Insurance Giant Taps Spurs and Dugout For Branded Content Campaign

Insurance giant AIA is set to leverage on its partnerships with Spurs and Dugout to distribute a new series of short films featuring Jose Mourinho, Spurs footballers and David Beckham across the world, particularly Asia.

Designed to inspire health and wellness, the branded content films promote the topics of sleep, nutrition, fitness, mental health and the importance of routine in a unique and entertaining way. They form part of AIA’s campaign to help people live ‘Healthier, Longer, Better Lives’.

The AIA partnership reinforces Dugout’s growing presence within Asia following its landmark content partnership with Suning’s PP Sports and its distribution partnership with K-League via Sportradar. 

To widen the reach, engagement and audience, the branded content will be available via Dugout’s network of publishers in Southeast Asia and China. The new series of films can also be viewed via dedicated AIA Channels on Dugout.com and on the Dugout App.

Mark McFarlane, GM APAC, Dugout said, “AIA’s new campaign with David Beckham, Jose Mourinho and other Tottenham Hotspur star players offers unique and engaging content which we can all use to improve our lives. Through our network of premium publishers, we are pleased that we can amplify this content to football audiences throughout ASEAN and China.”

Adrian New, Director of Football Initiatives at AIA, added, “Our new series of films are designed to provide a unique insight into the daily lives of the Tottenham Hotspur players, ​as Jose Mourinho and the players show David Beckham around their world-class training centre and stadium. AIA’s ‘Healthier, Longer, Better Lives’ campaign is a priority for us to engage football fans and customers with a message that promotes improved health and well-being. Through partnering with Dugout we know that our exclusive content will reach a wide and interested audience across our key markets.”

According to ASN data, AIA is the 3rd largest insurance spender (15% category share, US$127m+) in the Asian sponsorship market in the past three years. While over 90% of its budget is invested in sporting platforms, spends on non-sporting platforms (including branded content) have plummeted from a peak of almost US$5m in Q418 to a mere US$638k for the first half of 2020.

This latest activation campaign – using Branded Content – has become a trend across the board, with brands forced to turn to content and digital activation, in the absence of live events due to the pandemic.