Insurer Sun Life launches socially-driven film campaign

The 'Experience the Sun' campaign is a series of artistic short films by three Asian film directors—Stanley Wong / 黃炳培 (Hong Kong), Jim Libiran (Philippines) and Joko Anwar (Indonesia).

Mei Velasquez, head of customer marketing and communications in Asia for Sun Life, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the company has the best name in the business, because the sun represents warmth, inspiration, and security.

The Canada-based insurer has put that to good use by sponsoring the three short films portraying the beauty and power of the sun in the respective cultures of the film directors.

The films will be available online on Sun Life’s YouTube page as well as on a dedicated microsite (www.experiencethesun.com) which will go live on 5 September as part of a social media campaign to encourage people to "share the sunshine" with friends and family.

Sun Life employees in each country will be activated to start the social sharing cycle, incentivised by a little 'sun jar' gift produced by the company to reward the first 1,000 who share the videos on social media.

Stanley Wong's film, Jing Yat, is the first feature film produced by this artist, photographer and director from Hong Kong. Anothermountainman (又一山人), as Stanley Wong is known in the arts community, said Jing Yat (正一) is a story about a boy in 1970s Hong Kong who uses his imagination to help bring happiness to a bed-ridden old lady who loves longan trees.

Filipino director Jim Libiran’s approach is known for being unconventional and divergent, reflecting his eclectic career as a multi-award-winning writer, poet, essayist, print and broadcast journalist, sociologist, television producer, university lecturer and activist. His film, Araw, is based on the true story of Philippines solar artist, Jordan Mang-osan, who found his calling was to create stunning masterpieces using a magnifying glass and the sun.

Joko Anwar, film director and screenplay writer from Indonesia, who has a cult following of more than a quarter of a million Twitter followers in his home country that Sun Life is hoping to leverage, said of his film: “Suncatchers is a story about two children who try to bring some sunshine to the poor area of Jakarta that they live in. It shows a happier side to a less privileged life in Indonesia, drawing on universally applicable themes; the value of faith, hope and optimism”.

Kevin Strain, president of Sun Life Financial Asia, added: “Supporting short films that centred around the sun was a perfect fit for us as a company. We always say that 'life’s brighter under the sun'. Our hope is that these uplifting films will bring a little bit of sunshine into the lives of those who view them.”

"Most insurance ads are predictable and boring by nature," said Chris Kyme of KymeChow Communications (Sun Life's creative agency), adding that the short film treatment for the campaign disrupts the insurance category. "This campaign comes at a time when there is a shift of investments to art and culture, and Sun Life wants to be a trailblazer in that aspect".

In the past, Sun Life's branding presence in Asia has been more tactical, with sponsorships of dragonboat championships in Hong Kong, for example. Sun Life gave the film directors free rein in creating its brand message with a loose brief initially. Kyme said he was pleasantly surprised by this attitude from a financial services client.

Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Bermuda. In Asia specifically, its growth markets are Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, China and India. Strain's aim is for Asia to become a more significant part of Sun Life's results. The firm has set a financial objective of an operating net income of US$250 million by 2015.

Velasquez pointed out that in the Philippines, Sun Life is already a strong brand in the high net worth and upper middle class segments, but is weaker in Hong Kong and Indonesia against the big players like AIA, Manulife, and Prudential.

According to Velasquez, Sun Life is taking a risk in this campaign since this is a purely semantic campaign to create buzz for the films and raise awareness of the brand, with no set effectiveness metrics. The company may refer to brand tracking studies in each country post-campaign, but no concrete targets were nailed down, she said.

Credits

Project: Experience The Sun

Client: Sun Life

-          Mei Velasquez (Head of Customer Marketing & Communications, Asia)
-          Candy Yuen (Chief Distribution & Marketing Officer)
-          Louise Kristensen (Digital Marketing Consultant, Asia)
-          Kenneth Chan (Head of Digital Marketing, Asia)
-          Wilda Lau (Senior Communications Specialist, Strategic Marketing)

Creative agency: KymeChow

-          Chris Kyme (Creative Director)
-          Lorraine Liu (Creative Director)

-          Angela Lee (Producer)

Digital agency: Digital Arts Network

-          Luke Eid (Head of Digital)
-          Jocelyn Liipfert (Head of Social Media)
-          Lincoln Damen (Creative Director)
-          Anne Chan (Executive Producer)
-          Jackie Wong (Digital Designer)

PR agency: Brunswick

-          Karin Wong (Director)
-          David Ashton (Associate Partner)
-          Max Lau (Executive)