dentsumcgarrybowen International changes how critical illness should be seen in new campaign for Manulife
When Manulife assigned dentsumcgarrybowen International in Hong Kong to develop the campaign strategy to promote their newly enhanced critical illness plan, the climbing survival rate was a piece of data that inspired the agency team.
Although some marketers had sort of mentioned, none seemed to pay enough respect to this significant discovery. After all, when one is diagnosed with a critical illness, the natural reaction is ‘will I live?’ The team refused to let go of this insight and it became the springboard of our creative idea being prepared can increase your chance to live.
‘Critical illness’ is often associated with doom and gloom, a dead end, or even death. It’s quite hard for one to imagine the changes that are about to happen in their lives. And marketers don’t really help bring any relief or hope to the consumers either. Rather, they use communication tactics, such as a broken dream and unfulfilled parenthood, to evoke fear, sadness and anxiety among the consumers.
Knowing “fear” is the emotional space we want to avoid, the agency team deliberately employed a light-hearted and humorous approach in the film starring Jan Lamb to bring out the unpleasant subject matter. The plot intercuts between the reality where Lamb is awaiting to hear his diagnosis at the doctor’s office and the surreal scenes of the insides of his body where the heart, brain and lungs are conversing and expressing their own ways of being fearless – all because of ManuBright Care 2 Plus.
Furthermore, featuring Jan Lamb helps bring a spotlight to the work. His humour and wittiness make one want to listen to him.
Jeffry Gamble, Chief Creative Office, dentsumcgarrybowen International said:“We hope the optimism we injected in the commercial changes the way critical illness is felt and spoken about. It’s time to quit labelling it as a taboo subject. The destiny is not what one assumes in the first place.”
“Backed by our recent study of consumer needs, our new ManuBright Care 2 Plus was designed to provide well-rounded and continuous protection for customers. If customers plan it right, they could have a better chance to win the fight.” says Isabella Lau, Chief Customer Officer, Manulife Hong Kong.
Credits
Client: Manulife Hong Kong
Agency: dentsumcgarrybowen International
Simone Tam, CEO
Jeffry Gamble, CCO
Christy Leung, Head of Creative Services
Keith Liu, Associate Creative Director
Blue Wong, Associate Creative Director
Him Chan, Senior Art Director
Koki Takeya, Senior Art Director
Elaine Chan, Assistant Art Director
YeeChing Wong, Integrated Brand Strategist
Anna Wong, Business Director
Kaylis Cheng, Associate Account Director
Maria Bien, Senior Account Manager
Vanessa Luk, Senior Account Executive
Sharon Ling, Account Executive
