Tag: Health and Wellness

Manila, Philippines – UnionBank and Mercury Drug launched the new UnionBank Mercury Credit Card – a one-of-a-kind credit card designed to reward consumers for prioritizing their health and wellness.

With the new UnionBank Mercury Credit Card, users are not only encouraged to stay on top of their health, but also to be rewarded for it. It is also is the country’s first card dedicated to rewarding health.

The new UnionBank Mercury Credit Card was completely reimagined to cater to a new generation of health-conscious consumers. The new modern design, featuring the iconic ‘Mercury Man,’ makes it not only visually appealing but symbolic of Mercury Drug’s decades-long commitment to promoting health and well-being.

With the special credit card, users are entitled to 5X rewards points on all health and wellness-related purchases — a benefit no other card currently offers. Whether consumers are buying medicines, vitamins, supplements, fitness gear, or paying for gym memberships and medical services, the card rewards their dedication to a healthy lifestyle by maximising every peso spent in these categories.

In addition to the points, the card offers no annual fees for life. Plus, cardholders will enjoy free annual physical exams and ambulance services every year.

The launch of this card marks a new chapter in the evolving partnership between UnionBank and Mercury Drug, underscoring their shared commitment to enhancing the lives of Filipinos through innovative financial solutions that support health and wellness goals.

Manoj Varma, consumer banking head of UnionBank of the Philippines, described the card as a groundbreaking financial product that stands out in the market. “This isn’t just another rewards card. The UnionBank Mercury Card is designed to meet the growing demand for wellness-oriented financial tools, and it does so with unparalleled value.”

Meanwhile, Vivian Azcona, president of Mercury Drug, shared her excitement about the partnership, noting that this card is more than a financial tool — it’s a symbol of Mercury Drug’s commitment to helping Filipinos lead healthier lives. 

“The UnionBank Mercury Card is designed to empower our customers to make healthier choices while being rewarded for it. It truly aligns with Mercury Drug’s vision of promoting health and wellness for all Filipinos,” she said.

Singapore – After a three-year absence from the Singapore market, global health and wellness brand GNC has formed a strategic partnership with Watsons Singapore to re-establish itself as a trusted choice for consumers dedicated to enhancing their well-being.

GNC’s re-entry into the Singapore market is fuelled by a growing demand for premium health supplements among increasingly health-conscious consumers. Through its partnership with Watsons, GNC aims to offer a broader selection of high-quality products specifically designed to meet the needs of Singaporeans committed to maintaining healthy lifestyles.

Cheri Mullen, senior vice president and chief international officer at GNC, said, “We are thrilled to be launching with Watsons Singapore. We are confident that this partnership will position GNC back in the market better than ever. Our collaboration not only marks GNC’s re-entry into a very relevant market but also reinforces our commitment to empowering customers on their wellness journey while serving product innovation to cater to Singaporean’s evolving health and wellness needs.”

On the other hand, GNC’s return significantly enhances Watsons’ already impressive portfolio of over 200 brands. This collaboration solidifies Watsons as Singapore’s ultimate one-stop destination for health shopping, providing customers with everything they need for their wellness journeys under one roof.

With GNC’s trusted range of supplements, shoppers can enjoy a diverse selection tailored to their health needs, complemented by Watsons’ seamless online and offline shopping experience. This partnership aims to drive significant growth in the health supplements category, reinforcing Watsons’ position in the health retail market. 

Leveraging GNC’s strong legacy and Watsons’ established reputation, this collaboration is strategically positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for high-quality health products in Singapore.

Irene Lau, managing director of Watsons Singapore, emphasised that this partnership aligns perfectly with Watsons’ mission to provide high-quality health and wellness options for customers. 

“Together, GNC and Watsons aim to create synergy that enhances the shopping experience by focussing on a comprehensive range of health supplements tailored for health-conscious consumers,” Lau shared. 

By merging GNC’s trusted product range with Watsons’ extensive retail network, this partnership aims to enhance the health shopping experience, providing customers with convenient access to top-quality products in one location.

