Company Analysis (Events Sponsorship & Marketing)

AIA Life Insurance

(a)Overview of the company (What is AIA?)
-  Background of the company

• AIA Group is founded by Cornelius Vander Starr.
• AIA has been serving the Singapore community since 1931.
• AIA Singapore is part of a bigger group known as AIA Group, which is the largest publicly listed pan-Asian insurance group in the world and the second largest life insurance company in the world by market capitalisation.
• AIA Group was founded in 1919.
• AIA is based in Hong Kong, with a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific, with wholly owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia, a 97% subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49% joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.
• Since 2013, AIA has had an exclusive bancassurance agreement with Citibank that encompasses 11 AIA markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
• AIA's Group vision is to be the pre-eminent life insurer in Asia-Pacific and are committed to being Singapore's life insurer, admired for excellent service and practices.
• Furthermore, AIA runs their business according to their Operating Philosophy of "Doing the Right Thing, in the Right Way, with the Right People, and the results will come".

-  The Industry the company operates in

• AIA Singapore operates in the financial services sector under Insurance.
• The financial services sector is the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that mange money, insurance companies is one of them.
• Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, for uncertain loss.

-  Products and Services

• AIA Singapore offers insurance and financial services, writing life insurance for individuals such as accident protection, medical protection, health insurance and employee benefits for businesses. Additionally, they offer retirement planning and wealth management services.
• Here I have shown all their products and services as well as summarised the basic coverage for each customer that purchase which ever insurance plan they desire:

- Life Protection

• With adequate protection coverage, customers can ensure that their loved ones are well taken care of when they are no longer around.

- Medical Protection

• Unexpected medical expenses could represent a significant threat to a customers' finances. With this medical protection plan, it protects customers from rising healthcare costs and unexpected medical expenses.

- Critical Illness Protection

• A critical illness not only affects physical health but financial health as well.With critical illness protection, customers will receive financial support so that they can focus on getting better.

- Accident Protection

• A serious accident can change anyone's life significantly no matter the age, how healthy or fit the person is. A personal accident protection plan provides customers a valuable peace of mind by taking care of the financial implications.

- Savings

• Whether customers are saving for their child's education or building wealth for retirement, AIA is here to help customers achieve their financial goals and secure their future with AIA's wide range of saving plans.

- Investments

• AIA Investment-Linked Plans (ILPs) offer potential returns that helps customers achieve their financial goals.

- Platinum

• As an accomplished individual, AIA understands that customers want to protect the present so their legacy lives on for generations to come. No matter if they are planning to leave a legacy, enhance their wealth or seeking round-the-clock coverage, these solutions are specially designed to meet each customers' unique needs. 

- Disability Income Protection

• Suddenly being unable to work due to disability can have devastating effect on a customers' family's financial security. A disability income protection plan provides financial support with regular income to help a customer adapt to the new situation.

- Travel & Lifestyle

• With this plan, customers get adequate coverage for their home,  or when they travel so they can have a peace of mind knowing that they are prepared and covered for the unexpected.  

- AIA Vitality

• AIA Vitality is a wellness programme that works with customers to make real change to their health. The majority of chronic diseases affecting Singaporeans today are caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices and a lack of early detection through preventive screening.
• AIA wants to help customers learn and work towards improving their health.
• That is why AIA rewards customers with AIA Vitality Points for making healthy choices, be it getting a health check, enjoying a healthier diet or even walking more each day.
• As a customer's AIA Vitality Points accumulate, their AIA Vitality Status will level up, unlocking attractive cash rewards and discounts that make healthy living both rewarding and fun.   

- Employee Benefits

• These days employees are looking for more than just a good salary. They want a comprehensive benefits programme that is built into their remuneration package, and specifically designed to look after their welfare.

(b)Customers/Clients, Target Market
- Customers/Clients

• AIA Singapore customers and clients are people that resides in Singapore, mainly adults such as working adults or parents of children who are health conscious  

- Target Market

• The target market here is residents of Singapore who are planning for the future, are health conscious and want to be ensured that they are safe and covered in every aspect of their life such as retirement planning or life insurance.

(c)Competitors

- Who are they?

1. Great Eastern Life Assurance

• Great Eastern Life Assurance is founded by Alfred Hewton Fair.
• Great Eastern Life Assurance was founded in 1908.
• It is headquartered in Singapore
• As of 31 December 2015, they have 24 branch offices and a service network of more than 17,000 agents nationwide.
• Great Eastern Life Assurance has two distribution channel - the tied agency force and bancassurance. 
• It is the only life insurance company to be listed on the Singapore Exchange, and the largest insurance company in South-east Asia in terms of assets and market capitalisation.
• Great Eastern Life Assurance offers Banking, Insurance and Asset Management.  

2. Prudential Life Assurance

• Prudential Life Assurance is founded by John F. Dryden.
• Prudential Life Assurance was founded 1931.
• It is headquartered in Singapore.
• Prudential was founded as The Prudential Investment, Loan and Assurance Association in 1848 in London, United Kingdom.
• Prudential Singapore started out as an agent for fire insurance in 1924 before it attained full branch status and began operations as the Prudential Life Assurance Company from 1931.
• They use a multi-channel distribution network.
• Prudential Life Assurance offers Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Protection Plans, Savings Plans and Investment Plans.

