2019 is a significant year for AIA as it celebrates 100 years in Asia. But don't expect it to rest on its laurels. AIA Group Chief Marketing Officer Stuart Spencer sat down for a chat with Asia Advisers Network on what's in store to keep the company top of mind and to power the next century.
“We’re trying to power the next century,” said Mr Spencer. “The last thing we ever want to be is complacent. We have got to be reshaping the industry in the next hundred years, the way we led the industry in the first hundred.”
Describing AIA as 100 years young, he said it has to be where customers are and where future customers are.
“We are looking at online as seriously as we ever looked at offline. We want to stand for something that younger people would respect,” he said. And when these customers come on board, to “maintain those relationships with them throughout their life”.
AIA is the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, he said. “We lead. And so the effort we’ve undertaken in partnership with branding is designed to be a trailblazer in Asia Pacific. To move into a higher level of consciousness, to move away from being just a payer of claim.”
And it aims to do this by continuing to blaze a trail in being relational, driving engagement, improving customer experience, and to break down some of the traditional paradigms that inhibited access to the customer.
At the same time, it will continue to work with its partners and agents, to make them more technologically adept, more power, and more productive, he shared.
Healthier, Longer, Better Lives
As AIA looks ahead to the next century, its purpose of helping people live “Healthier, Longer, Better Lives” could not be more relevant.
And one of its key partners in driving this is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which is one of the top-ranked teams in the English Premier League.
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It recently extended its relationship with Spurs as its Global Principal Partner to the end of the 2026/27 season. The renewed agreement will see the long-standing strategic partnership, which began in 2013, spanning well over a decade between the Club and AIA.
Stuart said, “It’s a phenomenal relationship.” And it has been a tremendous way for both organisations to build its brand across Asia and around the world.
Another highlight was this year’s International Champions Cup (ICC) Singapore which AIA was the presenting sponsor. The ICC in July hosted three other globally-renowned football clubs other than Tottenham Hotspur - Manchester United, Inter, and Juventus.
Spurs has three expert coaches based in Hong Kong and they have been all over Asia, putting some 40,000 kids through training academies, clinics and coaching sessions. And over 5,000 guests watched Spurs play in the ICC.
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“It drives tremendous engagement and excitement. It builds our brand awareness and exposure. But critically, it supports our brand promise and substantiates our commitment to helping people across Asia live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives,” he said.
The brand promise comes with a heavy burden of proof and it’s not taken lightly. But it compels the insurer to continue to stay ahead and raise the bar.
And as AIA builds on the past 100 years as a leading insurer and looks forward to power the next 100, Stuart said, “It’s tough for us to continue to raise the bar. But we will.”
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