Because life insurance is for everyone
To quote American educator Mary McLeod Bethune, “We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.” Indeed, we turn to the youth to be inspired, to innovate, and to gain new perspective. This is what premier life insurance company AIA Philippines believes in. “The Gen Zs are brimming with fresh ideas and they just need a platform to showcase it,” says AIA Philippines chief executive officer Kelvin Ang.
Pushing the limits
Now on its third year, the AIA Life Hackers 2021 challenges the youth again to present ideas that can help build a better future for everyone. “Through AIA Life Hackers 2021, we’re giving more young people the opportunity to come up with innovative, creative, and technology-driven strategies for more Filipinos to live better,” adds Ang.
Open to undergraduate college students 18 years old and above who can form a group of five, these groups registered and submitted their proposed projects online under the three categories: technology or data solution, marketing solution, or product/service solution. Participants were invited to a week-long series of educational webinars to equip them and gain better knowledge on the life insurance industry. To further support the participants and help them prepare for their proposals, they were given access to subject matter experts and assigned mentors. Among the 227 teams who joined, the top 15 proposals were invited to present their final pitch last December.
Marketing within reach
Fifteen finalists vied for recognition in three categories: Breakthrough Award for Technology or Data Solution, Breakthrough Award for Marketing Solution, and Breakthrough Award for Product/ Service Solution, with each winning team bringing home a cash prize of P100,000. Dried Squid Changers was hailed the winner for the Breakthrough for Marketing Solutions, proposing an experiential event to emphasize the importance of health and wellness. The team is composed of Lourey Ann Joy Enteria, Abigail Deanne Caig, Mary Joyce De Los Reyes, Annejeline Palomo, and De Leonor Marie Sestoso, Financial Management students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Manila. Mayi Baviera was their assigned mentor.
The team proposed AIA Sync, an “adult playground” as a one-stop all-in-one area that offers experiential spaces such as a multi-generational playground, wellness area, working and study space, recreational area, rest space, and escape pod that can help its visitors understand the importance of investing in quality life.
“According to the feedback, it can help us improve our physical health, emotional wellness, and cognitive performance. It will also enable us to interact with our peers. It can give us a place to relax and enjoy. Outdoor physical activity relieves stress. This is the kind of thing we need and want in the future. At the same time, we may strengthen our interpersonal relationship with our loved ones because we can use this space to reconnect with them and be connected while resting. This strikes two birds with one stone, in my opinion, which is extremely beneficial,” explains Sestoso.
Microinsurance is possible
Can P19 get you anywhere? This is what the winner of two categories, Breakthrough in Technology and Data, and Breakthrough in Product and Service Innovation, the Philamthropic team believes. As the winners of the Marketing category last year, the team came back this year in the hopes of winning the other two categories—and they did! Comprised of business administration and economics students from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, the five-member team is comprised of Jemar Luczon, Kyle Jureidini, Simon Lomibao, Rachel
Roxas, and Moreen Agustin.
With the guidance of mentor Allan Jay Corpuz, the team came up with the idea of AIA COVID Protect Microinsurance. The proposal is based on several observations made by the group: the rapid increase in using digital platforms, Filipinos’ lower spending power due to the reduced income during the pandemic, and the looming threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
The proposed product innovation is for a month-long COVID-19 coverage at P19, available through e-commerce sites such as Shopee and Lazada, and other digital payment platforms such as GCash and Paymaya. For this amount, one can claim up to P19,000 for severe hospitalization attributed to COVID-19 and up to P190,000 for severe hospitalization attributed to COVID-19 if the customer has availed of the product for at least ten months. There’s also an option to upgrade for those who are interested in increasing their coverage.
Roxas explains, “The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the country and caused tremendous loss of life. We also recognize that not everyone has the financial capacity to pay for medical treatment, especially with the pandemic drastically reducing household incomes. We felt the need to propose an affordable microinsurance for Filipinos to feel secure about the future in the event that they contract the virus.”
“We had the insight that Filipinos as bargain hunters would really want to feel the benefits of something before they buy into it and in the case of insurance, they can not see the tangible output unless they avail a product and be involved with AIA Vitality features. We are mimicking the freemium model that Gen Zs and Millennials are accustomed to and allowed them to enjoy the AIA features even before they buy insurance from AIA—basically creating AIA as a lifestyle even before compelling them to buy anything,” says Luczon who had training in design
thinking methodology.
Learn more about AIA Life Hackers 2021 by visiting https://fb.watch/akFCSarrld/ or https://web.facebook.com/AIAPhilippines.