generating strong attendee engagement and creating meaningful conversations around retirement readiness.
The combination of immersive storytelling, sensory design and AI-driven personalization encouraged participants to engage with retirement planning concepts in a more emotional and memorable way. Attendees experienced retirement outcomes not as abstract projections but as personal possibilities connected to their own lives and decisions.
The initiative successfully demonstrated how technology and experiential design can work together to create deeper engagement within financial services. It also reinforced AB's position as an innovator in participant communication and retirement education.