Details on GNC products at Watsons will be announced soon, providing consumers with an exciting selection for their healthy lifestyles. This partnership revitalises GNC’s legacy and strengthens Watsons’ position as Singapore’s leading health shopping destination. With GNC’s trusted supplements available alongside Watsons’ offerings, shoppers can enjoy a seamless one-stop experience that caters to all their health needs, redefining the health supplement landscape in Singapore.

Hong Kong – When it comes to health and wellness information offered by social media influencers, close to half of younger consumers from Gen Z (48%) and Millennials (46%) consider them to be reliable, compared to less than two-fifths of Gen X (38%). This is according to the latest data from YouGov on health information sources the Asia-Pacific market consumes the most.

According to the data, while most Gen X (61%) and Millennials (53%) in Hong Kong regard medical practitioners as a reliable source of health information, less than half of Gen Z (48%) say the same. Meanwhile, millennials are significantly more likely than other generations to trust their gym/personal trainer (35%) to provide reliable health information.

It is also worth noting that close to two-fifths of consumers in Hong Kong (38%), say they find at least some health and wellness information offered by social media influencers to be trustworthy – compared to just a sixth (16%) of consumers internationally. Hong Kong also shares a similar sentiment to some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, with over a third in Indonesia (36%) and a fifth in Singapore (21%) echoing the same sentiment for social media influencers.

Consumers in Hong Kong and Indonesia are also significantly more likely to look to their friends/family and pharmaceutical companies for health and wellness advice.

Meanwhile, Over half of consumers in Hong Kong (51%) and two-fifths of consumers in Indonesia (40%) say they trust health-related information provided by family/friends, compared to just a third (33%) internationally.

Lastly, almost a third of consumer in Hong Kong (31%) and a quarter of consumers in Indonesia (26%) find pharmaceutical companies to be a reliable source of health information, compared to less than barely a fifth (19%) internationally.

Hong Kong – Global health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group has announced that they have signed an agreement with South Korean beauty brand Amorepacific to bring more K-beauty products for consumers in Asia.

According to Malina Ngai, CEO of A.S. Watson Asia and Europe, its partnership with Amorepacific started out in 2019, and have expressed great interest to take this partnership to new heights. Ngai also added that K-beauty product demand in Asia and Europe will continue to grow due to being lauded for use of creative ingredients combined with science-backed formulas.

“For the A.S. Watson Group, we recorded a strong double-digit sales growth for overall K-Beauty products in the 12 months. Leverage our extensive O+O (Offline plus Online) retail platforms across Asia and Europe, I am excited about this strategic partnership with Amorepacific Group to enable our customers to access and experience an even wider range of quality beauty products inspired by the beautiful Korean culture,” Ngai said.

She added, “We are also aware of the evolving needs of eco-conscious customers hence we will work together with Amorepacific to introduce clean beauty products that minimise environmental damage.”

Meanwhile, Sangmok Lee, president of Amorepacific Group, commented, “Through strengthening our partnership with A.S. Watson Group, we are poised to forge advantageous synergies between two industry leaders to effectively respond to the increasing diverse needs of customers in beauty care.”

Amorepacific signed a deal with regional e-commerce platform Shopee back in 2021 to bolster the beauty group’s regional reach in Southeast Asia.

Bangkok, Thailand – Leo Burnett Thailand, in collaboration with Thai Health Promotion Foundation, released a new campaign that encourages Thais to reduce their sodium intake.

The campaign featured a short space-themed film titled ‘New World’ along with the theme ‘Less salt, less disease’, which encourages its audiences to be sodium-aware and rethink their diet.

The short film’s story revolved around a group of genius space travellers, travelling for many years to find the ‘new world’ and surviving by eating sodium-rich food. It ended with the space travellers perishing just before arriving ‘new world’.

The campaign is in response to small convenience stores being widely spread all over Thailand and the labour force being used to ready-to-eat behaviour with ‘high-in-sodium’ instant and frozen foods.

