3 short flicks kick off Sun Life’s Financial Independence Month

Image from Sun Life Philippines

 

Stories of love, hope, and commitment inspired by actual experiences of people—these are what the Sun Shorts 2 digital films are all about. Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. aims to target people in various stages of life through these short films, which it has recently launched.

“We want to show Filipinos how life insurance can help them ease their life’s burdens and celebrate their lives’ triumphs demonstrating that life insurance is not just a piece of paper but also a gift of commitment, of love, and of hope,” said Sun Life Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa during the Sun Shorts 2 red-carpet launch held at the Makati Shangri-La on June 7.

“The people we love give us the courage to dream big and the strength to keep going even if sometimes it feels like the odds are against us,” Lopa added.

 

Three short films
The first short film entitled ‘Waves’ was directed by Zig Marasigan and was rolled out online on June 7 through a special site (www.sunshorts2.com) and Sun Life’s Facebook page. The film gives a peek into the mindset of millennials, who are often characterized by many for adhering to the ‘YOLO’ (You Only Live Once) mentality and most of the time, not open to preparing well enough for the future. The film depicts love and commitment and how an accident protection insurance can be beneficial.

Screen grab from the film ‘Waves.’

The film ‘She Said, She Said’ by director Nic Reyes talks about parents’ relationship with children by depicting the life of a single mom who works hard to prepare for the future of her daughter. It was rolled out online on June 14 through the designated website and Sun Life’s Facebook page.

Finally, ‘Sayaw’ by director Mihk Vergara delves into the reality of coping with a long-time marriage that has gone cold. The short digital film highlights the advantages of having an insurance that can be used for medical and rehabilitation purposes. Just like the first two films, it will be posted on June 21 online and on Facebook.

Sun Life has also produced insightful videos that show instant reaction of three of its brand ambassadors with their friends upon seeing designated digital films for the first time. Matteo Guidicelli, Judy Ann Santos, and Piolo Pascual, who all represent the different life stages depicted in each of the short films, got into recorded discussions that shed more light on how insurance and investments can help protect relationships that matter.

“We are launching Sun Shorts on a digital platform taking advantage of the fact that 58% of Filipinos are on social media,” Lopa explained about this new digital strategy.

Screen grab from ‘She Said, She Said.’

Sun Life first produced and launched short films in 2012. The first five ‘Sun Shorts’ were intended to bolster financial literacy and convince the audience to invest their money properly. The project was recognized by various local and international award-giving bodies, which commended the creative approach to promote insurance and investment products.

 

Fourth Financial Independence Month
This year, the launch of Sun Shorts 2 also kicked off Sun Life’s fourth Financial Independence Month. “Filipinos tend to be enslaved by their financial worries, concerns, and debts. That is why we like to help liberate them from their financial burden. One of our ways is to designate June as Financial Independence Month,” Lopa said.

Present during the Sun Shorts 2 launch were Sun Life Financial’s brand ambassadors: Matteo Guidicelli, Judy Ann Santos, Piolo Pascual, and Charo Santos-Concio.

The three previous Financial Independence Months had different focuses, all aimed at helping increase awareness about insurance among Filipinos.

In 2014, #Fit2BreakFree facilitated free financial planning sessions that gathered up to 3,000 attendees overall. In 2015, #Fit2LiveFree gave birth to Brighter Life Institute, the first open online personal finance course in the country. In 2016, #Money4Life aimed to help Filipinos choose the right financial products through Sun Life’s Bus to the Future and the online portal Money for Life e-Planner. The 2016 campaign also coincided with the roll out of the company’s RI5E PH growth plan, which aims to increase the number of insured Filipinos from 1.5 million that year to 5 million by the year 2020.

#Money4Life Bus to the Future (2016)

“This year (2017), the campaign handle for June Financial Independence Month is #BrighterTogether,” said Lopa. “Filipinos can secure their and their loved ones’ future with Sun Life as their partner.”

 

More activities
#BrighterTogether would have a series of online and on-ground activations. Aside from Sun Shorts 2, Sun Life is also offering a workshop especially for millennials to help them find ways to achieve their travel goals. Meanwhile, moms and dads are invited to a pampering activity that also aims to help them get into the right mindset to create future goals.

Within the month, Sun Life is also set to launch PA Armor, an affordable personal accident protection insurance for Filipino online shoppers. In partnership with Smart Communications’ digital innovations subsidiary Voyager Innovations, PA Armor will be offered exclusively to members of Takatack.com, the e-commerce portal of giant telecom firm PLDT.

Lastly, Sun Life continues to offer basic financial planning courses via its Brighter Life Institute. Tech and Lifestyle Journal will keep you updated about Sun Life’s activities and information releases.

 

Watch the shorts films here: