When Stuart Spencer returned to AIA eight years ago, his goal was not just to sell policies. He came with the ambition of changing the way the entire insurance industry communicates with the public.
“I really want to change this perception, not just about AIA, but about the whole industry,” he said in a talk titled Driving Behavioral Change in a Complex Landscape at Campaign 360, a marketing industry conference held in Singapore at the end of May. Stuart sees the industry as having been stuck on fear-based messages for too long. “The industry has been talking about death, disease, fire and punishment. I’ve always believed that approach is wrong. Ridiculous, in fact. And I want to change that.”
Asia’s challenge: richer, not healthier
In Asia, life and health insurance has long been marketed with an emphasis on risk and uncertainty. But Stuart sees the region now facing a different challenge: rapid economic growth has been accompanied by a surge in non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Problems that are entirely preventable.
“Asia is getting richer, but definitely not healthier,” he said. “Lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes are increasingly dominating and account for about 80% of all disease diagnoses. Almost all of them are preventable.”
With this background, Stuart led the transformation of AIA’s strategy to become not only an insurance provider, but also a partner in healthy living. The company’s purpose is now centered on a commitment to help people live “healthier, longer and better”. It is no longer just a tagline, but a key strategic direction.
“Our purpose influences the decisions we make every day, at all levels of the company. It’s embedded in everything we do,” Stuart explains.
AIA Vitality: incentives for healthy living
One of the key initiatives in this transformation is AIA Vitality, a behavior-based platform that rewards customers for living a healthy lifestyle. From recording daily steps, regular health checks, to healthier shopping patterns.
“Vitality rewards customers who make sustainable healthy choices. The model is simple: recognize your health, improve it, and get rewarded,” Stuart explains. The approach is based on technology and behavioral science, with the principle that people don’t need long lectures, but small, consistent nudges.
The impact is tangible. AIA recorded significant improvements in health indicators such as BMI, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure among program participants in various countries.
“This is the real impact we’re creating, not just better health, but also encouraging us to think bigger.”
One Billion: from consumer to social movement
In 2022, AIA launched the One Billion initiative with the ambitious target of reaching one billion people in Asia to inspire positive action on health. Stuart emphasized that this is not a PR campaign or annual report, but a long-term social commitment.
“As of today, we have reached more than 500 million people. And we are optimistic that we can reach one billion,” he said. Interestingly, many of them are not and probably never will be AIA customers. But according to Stuart, that’s not a problem.
“We believe this is the right thing to do. This is how we carry out our goals.”
Changing the health narrative: it’s not about six-packs
AIA also found that one of the main obstacles in building a healthy lifestyle is the image of health that has been circulating in society. An image that is narrow, exclusive, and often unrealistic. In internal research, 80% of respondents admitted that they wanted to live a healthy life, but more than half felt unable to do so.
“Imagine, a lot of people feel like they want to be healthier, but don’t feel like they can. That’s sad,” says Stuart.
AIA has responded to this by launching a new brand platform that breaks down old stereotypes around wellness. For Stuart, wellness is not about the ideal body, green juice, or the six a.m. gym.
“They’re all unrealistic standards that scare, exclude, and ultimately make people feel inadequate,” she said. “We want to free people from the narrow narratives shaped by society and marketers like us.”
The AIA campaign now features more inclusive and down-to-earth representations, including figures that visually challenge healthy lifestyle stereotypes. “One of the musicians in our campaign shows that health is not uniform. Everyone has their own path.”
A real brand ecosystem: from schools to stadiums
In addition to communication, AIA also builds brand ecosystems through long-term partnerships. Such as cooperation with Tottenham Hotspur football club and health programs in more than 8,000 schools.
“Football is the most popular sport in Asia. Through our partnership, more than 120,000 teenagers have been involved in health education programs,” Stuart explained. At the school level, AIA also wants to ensure the next generation will be healthier than the current generation.
Business grows through purpose
Interestingly, this purpose-driven approach has not only had a social impact, but has also resulted in solid business performance. “In the last three years, we’ve made an operating profit of almost US$20 billion and returned more than US$18 billion to shareholders,” Stuart says. AIA is now the number one brand in its category, both in terms of customers and distribution partner trust.
But for Stuart, those numbers are just a consequence of a strategy rooted in genuine intention and long-term commitment.
“We are a long-term company that thinks long-term. And I invite all of you to declare your purpose,” he said at the end of the session. “Put your health and humanity first, not a title on a business card. And wherever you are, make sure you leave that place healthier than you found it.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