‘New World’ follows the recent launch of Thai Health Promotion Foundation’s ‘Oasis’ campaign, which encourages Thais to consume less sugary drinks.

Leo Burnett Thailand has also previously released a futuristic campaign in collaboration with credit card brand First Choice, titled ‘Mafia of Digital World’.

Sydney, Australia — Healthylife.com.au, a health and wellness brand, has launched a campaign to encourage Australians to start their health and fitness journey by subtracting all the distracting information, products, and service and shifting to a more simplified but finer approach.

The 30-second campaign that aired through TV commercials as well as digital and social channels, highlighted the predicament that while many sought a healthier and fitter way of life, a myriad of distractions, lack of motivating factors, or life in general, holds us back from our true potential.

Healthylife.com.au ‘Your new home of healthy’ provides a range of health and wellness advice, experiences, services and products to make consumer choices easier, personalised and more accessible.

Creative agency and innovation company Akcelo was tapped by the digital startup to develop the brand and go-to-market strategy, identity, design system, and integrated campaign for heathylife.com.au.

Ben Padfield, general manager of digital marketing and eCommerce at Healthylife, commented, saying that while many Australians see the benefits of getting healthier, it can often feel like opening Pandora’s box, with an overwhelming array of information, products and services designed to help you achieve your goals.

“Healthylife.com.au takes the hassle out of researching and deciding which products to buy to ensure whatever your healthy looks like, you can achieve it. We have worked closely with Akcelo to bring Healthylife to market. They understand our strategic objectives and how to engage Australians wanting to start and maintain their health journeys,” Padfield said.

Aden Hepburn, CEO of Akcelo, shared his own thoughts, saying, “It’s always great to start working with a brand from the ground up and that’s what we’ve achieved with Ben and the team at Healthylife. Developing the brand identity, design system, go-to-market strategy and launch campaign has been a truly collaborative experience and reflects Healthylife’s ambitions for people to get their own health journeys underway.”

Malaysia – In response to the booming interest in holistic health and wellbeing in Malaysia, content marketing agency Green Park Content (GPC) has launched an English language health and wellness content hub in the country for a company that the agency has yet to disclose. GPC said the content hub development aims to establish a powerful online presence for an integrated healthcare company. 

The new hub, which will be called ‘All Things Health’, enables access to easy-to-understand, trustworthy articles written by health editors, physicians, and wellness experts and covers key health and wellness categories such as nutrition, mental health, and balance, as well as parenthood. ‘All Things Health’ content hub addresses Malaysians’ growing demand for health and wellness information, with over five million category searches of health and wellness topics in the country per month.

Martin Niens, Green Park Content’s head of operations for APAC, shared, “We built a strong foundation for the ‘All Things Health’ content hub, using the perfect synergy of a headless CMS and world-class SEO strategy to showcase some truly amazing pieces of content which engage and empower our audiences into action.”

Meanwhile, Fe Husaint, Green Park Content’s creative and global brand head, stated that the new hub aims to meet consumers’ needs at the moment and answer the unique health concerns today, educating and inspiring them to live a healthy and well-balanced life.

“‘All Things Health’ widens the reach of natural, holistic practices, providing research-backed content to help health seekers and their families have the best health at all life stages,” said Husaint.

Ayie Austria, the head of search experience and innovation at Green Park Content APAC, shared that companies realize the importance of investing in brand publishing to build long-term value through deeper engagement and more purposeful relationships with their audiences. 

“‘All Things Health’ achieves this objective by engaging and creating meaningful conversations with young, digitally-savvy consumers and building a loyal audience,” said Austria.

GPC said that it is now planning to expand the content hub to other markets in the future.

Aside from the new ‘All Things Health’ hub, the agency has created several content hubs, including AllThingsHair.com, MasakApaHariIni.com, and BeautyHub.PH. Each content hub allows brands to own their audiences, capture first-party data and save millions in paid media.