Live Better: a wellness proposition

DESCRIBING ITSELF as a creator and innovator in the local life and general insurance industry for 70 years now, Philam Life continues to evolve, adapting to the signs of the times.

Recently, Philam Life launched its “Live Better” campaign, a thrust centered on wellness that seeks to help Filipinos live life to the fullest. Through the campaign, the company seeks to encourage Filipinos to take control of their overall health in order to live longer, healthier and better.

Philam Life officials said that motivation for such a campaign stemmed from the results of the 2016 Healthy Living Index on Filipinos’ behavior and perception toward health. The study shows that while adults in the country have high self-awareness on the need to improve their health, they fail to do so due to unhealthy habits and poor lifestyle choices.

This is where Philam Life hopes to insert the Live Better campaign and make a difference. “The Live Better campaign is really about a shift in strategic direction. I think what we are trying to do is to change the dialogue in insurance from ‘You die, we pay’ to actually how we can help you live a longer and better and healthy life. And that’s because consumers are telling us that they are aware of the need to improve their health. But unfortunately in many markets, including the Philippines, people make wrong decisions as far as lifestyle choices. And that obviously affects their wellness as well as their financial wellness,” said Tim Marriott, Philam Life chief marketing officer, told ����ý in an interview during their campaign launch at the Blue Leaf Pavilion at McKinley Hill in Taguig City..

“And from a business perspective, that means we have to pay a lot of claims for events that people can do something about. So the brand’s positioning is about making a positive difference in people’s lives, engaging with them and one of the things we have done to reinforce that is bring a wellness proposition,” the Philam Life official added.

At the core of the Live Better campaign is the “Vitality Program,” a holistic program geared toward making Filipinos live better by letting them take charge of their overall health, their mind, body, as well as their financial wellness.

To complement this new direction of Philam Life, the company created a “vitality app” which consumers can download to monitor their progress.

The company also enlisted sought-after personalities, namely Solenn Heussaff, Nico Bolzico, Wil Dasovich, and Raymond Gutierrez and volleyball star Alyssa Valdez and Mika Reyes, who are also thought leaders in the health-and-wellness space. By recruiting these personalities, Philam Life hopes more people will be inspired to lead wellness-oriented lives.

“I think the Live Better campaign is a great campaign as it builds more of a connection to consumers. It really focuses on what is important to people. When you ask Filipinos what is important to them they will say their health, yet no one is taking action to reach that goal and I think this is one action that can help them move a step closer to achieving their goals of being healthy and taking care of themselves. And I’m happy to share my experience in various platforms whether social media or my voice,” Mr. Gutierrez said in a separate interview.

“Philam Life has always been a creator and an innovator. I think we are leading the market again. Seventy years ago we created the life insurance industry here and we have been innovating since. I don’t think our new campaign is a shift in terms of what Philam Life is all about. I think the shift is more of listening to what the customers want. And it’s more of a cultural and mind-set shift,” said Mr. Marriott in further underlining what Live Better is all about and the road for them moving forward.

“In terms of how the brand is doing, we are doing well but we need to reposition our brand for the next 70 years. Thus, we need to shift gears. Our core business is still provision of financial services through a nationwide network. But what we are giving is a broader proposition because we are uniquely positioned for we have a full suite of financial wellness products and now we are bringing the physical and health aspect of that wellness, and that means the future looks very bright in terms of putting these elements together,” he added.

To know more about Philam Life’s Live Better campaign, visit its Wellness Expo on June 24-25 at the TriNoma Activity Center where one can learn how to improve life through food, fitness, wellness, and finance. You can also check out the Facebook page for more details. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo