The Campaign

Launching Prudential’s cancer protection plan was tricky. Generally, Malaysians feel that the mere act of having a conversation about cancer will invite cancer into their lives. So, whenever the topic of cancer is brought up, they quickly shut the conversation down with good ol’ superstition words: things like touching wood or saying ‘Choi’ to ward off the bad luck. Therein lay our opportunity: to show young Malaysians how helpful superstition was in covering them from cancer, i.e. not at all. So, we created a fake brand that exploits superstitious acts and words. Under the label ‘Unsuay’ (anti-bad-luck), we designed a touch-friendly block of wood, and a ‘Choi’ pin and a bad luck swatter. We promoted the Unsuay collection like real items on social media pages. Then, we flipped the script, revealing the true message: superstition can’t cover you. PRUcancer X is the only real cover from cancer.

Creative Execution

We made superstition the enemy by promoting it. Taking advantage of Facebook and Instagram’s ecommerce solutions, we created a fictitious, sleek lifestyle brand on social media called Unsuay that they could ‘buy’. Unsuay released a collection of products that claimed to undo the ‘suayness’ (bad luck) of cancer. We created two brand pages on social media and pushed out three realistic online shopping ads each featuring an Unsuay product. Further, we produced three YouTube bumper ads showcasing our Unsuay products in all their glory. We also developed two brand films introducing the founder of Unsuay and released a series of GIF and carousel ads on social media to build hype and talkability. We even billed their feature products, Touchwood Wood and Choi! pin as best-selling items. Upon clicking the ads, our target audience was met with the hard hitting truth that superstition can't protect them against cancer.

Results

Our unconventional and irreverent approach in this campaign caught media attention in Malaysia. The Unsuay products received 80% positive sentiment on social media. We received requests to buy the Unsuay products. The brilliant plot twists in the “making-of product” video clips captured the attention of Malaysians, peaking at 6.1 million views with a 70% completion rate. And when we revealed that Prudential is behind this campaign, we obtained an incredible 47% engagement rate with our social media ads. Our campaign has appeared in more than 10 publications within the first week of launch and this secured us approximately RM190,515 worth of earned PR value.

In Malaysia, insurance remains a hard sell. More pressingly, Malaysians have since grown resistant to the overly emotional and tear-jerking tonality of insurance ads. Prudential seeks to turn the perception of insurance brand around with the “Unsuay” campaign. Using elements that were humorous, irreverent, and tongue-in-cheek, the campaign’s unconventional approach managed to speak to young Malaysians on a personal level, making the insurance brand more relatable and approachable.

Malaysia’s social-cultural sensibilities do not encourage a candid and frank discussion of the consequences and possibilities of life with critical illness. Not being able to talk about it is the enemy that we want to eradicate. So, we turned the conversation killers into conversation starters, by bringing to light how “Superstition can’t cover you”. It was delivered in a tongue-in-cheek tone that resonated with our light-hearted young Malaysian audience. Through a series of parody products and digital ads, we sparked a lighthearted yet edgy conversation about cancer that empowered young Malaysians to talk about the once-taboo topic and got them to understand the importance of cancer coverage.