South Africans are notoriously bad savers, with up to 75% of our disposable income being used to service debt. With National Savings Month in July, we worked together with Absa, South Africa’s largest bank, to bring a study from the 1960s to life.

The Stanford Marshmallow Test consisted of a series of studies on delayed gratification. Children were led into a room one at a time and given a single marshmallow. They were then given the choice of either eating it, or saving it until later and receiving another.

It turned out to be a test of iron will, and in our minds, the basis for a series of adverts with a powerful message. The take out was simple: Saving can be hard, but the rewards are worth the wait.