Thursday, July 8, 2021
With the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic had brought upon the country, digital financial service provider GCash has reported a massive increased interest in financial security among Filipinos. And to help everyone get on top of these new needs, GCash, together with mobile-first life insurer Singlife Philippines, are giving away free health insurance through GInsure to over 20 million eligible Filipinos for free.
With GInsure Cash for Dengue Costs with Free COVID-19 Coverage (CFDC) powered by Singlife, Filipinos can get cash allowance for tests and hospitalization costs related to COVID-19 and Dengue. The ongoing promo will give 3 free months of coverage to eligible TM, Globe Prepaid, Globe Postpaid, and Globe at Home Broadband subscribers.
“Our vision is Finance For All, and we do this by providing meaningful digital financial solutions that empower our nation – so we can make Filipinos’ everyday lives better,” Jean-Francois Darre, Chief Data Officer of GCash, stated. “Launching GInsure was a key element in fulfilling our financial inclusion mission as we are now able to provide Filipinos with access to relevant financial protection from unforeseen events.”
From 27 million registered GCash users reported in January 2021 to over 40 million in April – the demand for these online financial platforms as people continue to refrain from going outside is unmistakable. In fact, Darre disclosed that one of the key trends that GCash has observed is the increase of search queries on how Filipinos can get easier access to wealth management and personal finance services.
He also shared that the younger generation attributes to most of the increased reception in financial security, wanting to preserve and grow their hard-earned money. Aside from savings and investments, insurance is also a top choice as it means having one less thing to worry about in the future.
“Previously, only a small percentage of Filipinos, usually the top percentile, had access to insurance. We want to change that by being the platform that connects all FIlipinos to accessible, affordable, and easy-to-purchase insurance products and services,” Darre claimed.
GInsure, like all financial services that GCash offers, may easily be availed via the app – ensuring that the entire application process and all approvals are secure. And with its current reach, GCash is opening the possibility for millions of Filipinos to gain financial security whenever and wherever, without the need to go out and meet agents, visit branches, and fill up long forms.“Keeping Filipinos at the center of our mission, GCash and its partners seek to serve the interests and needs of Filipinos,” Darre shared “[And] one of the biggest fears of Filipinos has been unexpected medical costs due to illnesses.”
During this time where daily life is riddled with uncertainty, insurance can provide financial aid in case of unfortunate events – especially to those who are more vulnerable to sickness like frontliners and other Filipinos who need to go out to work in order to put food on the table. “Especially now that not all have the luxury to work from home, we want to be able to help reassure them that despite placing themselves at risk, there is still a way for them and their families to stay protected with our affordable insurance platforms,” Darre commented.
For those who do not qualify for the free insurance promo, GInsure CFDC can be availed for as low as PHP 300 per year for up to PHP 140,500 of coverage, PHP 550 per year for up to PHP 281,000 of coverage, or PHP 700 per year for up to PHP 421,500. To reach more Filipino households, the insurance coverage may be extended to one’s family for up to one spouse and five children.
“In just a few months after launching inside the GCash app, we’ve already insured hundreds of thousands of Filipino lives,” Darre revealed. “But this is just one small step towards insuring the tens of millions of Filipinos nationwide and around the world.”
This is why GCash and Singlife has partnered with Globe to offer the free three-month promo. With the latter’s 80 million subscribers, the collaboration opens the doors for a lot of Filipinos to get financially protected – all but with just a few taps on their app.
“We believe every Filipino should have easy access to financial protection in the form of insurance. We want Filipinos to gain access to insurance products and services relevant in every aspect of their lives – so they can not only preserve, but uplift their current lifestyle,” Darre concluded.
If you’re a Globe or TM subscriber, head over to the GCash website to learn how you can avail your free 3 months of GInsure Cash for Dengue Costs with Free COVID-19 Coverage.
AXA, one of the Philippines’ leading insurance providers, takes a closer look at the myths and misconceptions, as well as the hard facts, which can help you decide if vaccines, indeed, do the job they’re intended for.
Myth 1: Vaccines can make a person sick.
Fact: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you can’t get sick when administered with a vaccine. However, some people can experience mild side effects, such as soreness on the part of the body where the vaccine was injected. Such side effects disappear quickly, and more serious side effects are not common.
Myth 2: Vaccines can cause the very disease it aims to address.
Fact: It is unlikely that a vaccine can cause a disease to develop, but certain individuals may not reach the needed immunity level from the vaccine to fight the disease. Like most medicines, some vaccines aren’t 100% effective and people react to it differently, affecting its efficacy, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This doesn’t mean that a vaccine isn’t safe or effective or is a catalyst for the disease. It only shows that a few may not respond to it as well as others, according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma &Immunology (AAAAI).
