Pulse by Prudential: Hugely popular market-first free COVID-19 offers win accolades at Marketing's PR Awards 2020

Good timing, an empathy with customers and an easy-to-use product available to all just as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Hong Kong lie behind the overwhelmingly positive response to “Pulse by Prudential”, an AI-powered healthcare, wellness and fitness mobile app, earning Prudential the gold award in the Best PR Campaign – Finance and Insurance category, silver award in the Best PR Campaign - Public Awareness category, and the bronze award in the Best Results Driven Campaign category at Marketing magazine’s PR Awards 2020.

Prudential is committed to supporting the community in its battle with the virus and showing considerable agility in its quick decision to postpone the full launch of its new Pulse app in March and instead soft-launch free COVID-19 coverage through “Pulse by Prudential”. Prudential sought to provide practical, relevant solutions at that time of need.

“It was a market-first in Hong Kong,” said Priscilla Ng, chief customer and marketing officer of Prudential Hong Kong Limited. “Our speed to market enabled us to catch the moment.”

Amid confusion and concern about COVID-19, Prudential offered the public clarity, simplicity and genuine value through “Pulse by Prudential”. All Hongkoners need to do was to download it to get free protection. The results spoke for themselves: over 200,000 downloads within 24 hours – 155 downloads a second at its peak – causing Prudential to raise its quota from 300,000 free offers to half a million.

“Pulse by Prudential” is an all-in-one mobile app, powered by AI, with health features including a symptom checker, healthcheck, BMI selfie and a hospital guide, to name a few. Through the app, Prudential made available free coverage and life protection for residents in Hong Kong.

“Using the cutting-edge AI technology in Pulse, we can help people to proactively manage their health needs across the three key phases of their health journey – prevention, postponement and protection,” said Ng. “We can deliver messages digitally, allowing us to reach our key audiences and engage with them anytime anywhere,” she added.

Focus on health management

Prudential is focusing much more heavily on health management owing to the strong demand from increasingly health-conscious customers. It also recognises the healthcare challenges in Hong Kong, where there’s an urgent need for more health protection options. That need is becoming more acute as the population ages.

The growth of insurtech and public acceptance of digital – more evident during the pandemic – feeds into Prudential’s broader digital strategy for health and the rationale behind Pulse.

“’Pulse by Prudential’ combines human expertise with the power of technology. It works anytime, anywhere. 'Pulse by Prudential' offers insights into customers’ health to improve wellbeing, along with incentives that encourage more exercise,” said Ng. “In the long run, Prudential will continue to provide leading technology, contents and services that help people lead healthier lives with affordable and effective protection.”

Besides “Pulse by Prudential”, other new technology proving to be very popular among customers are virtual onboarding and non-face-to-face measures that allow safe but close interaction.

Prudential also leverages digital solutions to help into tap current trends and adopt marketing strategies accordingly in a timely manner. For example, Prudential understands that the increasingly health-conscious professionals and those who are lacking medical coverage are very interested in certified Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) plans. When it launched its VHIS VIP plan, it offered customers “Pulse Double Offers” and access to value-added services via the Pulse app.

Download Pulse now and let it be your Health Buddy

This article is contributed by Prudential Hong Kong Limited.