AIA Vitality Rewards have healthy aspirations but poor delivery

AIA Vitality is apparently a “science-backed wellness programme that works to make real change to your health” so the blurb goes. Customers earn Vitality Points by engaging in a number of activities focused on helping them know more about their health and improving it. People can earn Vitality Points for healthy activities such as gym, physical exercise, buying healthy food items and stopping smoking etc.

All sounds good in practice. However a recent trip to a local supermarket partner showed how far this has to go. I can understand gaining points on Smoked Salmon (below) but on chocolate (above)? Fruits and vegetables seemed to have only half their items highlighted and rewarded, whereas you would have thought that most of the focus, reward points and branding would be here. As you can see below AIA have no reward points highlighted for healthy avocado.

I can’t see how rewarding people for buying unhealthy chocolate is going to improve their health rather than encouraging them to buy fruit and veg. Even the creative for the program itself is unhealthy, cupcakes and health anyone?

The rewards program also seems to lack the ability to track actual healthy activity, which as everyone knows is key to being healthy. You don’t lose weight and get healthier by diet alone. Rewarding physical exercise is key but how do you do this with activities that are seemingly not tracked by AIA like running and cycling outside away from a gym which many Singaporean residents do in mornings and evenings. Why not team up with someone like Endomondo or Nike Plus?

Although AIA have teamed up with True Fitness and Yoga and you receive points for attending every session, both these gyms are quite small. Surely it should be applicable for all fitness venues?

AIA also say that you receive extra points for attending organised fitness events but the website doesn’t say which ones or how these are redeemed. There are organised fitness events every week in Singapore.

Currently you don’t appear to be able to be rewarded for participating in any of them which lessons the benefits you could gain as the training for these events is key to losing weight and becoming healthier.

AIA also appear to have very few brand partners. Adidas is an obvious one as is Cold Storage (if they focused on fruit and veg for example (rather than chocolate and snacks) but less synergistic is Cathay Cinemas. Sitting around eating popcorn isn’t a very healthy option and use of your time.

Air Asia, Emirates, Royal Caribbean Cruises are other partners in a very sparse selection of infrequent purchases. How many times are you going to buy a long haul flight or cruise and how healthy are either?

AIA are also missing someone like the Health Promotion Board as a holistic partner. They could also have brought in NTUC venues as well as more private venues and healthier FMCG brands.

Also what about lunch? That is one of the worst times for Singaporeans to eat the wrong kind of diet.

It’s custom that everyone eats out at lunch and often in food centres, hawker centres and fast food outlets which are often unhealthy in nature. Where are the rewards for choosing healthier options like Salad Stop or even the healthy subs in Subway which are a Health Promotion Board partner for example?

It’s a great vision AIA have but the delivery is unhealthily executed.