Myth 3: It is better to get natural immunity from a disease than get it from a vaccine.
Fact: Without being vaccinated, your body may build immunity from natural infection, but you also put yourself at risk for serious complications and even death. For example, when you don’t get your child vaccinated for Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b), this may cause intellectual disability. Without getting vaccinated for measles, this may lead to death, according to WHO.
The same is true with the COVID-19 vaccine that has been hotly debated recently. Without getting vaccinated, it may lead to hospitalization or death. According to the CDC, you may also develop what is called “long-COVID,” where you may experience the chronic symptoms associated with the disease, like headaches or shortness of breath-.
Myth 4: COVID-19 vaccines can give you the disease or may have serious side effects.
Fact: COVID-19 vaccines are designed to build immunity against the disease by using weakened or killed SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19. As for the adverse effects, there are some mild or short-term effects associated with these vaccines, such as fever, headaches, or body aches, which signal that the vaccine is working to build your immune system against the disease, according to the Cleveland Clinic in the U.S. However, it is recommended that you consult a doctor if you have allergies or any other pre-existing medical condition to assess your risk.
Myth 5: You get immunity for life when vaccinated against COVID-19.
Fact: According to the CDC, it’s still early to tell if a shot or two of the COVID-19 vaccine can give you life immunity. Studies continue to be conducted on a regular basis to check for its long-lasting effects, and formulas continue to be adjusted to develop immunity against other strains or variants of the disease.
Immunity against certain diseases doesn’t happen overnight, but research has shown that vaccines effectively provide protection against some of life’s most dreaded diseases. For critical illnesses that you may encounter as you get older, the best way to safeguard your health against them is to get protected as early as now.
The best way to do this is to get yourself a health insurance plan like AXA’s Global Health Access, which offers customers the best access to healthcare services here and abroad.
“Aside from the threats of COVID-19, critical illnesses like cancer, stroke, and heart attack remain in our midst, so we should also protect ourselves against them. With Global Health Access, it is easier for policyholders to avail of medical care wherever they are in the world through our partnership with over 1,400 hospitals and clinics locally and over 9,000 hospitals worldwide,” says Rahul Hora, President and Chief Executive Officer of AXA Philippines.
Global Health Access policyholders can now reimburse COVID-19 vaccine costs up to P5,000 and other eligible home care expenses, boosting the confidence of our customers in these challenging times. See here the full details of the coverage.
Global Health Access also includes coverage for epidemic and pandemic diseases like COVID-19, allowing customers to get comprehensive treatment for such illnesses, on top of other top-tier health benefits, such as up to P175 million coverage for inpatient and outpatients treatments and executive health checkups of up to P20,000 per year. Moreover, the health plan allows cashless payments, which makes it more convenient for customers these days due to the ongoing pandemic.
When it comes to health, it’s always better to boost your protection. To know more about Global Health Access, visit www.axa.com.ph/health-protection/global-health-access.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Back in high school, I can still remember Axe body spray's rose to fame due to their appealing commercials on TV. Everybody who was able to watch it can definitely recognize its unforgettable scenes which points out how much their fragrance can get the attention of the opposite gender. Until now, the brand still has that recall when it comes to great affordable scent. From my teen-age years until now, Axe is one that I trust to keep me smelling fresh and clean.
The sweltering heat leaves you tired and sweaty. The heat is definitely on and it feels like it's getting hotter each day. Axe introduces two items that will keep them longing for more of your fragrance. Check them out below.
AXE ICE CHILL is Axe's freshest fragrance yet made for Men. Its scent is composed of natural watery notes and enhanced by Frozen Mint and Lemon which leaves you smelling fresh. Axe Ice Chill Body Spray also has instant cooling benefits that cools your skin by up to 11C so you can stay cool and confident any time.
AXE ICE BREAKER is the clean and refreshing scent of Axe with the aromatic freshness of icy lemon and mandarin. It cools your skin down by up to 11 degress to help you #KeepYourChill.
Monday, July 5, 2021
Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, announces its 7.7 Mid-Year Sale TV Special, airing on GMA 7 and Shopee Live this July 7, 9:30-11:30 PM. Filipinos can expect an exciting night full of limited-time flash deals from top brands, performances from local artists and K-Pop group Treasure, big prizes amounting to ₱7,000,000, and more.
Martin Yu, Director at Shopee Philippines, said, “As Shopee wraps up the 7.7 Mid-Year Sale on a high note with our TV Special, we’d like to express our gratitude to our valued shoppers and partners for all the milestones we’ve reached thus far. Throughout the rest of 2021, we remain committed to continuously improving the online shopping experience through even more rewarding campaigns that provide joy to Filipinos and meet the demands of the growing local e- commerce landscape.”
