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Great Eastern targets Singapore’s ‘sandwich generation’ with new campaign and customer experience

Great Eastern Insurance has launched new iterations of its ongoing ‘The Life Company’ campaign. Created by BLKJ, the campaign included a three minute long thematic film called ‘The Kid I Didn’t Ask For’ and two shorter films called ‘A Father’s Prayer’ and ‘A Daughter’s Prayer’.

Speaking to Mumbrella about the genesis of the campaign, Great Eastern managing director of group marketing Colin Chan said: “Last year, as we went through our 110 year milestone, we took a hard look at where we’ve been successful and where we needed to do a fair bit more. 

“The last time we had a major refresh was 2012 in which we said we are not just a life insurance but a life company. The time was ripe for us to do another refresh.”

Research revealed that the brand was plateauing to an extent with the younger audience. And so, the youth became the focus. The ‘Prayer’ videos were the first to be launched. According to Chan, they were meant to tie into the same narrative, with the daughter in the second video being an adult version of the child in the first film. 

A Father's Prayer

Singaporeans are amongst one of the most invested parents in the world. But just how invested are we? Watch this film to find out and see what happens when the roles between father and daughter are reversed here: https://gelife.co/2Vb1yb3Learn more at greateasternlife.com

Posted by Great Eastern Singapore on Thursday, 9 May 2019

A Daughter's Prayer

Singaporeans are living longer lives. How does this affect our daughters and sons? Watch this film to find out and go back in time to see a father’s prayer here: https://gelife.co/2LGiKpALearn more at greateasternlife.com

Posted by Great Eastern Singapore on Thursday, 9 May 2019

 

The longer brand film was launched a few weeks later.

The Kid I Didn’t Ask For

They say pregnancy is a blessing. But for this young mother, having a new baby brought her more stress than joy. With things as they were at home, she feared that she simply wouldn’t be able to manage.Find out at www.thelifecompany.sg how she'd have found greater assurance with GREAT Family Care – the first-ever multi-generational critical illness term plan. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC.

Posted by Great Eastern Singapore on Monday, 27 May 2019

 

According to Chan, the strategy driving these campaigns was to appeal to the ‘sandwich generation’: people with young children and elderly parents, both of whom needed looking after.

Chan said: “In Singapore, people are living longer. It has the highest life expectancy in Asia. They are getting married and having kids later and so, are going to be challenged in that situation. 

“Also, insurance is traditionally purchased by parents for children. In Singapore, where filial responsibility is still so strong, that was the opportunity which we identified, when we were talking about a relevant target audience. 

Great Eastern’s Colin Chan

“The research didn’t say ‘sandwich generation’. But by distilling all these points, it felt relevant.” The campaign had deliberate and overt calls to action. Chan said: “We wanted it to achieve not just brand perception at a high level, but to tie it to support commercial results aligned to the business. It’s not just a campaign disconnected from outcomes.”

Prior to the launch, Great Eastern had simplified its policies to allow seamless add-ons to base policies such as cover for children and parents.

Chan said: “Half the people who are buying our policies are also adding the additional cover for their parents.

“A key aspect of this policy is how we make this accessible to people. It removes some steps that existed when it came to parents: getting them to fill a form, sign up, go for medical checks etc. We intentionally made it easily accessible whilst being relevant.”

Chan also highlighted the efforts made to simplify the consumer journey – whether it was made directly or via agents. He said: “There are many parts not visible from the brand campaign. But these are just as if not more important. We have complemented our campaigns with digital tools where customers can immediately activate the cover. 

“Customers are used to doing everything on the phone. But in insurance, they still have to fill forms in the old fashioned way. 

“It is losing out on an opportunity to give the wow factor. Some people may we still want to discuss the plan the agents. But even they appreciate different choices of how to transact. It may not be as convenient as Apple, for example, but it’s simple enough.”

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