Tongue twisting welcome to AIA

Whilst it comes naturally to Sinhalese and Tamil speakers, our two main island languages are recognised as amongst the most difficult in the world to enunciate.  This did not stop AIA from finding and persuading foreign nationals, each representing its key markets in Asia, to speak Sinhalese and Tamil in its unusual and striking new TV commercial.

The amateur actors had great fun welcoming Sri Lankans in our own traditional greeting of ‘Ayubowan’. Using real people speaking our language was a symbolic way of informing viewers that AIA has a heritage of over 90 years in the Asia Pacific region and in-depth understanding of the unique needs of Asian nations.

This appreciation of Asian values has enabled AIA to become the fifth largest life insurer in the world by market capitalisation (as at 30 November 2012) with market leading positions in most of the group’s 16-strong markets in the region, truly signifying that the leading insurer understands the heartbeat of the Asian people.     

Amal Perera, General Manager, Marketing and Bancassurance explained: “Asians speaking in Sinhala and Tamil was a refreshingly simple way to show that AIA, with over 90 years of experience in the region has a deep understanding of Asian values to win our hearts and minds.”

The Asian Insurance giant AIA’s entry into Sri Lanka by acquiring a 92.3% stake in Aviva NDB Insurance was accompanied by the innovative TV commercial to introduce the leading pan-Asian insurer to this country. Aviva NDB Insurance was rebranded as AIA Insurance Lanka PLC recently.