Here are the highlights of the Shopee 7.7 Mid-Year Sale TV Special:
● Exclusive flash deals from top brands in the country
Throughout the show, deal hunters can enjoy big savings with flash deals from leading brands such as Belo Essentials, Huawei, Reckitt Benckiser, Realme, Puregold, Bonchon, Adidas, SM, OPPO, Potato Corner, Gong Cha, Domino's, Lawson, and Moonleaf.
● Exciting performances from K-Pop and OPM acts
After thrilling fans with their Philippine television debut last Shopee 6.6 Mid-Year TV Special, K-Pop boy band Treasure returns for another set of performances with “I Love You,” “Orange,” and “Going Crazy.” OPM fans can also catch top Pinoy talents such as Barbie Almalbis, Spongecola, Xian Lim, Lani Misalucha, Kate Valdez, and more surprise guests.
● Over ₱7,000,000 worth of prizes
Viewers can play three Shopee Shake sessions, during which they can win ₱300,000, ₱500,000, or ₱700,000, respectively. One lucky viewer can also win the ₱1,000,000 jackpot prize by joining Shopee Milyonaryo. Meanwhile, shoppers should stay tuned to claim up to ₱4,500,000 worth of Shopee vouchers.
Shopee 7.7 Mid-Year Sale
Until July 7, shoppers can enjoy free shipping with no minimum spend, up to 20% cashback, and exclusive ShopeePay ₱1 Deals at Shopee 7.7 Mid-Year Sale.
They can also get big discounts up to 90% off on leading brands.
Users should top up their ShopeePay wallets through their debit cards, linked bank accounts, or other conventional methods for more exclusive promotions. This July 7, ShopeePay users can enjoy up to 77% cashback, ₱5 worth of load for only ₱1, and up to 35% cashback on Bills Payment. Users who top up their ShopeePay wallets on July 6 can also win ₱20,000!
For more information on the Shopee 7.7 Mid-Year Sale, visit https://shopee.ph/m/7-7.
Sunday, July 4, 2021
As the Philippines ramps up its vaccination program against COVID 19, the country continues to face several key issues ranging from vaccine hesitancy to the emergence of new COVID variants. In an effort to help move from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence and encourage private companies to take part in advocating vaccination among Filipinos, Havas Life recently hosted “VacciNation: Vaccines for a Healthier Nation.”
The online conversation, part of Havas’ The New Life webinar series, featured Professor Emeritus of University of the Philippines College of Medicine’s Dr. Lulu Bravo, Havas Health & You Global Chief Medical Officer Dr. Suketu Patel, and consumer healthcare expert Dave McCaughan. They each discussed the role of health care professionals in building vaccine resilience in the Philippines and the narrative around vaccination positivity.
Vaccines as a public health issue
Dr. Lulu Bravo, a leading pediatrician and staunch advocate of vaccination in the country, underlined the importance of discussing vaccines as a public health concern.
“When you vaccinate an individual, you should emphasize that it is not just the person you are protecting from getting sick. You are preventing the community, their family, their loved ones from being infected.” Dr. Bravo, who leads and co-founded the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, also reminded Filipinos to not neglect protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, dengue, and polio.
She encouraged the health care sector to take the lead in the issue by building alliances and advocacy as a united voice. “We need to build resilient and sustainable immunization systems and follow-up with programs that can withstand major shocks and maintain high vaccine uptake. We need experts who would respond with empathy, equity, equality, timeliness, honesty, and confidence.”
“Vaccination is what will drive the end of this pandemic. The goal is to get as many people around the world to be vaccinated as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Suketu Patel who discussed the groundbreaking role of immunology in significantly increasing life expectancy around the world. Dr. Patel said that all vaccines are effective against the emerging COVID-19 variants, which are also more transmissible.
Creating positive vaccine conversations
All three experts agreed on the importance of framing narratives in order to encourage vaccine confidence, such as positive conversations about vaccines and talking about positive vaccination experiences that focus on facts. “We must understand people’s motivations and frame conversations in ways that matter to them,” stressed Dr. Bravo. “A lot of the factors that lead people to questioning vaccines have nothing to do with the science. We need help to spread correct information. A strong health care recommendation is a powerful predictor of vaccination.”
David McCoughan, of consultancy firm Bibliosexual, shared how analyzing online content can help the health sector and governments better understand people’s sentiments about vaccines. “When it comes to vaccine positivity, we should move from threatening language to encouraging stories. In Southeast Asia for example, we have been seeing a lot of future-proofing trends online. In the Philippines, more people have been looking up online resources such as setting up online businesses and acquiring online certificate courses. We can take advantage of this proactive behavior and create conversations about the COVID vaccine around these topics showing people how to future-proof their lives.”
