AIA Lifehackers 2022: Students, young professionals pave their own ‘hackventure’

Though different in ages and lifestyles, millennials and Gen Zs have a similar worldview as digital natives, no matter the differing lenses from which they see. And this is what AIA Philippines (formerly AIA Philam Life) leverages with AIA Lifehackers: Hackventure.

To see the brain pickings from these generations who are into making the digital world easier and more accessible for everyone is a refreshing experience, knowing what they’re creating can potentially be a promise of change for Filipinos.

Now in its fourth year, the teams were tasked to submit a proposal under three categories: Technology, Marketing Solution, or Product/Service Solutions. The several weeks leading up to the main defense and awarding day, the contestants had free access to the Lifehackers online platform containing comprehensive resource videos and live sessions to aid them in their respective proposals, with content ranging from how life insurance works to human-centered design to crafting convincing and engaging arguments. A total of 112 teams registered for this year’s contest with nearly 500 young professionals and college students.

AIA Philippines, in its drive to cultivate a culture of innovation, encourages the youth to push the boundaries with their ideas—and reward them for it, giving away P100,000 in cash for each winning proposal, with a total of P600,000 up for grabs.

Youth with a purpose

For the Tech category, Team Bagel Beasts bagged the award for their gamified take on personalizing life insurance. Mentored by Dion Greg Reyes, the team created the AIA VitaliPet, an app that likens itself to Pokémon Go or your own Tamagotchi pet, where you can cater to your “pet,” in terms of financial and insurance needs.

“Bottomline is we want to tap (the) Filipino breadwinner,” said Tofelle Jipos of Team Bagel. Jipos, along with Cheska Hung, Ella Mae Zhuang, Jedrek Rodriguez, and John Timothy Mater spoke of the disconnect between financial advisers and Filipinos, stressing that they want to proliferate the idea that getting insured is self-care, especially for breadwinners. “The first thing to consider is how to get into their inner circle, how to speak their language,” he added.

Team Tito Juans, consisting of John Ronald Luzon, John Cedric Angeles, Johndel Patrick Torrizo, and John Michael Bricia, won in the Marketing category, AIA Bridge the Gap. It’s more like advertising through memes to reach the younger population and encourage them to sign up for their own insurance policies. Mentored by Paolo Reyes, the team hails from the Technological University of the Philippines. “We analyzed data from different companies that we can use as a basis for our marketing solution,” Angeles shared.

As students, the all-boys team all agreed to be financially stable and ready should come at a young age, and people’s false notions about getting insurance can only be addressed if researched thoroughly.

Last but not the least in the College Student segment and mentored by Camella Lasam, Team Pending’s winning strategy for the Product/ Service Solutions category was AIA Adapt which features a wide variety of user-friendly features for low-income individuals who wish to have their own insurance policies.

John Markton Olarte, KC Anne Isturis, Misael Zausa, Mariefher Villanueva, and Erru Torculasthought of making it flexible, meaning one can upgrade or downgrade their packages. Policies can also be changed three times a year upon approval, with the modularized policy payment scheme, tracking regular payments is easier for everyone.

Basing its features on its clients’ economic conditions through a survey (or the journey map) within the interface, AIA Adapt is an all-package deal that can be accessed through its web-based application.

For the insurance skeptics, Team Pending has this advice: “It’s better to be safe than sorry. You’ll never know when you’ll need it (insurance).” It’s all about providing financial security for yourself and the ones you care about.

Trailblazing young professionals

This year, the trailblazing team which took the crown for two categories—Marketing and Products and Services—under the young professional segment was Team IndieCo. Team members Leah Cionco, Natalya Patolot, Ava Arnejo, and their mentor Ron Guingguing earned the nod of the judges for their insight-based campaign.

Their marketing strategy, #AnakItoyAtin, caters to upper- and middle-class Filipino parents already in their early 30s to mid-40s. Focusing on parental love and the commitment to one’s family, this marketing strategy has the big idea of ensuring parents have the capacity to make their children financially secure when they are no longer around. “The pandemic has really opened our eyes to the importance of availing a life insurance plan as life can be unpredictable—unforeseen circumstances such as death, job loss, or accidents could happen and those without life insurance would be burdened more because they didn’t protect themselves financially,” Patolot said, adding their campaign was also a step forward in introducing insurance policies in a less complex way for more consumers to better understand them.

Team IndieCo’s products and services campaign, the Future Forward Fund, aims to break down the barriers between Filipinos and the act of acquiring an insurance policy. Simple, easy-to-understand, and digitally accessible, products under this campaign are based on the customers’ needs and are designed to give customers more control over their chosen policies, while also giving them the chance to choose their own premiums and term limits.

Cinco said their motivation for pitching for products and marketing was their passion for both fields. “We were interested in making insurance a more marketable and effective product for people like us and so we decided to join the marketing and product/services category.”

Under the Tech category for young professionals, Team John 10:10 had fresh ideas: their take on selling insurance policies through a gamification scheme, to keep users engaged. Coming from different industries, Albert Cona, Victor Carlo Chan, and Rick Zafe created the insurance marketplace, My AIA SuperApp, which acts as a one-stop shop. It also features financial literacy lessons and policy education through a live chatbot.

Mentored by LJ Jalandoni, the team dabbled in the use of the Octalysis Framework for its users. The said framework is a human-focused gamification design that lays out eight core drives for humans’ motivation.

About Lifehackers

Lifehackers started in 2019 as a student-focused and on-ground proposal pitch competition. Four years since its inception, it has already reached more than a thousand young students nationwide. This positions AIA Philippines as a life insurance company that champions innovation, encouraging the youth to share their ideas to help solve the identified problem statement.

Coming from pandemic lockdowns, the most recent Lifehackers concluded with an on-ground Final Battle after two weeks of online preliminaries. Catch the highlights in this video:

AIA Philippines would like to acknowledge the knowledge partners (Argao Psych, Google, Jungo Pinoy, Mullenlowe Treyna, Ogilvy & Mather, Pino Studio, Qairos, RGC, SMMPh, and Talents is Everywhere) and sponsors (Enchanted Kingdom and Angkas) of AIA Lifehackers.

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance, and savings plans.

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Editor’s Note: BrandedUp is designed to provide you with insightful, inspiring, and educational content created by The Philippine STAR in collaboration with brands like AIA Philippines.