In February, Asian insurance giant AIA launched the AIA One Billion campaign, with a stated goal to engage 1 billion people by 2030, helping them live healthier and longer lives.
To learn more about this massive campaign, Insurance Business got in touch with Stuart A. Spencer (pictured above), chief marketing officer of AIA Group.
According to Spencer, AIA One Billion is a sign of the insurer’s commitment to making a lasting impact in the communities it serves across Asia.
“As part of our ESG strategy, particularly the social aspect, we see AIA’s responsibility as having a far-reaching positive impact in our communities in terms of physical and mental health, environmental health, and financial inclusion,” Spencer said. “AIA One Billion involves all AIA interactions across our communities to encourage and empower people from all walks of life to lead healthier lifestyles and help secure a healthier planet.”
In order to reach 1 billion people, AIA aims to go beyond its immediate customer base and reach the wider society.
“As the largest pan-Asian insurance group, we believe we have a responsibility to make a significant impact to improving the health and wellbeing of as many people in society at large,” Spencer said. “AIA One Billion is an effort to look at every conceivable touchpoint we have as an organisation to make a broad and profound impact in communities across Asia.”
In order to engage 1 billion people, Spencer said that AIA will drive societal engagement through partnerships, events, community programmes, digital content and campaigns that are highly visible, impactful and engaging.
“We will both track the impact of our existing initiatives and develop new and exciting engagement opportunities to deliver our brand purpose at scale; whether that be commercial partnerships, CSR activities, educational and inspiring content, advisor-led activity or employee initiatives,” Spencer said.
According to Spencer, storytelling will be one of the most important tools in getting the message out and inspiring others. AIA will celebrate its employees, agents and communities who are embodying its goals. To achieve this, AIA enlisted the help of its brand ambassadors, which include Malaysian squash champion Nicol David, and well-known footballers Heung-Min Son and David Beckham.
With such an ambitious goal as reaching 1 billion people, there need to be criteria on how to measure progress towards the goal. According to Spencer, AIA will follow a principles-based methodology, which defines “engagement” as a “positive action by an individual”. This covers all AIA’s touchpoints with customers, clients and communities across Asia.
AIA will also measure the cumulative year-on-year number of people engaged, and it will seek independent verification and validation where appropriate.
“We will track, measure and report on our progress as part of our ESG reporting – the first milestone will be shared in our 2022 ESG annual report to be published in March 2023,” Spencer said. “We want to emphasise that getting to 1 billion is not just about the numbers. It’s about powerful individual stories and achievements.”
Spencer also shared the various activities AIA is undertaking as part of the campaign.
“To support this initiative, we have rolled out a regional social activation campaign to kickstart the AIA One Billion initiative,” he said. “This campaign is designed to inspire communities to join the journey as they participate in taking steps towards living healthier, longer, better lives. Our AIA ambassadors will continue to support this campaign and rally communities to participate in this movement.”
Other activities under the AIA One Billion campaign include:
“All of this will be conducted with our brand purpose at the heart and with the intention of creating lasting positive change to the health and wellness of the broader communities across Asia,” Spencer said.