- SWOT Analysis

• Strengths: AIA offers a wide variety of insurance plans going from medical protection all the way to health insurance. Furthermore, AIA is a very large scale company by any standards with strong and growing cash flows.
• Weaknesses: Like all large life companies, AIA is exposed to the challenges that arise from a global investment environment in which interest rates are, and most likely will remain low.
• Opportunities: With more rising concerns and increasing price of healthcare, it will encourage more people to buy life insurance to ensure that they are covered in all aspects and will not have to worry about the high financial implications if they ever need to claim insurance for accidents, savings, investments or medical protection.
• Threats: Due to the large number of insurance companies in Singapore, AIA might not be as established in certain areas compared to other companies which in turn leads to them losing potential customers. An example would be AIA in the business sector, they offer employee benefits insurance but AIA is not necessarily known for that insurance hence losing customers in that sector to more established business insurance companies such as Great Eastern Life Assurance. 

(d)Sponsorship Involvement

- Past and current sponsorship involvement of the company

• AIA sponsored events and companies such as 
• 1) The Music Run By AIA. The Music Run By AIA is a non-competitive 5KM run that puts music at the heart of the run experience and is one of the fastest-growing fun run events worldwide. The Music Run by AIA Singapore first took place in Singapore, Sentosa Island in 2015 with AIA Singapore as the Presenting Sponsor. Having presented The Music Run™ by AIA two years in a row, the event has seen close to 10,000 music runners each year, mostly casual runners, joining the run and living the beat. The key success to The Music Run™ by AIA is that it encourages people from all walks of life to achieve their little health victories by putting fun into fitness.

• 2) Cold Storage Kids Run. As an annual and longest-running kids run event in Singapore, Cold Storage Kids Run has been encouraging families and children to start healthy lifestyle and healthy eating from young. Every year, close to 5,000 kids from as young as 6 months to 12 years old participated in the event. AIA Singapore is pleased to partner Cold Storage in the event as an Official Sponsor since 2014, to bring AIA Vitality, a health and wellness programme to the families, and partner them to make a real change to their health.

• 3) Healthy Living with Football. As part of AIA’s sponsorship of Tottenham Hotspur, AIA Singapore partnered the Singapore Spurs Supporters' Club (SSSC) to bring like-minded football supporters together to organise events to encourage active and healthy living. This include the AIA-SSSC Futsal Tournament and Carnival in 2015 which saw close to 500 participants who joined the event with family and friends for a futsal tournament and soccer-themed family carnival.

• 4) Industry Partner with Kidzania. AIA Group believe that encouraging and taking on healthier lives, healthier minds start from young. That’s why AIA Singapore is an industry partner with KidZania Singapore with two key establishments – the AIA Insurance Office and the KidZania Singapore Stadium. At KidZania Singapore, children get to role play different professions and experience different jobs as if they are in the real world.Children get to role play as an AIA Financial Services Consultant at the AIA Insurance Office and learn how insurance plans can help their fellow friends with protection and education needs. At the KidZania Singapore Stadium, children will learn basic football skills and thereafter participate in telematch as a challenger. They can also choose to be a sports commentator or cheerleader. Through these activities, children can jumpstart to a healthier lifestyle and score their little health victories too.

- Possible objectives for its participation

• Increase brand awareness so more people know about AIA
• Improve brand image so people know that AIA is all about having a healthy lifestyle 
• Engage more families and households in Singapore through their involvement with activities revolving around children such as the Cold Storage Kids Run and their partnership with Kidzania which leads to more parents potentially buying insurance plans from AIA as they will think its a trusted brand and when they think about the company they will remember the good times their children has experienced from AIA sponsored events and partnerships.

(e)Sponsorship Recommendation and Justification
- Events/types of events that would best match the company's marketing and sponsorship objectives

• Events that would best match the company's marketing and sponsorship objectives would be like health related events that will boost and improve their brand image and brand awareness such as:
• 1) Runs; POSB Kids Run, Star Wars Run, 2XU Run. This is because they correspond with the insurance packages that AIA sells such as Medical Protection, Accident Protection and AIA Vitality. With the sponsorship of runs, AIA will be more recognised and runners at the event might even sign the packages in their booth if they set one up.
• 2) Charitable Events; Donation drives for old folks or the disabled. This corresponds with their package of disability income protection and life protection. This enhances the brand image as people will be more aware of AIA's involvement in charity and trust them with the protection of their children and family. Hence, increasing the number of customers patronising AIA's insurance plans.

• 3) Travel Fairs. These fairs are a good opportunity for AIA to get exposure as people who are planning to travel overseas will be at the fair and they will definitely consider getting a travel insurance plan if they do not have one already. AIA will be able to scoop out customers from the fair using their Travel and Lifestyle insurance plan.
• 4) Job Fairs. Being a sponsor at job fairs will help AIA become a more recognized insurance company in the business sector as they are offering employee benefits insurance and being at job fairs will attract people to buy these plans to ensure benefits are rewarded to them in their current or future job and company.

Declaration

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References:
- ABOUT AIA singapore. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aia.com.sg/en/about-aia.html
- DISCOVER YOUR NEEDS. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aia.com.sg/en/our-products.html
- Latest. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aia.com.sg/en/life-matters.html
- OUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aia.com.sg/en/about-  aia/our-commitments/sponsorship.html
- Providing security for over a century. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.greateasternlife.com/sg/en/about-us.html
- To find out more about our product. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.greateasternlife.com/sg/en/personal-insurance/find-the-right-plan/product-enquiry-form.html
- Medical, Protection, Savings, Investment. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.prudential.com.sg/en/