Manulife Life Insurance Wins Marketing Initiative of the Year at Insurance Asia Awards for Brand Campaign "Better Stories"

Manulife Life Insurance Company (President and CEO: Ryan Charland, Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter "Manulife Life") is pleased to announce that its brand campaign "Better Stories" has won Marketing Initiative of the Year at the "Insurance Asia Awards 2026" (Organized by: Charlton Media Group), an award program recognizing outstanding initiatives in the insurance industry across the Asia-Pacific region. This award recognizes the campaign's success in conveying the importance of "dialogue" and "choice" at crucial life junctures through stories based on actual customer experiences, thereby fostering understanding and trust in the brand.

"Better Stories" is a brand campaign under Manulife Life's brand message "For a life of confident choices," which depicts the impetus for taking a step towards the future through customer experiences. The campaign was featured as cinema advertisements at 97 AEON CINEMA locations nationwide from September 19 to October 2, 2025, and was also released through platforms such as YouTube.

This campaign introduced how Manulife Life's Planright Advisors (sales representatives) support customers in their life planning and choices for the future, based on three true stories. The featured individuals include a former Japan national canoe athlete who found new goals after retiring from competitive sports, a Shinto priest balancing family responsibilities while inheriting tradition, and brothers who prepared for the future to protect their shared dream. Each story highlights the importance of discussing with loved ones and making choices that are personally satisfying at critical moments in life.

The campaign reached customers nationwide through cinema advertisements and digital channels, providing an opportunity to deepen understanding and empathy towards Manulife Life, and contributing to the enhancement of brand image, including trust, security, approachability, innovation, and usefulness. By focusing on stories based on customers' real experiences, the campaign fostered deep connections with many people and communicated the importance of the role "dialogue" plays in considering life choices and the future. These efforts demonstrate that stories based on real experiences have the power to deepen understanding of Manulife Life and inspire contemplation about one's own future and that of loved ones.

Regarding this award, Carla Hartlight, Chief Marketing Officer of Manulife Life, stated:

"'Better Stories' is part of Manulife's overall initiative to convey the various events and choices that shape people's lives as stories rooted in human emotions and experiences. In Japan, by placing actual customer experiences at the heart of the campaign, we developed stories that resonate with the challenges, hopes, and daily dialogues faced by people living in Japan. What we wanted to convey through this campaign is that choices leading to a better future often begin with dialogue with those close to us. When considering the future of one's family, when trying to protect what is precious, or when contemplating future preparations, Manulife Life's role is to support customers in making confident and satisfying choices through expert support and dialogue that deepens customer understanding.

We are extremely honored that this initiative has been recognized. We are also delighted that our mission to support each customer in making decisions for a better future has been reaffirmed by this award."

Manulife Life will continue to support customers in taking steps towards a better future by providing personalized solutions in both life insurance and asset building, enabling them to make choices with confidence.

About Manulife Life Insurance

Manulife Life Insurance Company is a group company of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group with headquarters in Canada. Under the brand message "For a life of confident choices," the company supports customers in making choices for a better future through solutions tailored to each individual, including protection through life insurance, retirement planning, and asset building. The company combines global expertise with insights rooted in the Japanese market to support protection, asset building, and their inheritance, aiming to achieve long-term financial well-being.

For information about the company, please visit our official website (https://www.manulife.co.jp) and LinkedIn account (https://www.linkedin.com/company/manulife-japan/).

About Insurance Asia Awards

The Insurance Asia Awards is a premier awards program for the insurance industry in the Asia-Pacific region, operated by Charlton Media Group, a leading business information and media group in Asia. It recognizes companies that have achieved outstanding results and contributed to the development of the insurance industry through new standards, innovative products, services, and initiatives.