Havas Media Ortega’s recent prosumer report on Health and Hygiene also underscored that when it comes to vaccines, doctors are still the primary influencers. The report also showed that 85% of prosumers are willing to get vaccinated despite initial setbacks and 64% are willing to tolerate mild to moderate side effects in exchange for effectiveness.
Friday, July 2, 2021
In conjunction with the 7.7 Mid-Year Sale, Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, officially launches the Shopee Mall Brand Memberships program to help brands capture more growth online. It is a new customer management and retention tool that will enable brands on Shopee Mall to build deeper connections with potential and existing customers, converting them into valuable lifetime customers. The tool has been rolled out across seven markets: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
As more people shop online, e-commerce platforms are increasingly becoming a key channel for brand-building in the entire customer journey. Over the years, Shopee Mall has grown steadily to become the region’s leading online mall featuring over 25,000 international and local brands across the region. More shoppers are also turning to Shopee Mall to shop for their favorite brands, with the daily average searches for brand names doubling in the past year.
Martin Yu, Director at Shopee Philippines, said, “With consumers now spending a larger part of their shopping journey online, we want to empower brands with more ways to capture their customers at every touchpoint. Hence, we are proud to launch this program that will not only support our brand partners in achieving more sustainable growth by driving conversion and higher spending, but also deliver greater value to shoppers. We have already seen how brand members tend to spend twice as much per order compared to non-members, demonstrating the effectiveness of this tool in building greater brand affinity in the long-term.”
Improving customer management and retention
The Shopee Mall Brand Memberships is designed to give brands more control in cultivating their customer relationships on Shopee, similar to the way they oversee their own loyalty programs. This in turn helps to drive more conversion and repeat purchases for brands online.
For instance, brands can customize their own membership program for shoppers, including the welcome gift, number of membership tiers, and brand loyalty points awarded to members for every purchase. Members can accumulate and redeem these loyalty points for exclusive benefits such as upsized vouchers and gifts with purchases. Shopee Mall Brand Memberships vouchers can also be stacked with other Shopee vouchers, thus unlocking even more savings, helping to promote further sales for brands.
In addition to customer retention, Shopee Mall Brand Memberships also provides brands with an effective way to identify and manage different customer segments through an understanding of their profile, purchasing habits, and preferences. With deeper insights, brands can create more personalized experiences over time and run more effective retargeting campaigns in the future.
In the future, Shopee will be progressively rolling out a pipeline of new features to enhance the membership program. This includes creating a more seamless shopping experience through omnichannel integration, where brands can integrate their offline and online CRM systems and loyalty programs with Shopee Mall Brand Memberships.
Brands see positive outcomes
Leading food company, Danone, took part in the Shopee Mall Brand Memberships soft launch earlier this year for three of their Specialized Nutrition brands in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, and saw an average increase of 15% in repeat buyers since launching in April.
Deborah Chong, Head of ECommerce, Danone Specialized Nutrition Global, said, “We were really pleased with the performance in terms of new buyer sign-ups and order uplifts. Aligned with our One Planet One Health vision, our focus has been to contribute to the health of the planet and people by inspiring healthier food choices. Reaching more consumers enables us to educate and encourage them to choose healthier products. This is a wonderful initiative by Shopee as it gives us the ability to better understand new and existing customers on the platform, which will help us build stronger relationships with them in the long run. We look forward to partnering with Shopee on more initiatives to enhance the consumer journey from end to end.”
Grand launch at 7.7 Shopee Mid-Year Sale
The Shopee Mall Brand Memberships Grand Launch campaign has officially started, and brands can leverage the increased traffic and media buzz throughout 7.7, the biggest mid-year sale, to maximize sign-ups. Over 200 brands on Shopee Mall across popular categories will be participating in the Grand Launch, with many more brands joining the program down the line. They will offer attractive launch perks such as new registration bonus points, upsized vouchers, and exclusive welcome gifts. The Brand Memberships program can be easily accessed by each user under the ‘Shopee Loyalty’ tab.
To know more about Shopee Mall Brand Memberships, visit https://shopee.ph/m/brand-
Bata Philippines donated milk to indigent children with cancer at The Center for Health Improvement and Life Development (CHILD) Haus as part of its “Let’s Walk Together” campaign. It pledged 50 pesos for every pair worth 999 and above on Friday sales of August to September 2020. Photo shows Jeanette Cu of CHILD Haus and the children receiving the donation from Juris Soliman of SM Foundation and Arlyn Guanlao of Bata Philippines.
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