In late 2015 Manulife Singapore faced a challenge & an opportunity. As #6 in the category & with very little brand awareness (spontaneous/unprompted awareness at 8%), the brand needed to establish a consistent presence in the market & build brand awareness quickly, to maximise potential growth from a major bancassurance partnership to be launched in early 2016.

The newly appointed CMO was set the task of quickly building internal marketing capability, acquiring new creative & media agency partners, & developing & launching a new brand position to market within just 3 months.

Aggressive targets were set for 2016; achieve a 10% improvement across both spontaneous/unprompted awareness & consideration, 10% growth in market share, & a 20% improvement in Net Promoter Score. A seemingly difficult task with a very modest budget that could not compete with the share of voice being achieved by the larger players in the category.

‘Ready for Life’ was executed across print, out-of-home, radio, cinema, digital & social, targeting audiences aged 25 to 64, to achieve an always on & consistent brand presence.

The creative execution shares the journey of a Singaporean couple & is designed in ‘chapters’, all relating to stages in life when Manulife’s solutions may be relevant. This allows the story to have different angles, to focus on various life stages individually, as well as portray the story from an individual or collective view.

The key messaging centered around being ready, (Ready for Now, Ready for Later, Ready for Life) is echoed consistently across all creative elements.

The central 40 sec commercial features Kodaline’s song 'Ready'; bringing a fresh, contemporary feel to the brand, & has considered all mediums to ensure the work can be equally appreciated viewed with or without audio.

A simple, yet highly effective, engaging & memorable execution.