Prudential New Initiative

Prudential Corporation Asia has appointed FCB as its lead brand agency and launched its first campaign to amplify the insurance brand’s leadership.

Prudential, a leading financial services brand in Asia known for its tagline ‘Always Listening. Always Understanding’, began looking last year for new thinking from agencies to help differentiate their brand marketing and communications in a rapidly changing consumer and competitive landscape in Asia.

A creative pitch was called inviting some of the most highly awarded agencies from around the world. FCB went to work with their group partner agencies across key markets in Asia to develop a bottom-up understanding of how to build on Prudential’s strengths and enhance engagement and relevance.

“The thinking that the team from FCB shared and have brought to life builds on our strengths and brand character with a modern sensibility,” said Sean Rach, Prudential Corporation Asia chief marketing officer.

“Using an almost ‘un-advertising’ approach, this first work together provides an authentic and meaningful way to communicate what our brand is about. We’re thrilled in the way FCB have worked with our regional team led by Director of Brand, Michael McComb and the Singapore team led by CMO Angela Hunter to make this as relevant internally as it is externally.”


The first expression of the refreshed brand and communications strategy, titled “Relationship Reconnect”, is launching today in Singapore. The heart of the campaign is a “social experiment” based on psychology work conducted at the State University of New York by Professor Arthur Aron. This ground-breaking work found that when placed face-to-face for as short as four minutes, people begin to experience increased levels of empathy and intimacy toward each other.

See the video here: https://youtu.be/VsojBgHqeg4

Six Singaporean couples were recruited for the production: husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers, and from various backgrounds in multi-ethnic Singapore. In a stark white studio, the couples quietly looked at each other for four minutes and shared their emotional reactions, which were often very visible and intense. The couples find they have not given enough attention to the people who are most important to them. Prudential signs off with, “Your relationships are precious, so protect them.”

“We want to make sure the communications helps contemporise the brand but also connects directly with the fundamental premise of Prudential’s business,” said Edward Bell, CEO of FCB Greater China. “Insurance is about protecting the people you care most about. The campaign aims to help people reconnect and build stronger relationships with their loved ones at different life stages.”

The “social experiment” video content is housed on a campaign microsite along with a range of expert articles, curated content and a video interview with Singaporean counselling psychologist Joleen Hwee. Campaign media through Mindshare includes broadcast, Facebook and YouTube, programmatic and outdoor. FCB’s public relations partner Weber Shandwick is developing a social strategy with original content, along with influencer outreach.

As a testament to the power of the idea and its potential to re-energise all kinds of relationships, Prudential Singapore is using the ‘Relationship Reconnect’ platform to kick off an internal staff initiative aimed at strengthening professional working relationships and productivity.