Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

This work demonstrated our creativity in all the efforts to use a very limited budget to accomplish multi-objectives and created the maximum impacts under the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the company faced with limited resources, the effectiveness of the campaign “Celebrate living with music” was not compromised. This required the team to set a higher bar for innovation and creativity to produce the greatest results despite any obstacles. The campaign brought higher brand engagement and did something unique to create a fresh experience for customers, generate positive awareness about insurance, and encourage customers to get insurance protection early.

Background

FWD Vietnam, a new player in the market, has determined music as the brand differentiator that conveys the spirit of energy, positivity, and to engage its customers. Music has been a significant element that sets the company apart from other long-established competitors, shaping the brand as an iconic one in branding innovation. Even with a very limited budget, we strived to bring enjoyment to everyone after a slow-down period with our “Celebrate living with music” campaign, which consisted of the FWD Music Online Preshow that happened during the lockdown and the FWD Music Tour (physical events) organized as a rewarding program for customers after the Covid-19 situation in Vietnam was under control with no new cases recorded after 3 months. We also included in the launch of the FWD Clarity project (an intuitive information design that transforms insurance from complexity into clarity) while increasing customer engagement with the brand.

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

2020 was obviously a challenging year for everyone, and us is not an exception. From Covid-19 to budget cutdown, we had a bit of struggles to plan out and implement effective marketing activities to engage with customers. Amid the pandemic, there was a dire need for us to balance between three main priorities: minimize cost, maximize impacts; and ensure health safety for all parties involved. The challenge set out for us was to utilize the limited resources given and effectively deliver all marketing responsibilities; including (1) rewarding customers; (2) launching the FWD Clarity; (3) strengthening the brand image and (4) engaging with massive audiences. To maintain our position as the #1 inspiring brand in the insurance industry with such limited resources, we had no options but to make a breakthrough on a budget.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

In the face of uncertainty and panic, music is a social balm for soothing anxiety, enhancing community connections and acting in defiance of a threat to community spirit. As a brand that sets the vision “to change the way people feel about insurance”, our campaign used music as the main tool to bring audiences the most joyful and fresh experience that no other brands can offer. From that, people can look to the bright side of insurance and get themselves covered with insurance, especially when our health is on the top priority. To spread the positive vibes to as many people as possible, the campaign consisted of online livestream music sessions and on-ground events for the maximum reach of audiences. Every single aspect of the campaign boiled down to the brand message and spirit, from the music to the stage design as well as social activities during the campaign.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

To engage with customers during the lockdown and to tease for the event, we conducted the Music Online Preshow with 5 Livestream sessions, which not only kept our brand top-of-mind throughout the pandemic but created a hype around the offline FWD Music Tour. Multiple marketing goals were combined under this one single event; including customer rewarding, #FWDClarity launch, brand awareness reinforces, and audience engagements across channels. With the meaningful purposes of bringing joy to people in times of pandemic and increasing their awareness about insurance, many influential singers were willing to join and became ambassadors for the campaign which in turn attracted millions more of audiences amongst their fan community. Music fans were converted to brand fans and spread widely the brand message and spirit. By extending the offline FWD Music Tour to popular online streaming platforms, people from all parts of Vietnam had fully celebrated living with music.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

Despite the many challenges faced with tightened budget and safety regulations, the entire campaign was a huge success. Through online experience, the effectiveness of the campaign went beyond geographical and capacity limitations. While the Online Preshow attracted more than 2 million views, the Music Tour garnered over 14,000 audiences at the event and 3.6 million views through online streaming platforms. The message of “Celebrate living” and “FWD Clarity” was widely spread. The campaign reached out to a wide spectrum of more than 60 million people, over 160,000 mentions, and 1 million interactives on social. The music tour became the largest and most-wanted outdoor event after months of slowing down due to Covid-19 and the hashtag #FWDMusictour ranked at top 1 trending on Vietnam Twitter. The campaign also recorded high positive sentiment from all media coverage and help millions of people to think positive and celebrate living during the pandemic.