In one swift move, Singlife takes a jab at Budget Direct and lures AXA SG customers

Singlife with Aviva, formerly Singlife Singapore, joins the quest for AXA customers shortly after MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reported on Budget Direct's print ad on The Straits Times (ST). Singlife with Aviva took a screenshot of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's article and included it in a image that said, "Anyone can be direct. But a few can be better." The image also called for AXA customers to contact the company.

Singlife with Aviva posted the image across all its social platforms - Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn - along with the caption "We so not shy" and the hashtag #abetterway. Singlife with Aviva has declined to comment. 

https://www.facebook.com/SinglifewithAviva/posts/7801037476589031

Formed by the merger of Singlife Singapore and Aviva in 1 January 2022, Singlife with Aviva is a homegrown financial services company. The two announced the merger in 2020 and appointed Pearlyn Phau as group CEO and executive director to lead the new entity. Singlife with Aviva has also appointed Wachsman to amplify its strategic priorities and better connect with its diverse audiences. Wachsman, which worked with the original Singlife insurtech company, will help the new brand take forth its key priorities, particularly in the sustainability space.

Budget Direct Insurance ad placement comes a day after ST reported on AXA Singapore's move to exit the motor and commercial insurance business after the company's acquisition by HSBC Life Singapore earlier last month. Citing its sources, ST said the general insurance unit of AXA will "go into run-off" before being absorbed into the HSBC Life Singapore business. According to ST, a run-off is "the complete cessation of writing new and renewal insurance policies while managing existing policy obligations".

Budget Direct's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the ad has drawn quite a bit of interest from candidates who have experience working with AXA Insurance Singapore. They have come forward and applied as a direct result of seeing the ad in ST. When asked about the monetary value of the ad, Budget Direct said the total creative and media costs for this advertisement were outweighed by the value the company saw from this important brand message of being there to support both team members and customers, potentially affected by AXA's announcement.  "We understand the AXA team are highly trained and recognise the value they could bring our business and our customers - which makes the cost of this placement an easy investment decision," the spokesperson explained.

Separately, Singlife with Aviva unveiled a multi-year brand campaign to bring to life its purpose, to enable customers to achieve “a better way to financial freedom”. The campaign will be integrated across multiple touchpoints and will be launched on traditional, OOH, digital, social and online platforms. The assets will project positivity and fun, in the spirit that insurance and financial planning doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, a chore. 

Through the campaign, the company aims to establish itself as a Singapore headquartered, tech-empowered company, helping consumers gain control of their financial wellbeing at every stage of their lives. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands the campaign budget for the first year of its brand campaign is approximately SG$3 million. The campaign was done in collaboration with Blak Labs which was appointed to create the assets to take forward the work done on the new brand. The brand also works with Blak Labs for media planning, alongside its in-house team.

Related articles:
Budget Direct boldly buys ad space on ST newspaper to lure AXA employees and customers
Singlife with Aviva names creative and PR partners as it unwraps multi-year brand campaign
Aviva Singlife appoints Pearlyn Phau as group CEO