Local singer Benjamin Kheng busts out 'musical masterpiece' for insurance brand

AIA Singapore has partnered with local celebrity Benjamin Kheng to create "a musical masterpiece" aimed at promoting its Absolute Critical Cover plan. The partnership began last month and aimed to promote the plan's unique coverage, which includes common diseases such as sleep apnoea, age-related diseases such as urinary incontinence, and even "future unknown diseases". The video was posted on Kheng's Instagram. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUpBciiMWK9/

Overall, the video has garnered about 283,000 views. Some users wrote comments applauding AIA for engaging local talents in its marketing stunt. Another user was impressed by Kheng's skills to deliver "all that in under one minute" and deemed the jingle catchy. One user also described the video as "the only insurance ad I will watch from start to end". 

AIA Singapore's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that following the video's overwhelming response, it has since expanded the campaign with multiple renditions of the same song by challenging Tosh Rock and Wang Lei to put their own creative spin and personal style to the campaign’s jingle “Scared what scared” as well. AIA worked with Ogilvy Singapore for the campaign, and the campaign will run until the end of the year.

The partnerships comes as AIA celebrates its 90th anniversary against the backdrop of the pandemic. "For the past 90 years, we have time and time again reinforce our core belief and promise of enabling Singaporeans to live healthier, longer, better lives. These campaigns and partnerships help us to double down on our brand promise for the long term and to ensure we continually remain relevant to our customers, in addition to reaching out to new audiences," the spokesperson added. AIA Singapore has declined to disclose the monetary value of the partnerships.

At the same time, it is also raising awareness of its offerings through partnerships with global pop-culture and lifestyle brand tokidoki, and Singtel. With tokidoki, AIA will work with it to launch the first tokidoki-themed run titled "tokidoki X AIA Better Lives Charity Run" to boost awareness of AIA's newly-launched AIA Better Lives Fund. 

Themed “Better World, Better You” the charity run will feature a hybrid format combining in-person and virtual elements. AIA said that tokidoki was chosen as a partner for this run as it has amassed a huge following since its debut and the pop-culture and lifestyle brand appeals to all age groups, in particular young families. Additionally, the story behind the creation of tokidoki is about owning special defining moments that could change one’s destiny.

"This resonated with us as AIA Singapore is committed to making a significant and positive impact to help people to live healthier, longer, better lives, so that they can enjoy fulfilling moments with their loved ones," AIA's spokesperson added.

Participants will be able to clock distances at their own pace, anytime and anywhere during the event period, by tracking their progress on 42Race’s app. At the same time, they will also be able to unlock and collect tokidoki character badges and rewards at each milestone. Alternatively, participants can take on one of the run's curated tokidoki-themed routes, which feature checkpoints with QR codes for participants to stand a chance to win exclusive prizes when they complete missions along the way. Fans can meet the iconic mascots in person and receive additional exclusive tokidoki gifts when they purchase one of the 300 meet and greet experience packages. 

The run will be held from 17 December 2021 to 31 January 2022, and proceeds from the sale of registration tickets and limited-edition merchandise will go toward the AIA Better Lives Fund. Additionally, participants can also purchase and donate their goodie bag to AIA's adopted beneficiaries as a gift. 

AIA hopes to raise SG$300,000 through the run, which will go toward creating greater access and opportunities for education, growth and development for disadvantaged children, youths and their families.  According to AIA, the fund currently supports the company's longstanding adopted charity partners - Children’s Wishing Well and VIVA Foundation for Children with Cancer – through Community Chest, and may include other charities over time, with a view to reach out to even more children and families in need. 

Meanwhile, the insurer also put a local twist to Netflix's show Squid Game. Titled "Sotong Game", the six-week challenge aims to educate consumers on the importance of financial planning. Sotong Game will feature a series of quizzes and interactive games which will test players on their understanding of financial planning and life insurance, and players will be given 24 hours to complete each challenge. Sotong Game will be marketed through all Singtel platforms and other digital channels such as social media, messaging app, and micro-influencers.

Similar to Squid Game, the maximum possible prize money will increase as more people register for the game; capped at SG$100,000. Players who have successfully completed all six challenges will be declared winners, with the prize money split equally among them. 

According to AIA, this also comes as part of its strategic partnership with Singtel, since 2019, to drive wellness for consumers in Singapore. The Sotong Game was introduced as part of their ongoing collaboration, which sees Singtel play a key role in the conceptulisation of the campaign and rolling it out to its consumers.

Separately, AIA named Allison Chew as its head of PR, brand and marketing in January this year, to take on the role previously held on by Joanna Ong-Ash who has started up her own communications firm. Chew has over 20 years of experience in the media and advertising industry and was most recently with HOOQ Digital, a joint venture between Singtel, Sony Picture and Warner Bros. IN her new role, Chew reports to customer and digital officer Melita Teo. 

Later that month, the insurance company appointed Arena Media as its media agency, after it called for a pitch in October 2020. Arena Media will be responsible for AIA Singapore’s media planning and buying, with a focus on developing and accelerating the brand’s digital strategy. The appointment was effective from February 2021. The length of the appointment was previously said to be approximately three years, and the incumbent on the account is MediaCom. 

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