AIA Showcases Keys to Excellent Customer Experience: Tech Groundwork, AI and Personal Service

Fresh as a mornings brew, AIA showcased their digitalization movement this year. An insightful way on introducing how they innovate in their goal of building healthier, stronger and better lives. 

AIA CEO Kelvin Ang says "Welcome to our second face to face meeting as we share what we have been doing after the pandemic. There's a lot of things we worked on and some of you may ask why we are doing this, it's because we want you to witness the people that have been part of our growth and a big announcement last year as we rebranded to AIA. The need to change constantly has been something that happened especially on the digital side. We are in better position to embrace the future especially in the technology, digital l, and data analytics. We used to have so many layers, we restructured it so we can work faster. We have started this in the company and the work we do with agile tribes. In our 75th year we need to start thinking about embracing change and improvement. Learning is a big part in our organization, make it sustainable, expand further and deeper. We have community, bots, an innovation culture in our organization."

He adds "In the past we used to have processes that took two weeks, now it can be done in 20 minutes. We want to make it easier for our customers. We continued to improve our customer portal online, and this year we spent a lot building sales platform to better assess their needs versus our products. It was done on Facebook messenger and fulfill our mission to make it accessible and more affordable. The one we're sharing today is something that is fun and practical, something from our innovation lab. Plus the new distribution to make it accessible and affordable like our other products."

Chief Technology Officer Noel Mendoza explains "The best worst thing that happened in technology was the pandemic, people had to adapt in a faster pace. Everything had to be changed, and it has changed the way consumers get products and services. What we want to share is the things we need to do in the office. It's very different, as customers demand more and to be able to listen to them. It allows us to attune to customers needs today. This will change over time, and this is our innovation program. Our lab makes us understand what is possible, it's where we see what's relevant in the market. We will give you a taste of that and why automation is important."

Dwayne Tin the Innovation and Automation Lead of AIA says "We are not a physical lab, we enable everyone from CEO to customer to have a voice. It's a virtual representation of what we try to be. In a minute you can do a tour to experience how it is to be part of innovation on ground."

The consumers are vital for technology to reach goals. Improvement needs feedback to see what works and what doesn't. Interacting with customers made them learn to discover and combine things in an automation process. The chat bots was made with the customer in mind, to start conversations that are usually asked, like payments and or policy updates especially if they want to information now. It also is manned by digital workers to provide services fast, without queues, send it to you even with multiple policies in tow. Now it just isn't queries they answer, they do transactions and can do it also on My AIA for more secured ones. It also gives customers the ability to understand the costs without being too shy about asking an actual person, even just on messenger you can already accomplish things. It allows in person conversation to a minimal, so they too can concentrate on those what matters most.

Thank you to everyone who showed us around their offices this morning. Really appreciate it!

AIA Philippines want this to be better, to make sure they can build more things to help more customers in the future. That's a noble thing.

Limited Edition Fresh with BT21 Line Dropping Soon!

It looks like FRESH Philippines is changing the look of their best selling skin care products. The season just calls for it. If you're a certified BT21 lover, you better be ready for BT21 Soothing Gels, Alcosprays, official merch and collectibles that will come very soon. This will be anyone's dream gift to receive (especially these holidays) as it is limited edition.

Always coming out with quality skin care products, FRESH Philippines promises you'll love what's coming with their Fresh with BT21 line. You're going to be extra happy as you take this skincare voyage with your favorite UNIVERSTAR BT21 friends #KOYA, #RJ, #SHOOKY, #MANG, #CHIMMY, #TATA, #COOKY and #VAN.

You can get FREE BT21 collectible photocard for every Php 499 worth of purchase. Aside from that, there will be Fresh products that will be half the price. This will start from November 15 to 21st, 2021 and will be available at all Watsons E-Commerce platforms and their over 800++ retail outlets nationwide! I've personally seen them, and I'm sure you'll love to get your hands on these products from FRESH Philippines!

Get ready to fill up your baskets and check out!

You've Got to Try DEFENSIL

I've never seen one of these in stores near our house so I was kinda skeptic seeing this for the first time. During the pandemic, we all needed one of these and I was specifically looking for one that is 70% solution and is in a spray bottle. They all answered my prayers. My friends online couldn't stop raving about how convenient it is to actually own one, then when I got hold of them myself, I immediately understood why they had so much to say about a bottle.

First of all, DEFENSIL smells nice. It's not overpowering, or dries skin. Best feature for me is the actual bottle because it's so handy to spray on surfaces or packages which I have a lot of at home. So in  a nutshell, it's efficient and I've never seen anyone say that with a bottle of alcohol right? But fear not, I think they've worked a lot in these past few months to supply markets with these bottles and spray containers that proved to be a hit at home. Add to that, they're actually getting their own brand ambassadors to not just endorse that brand, but to show how it actually applies in a family. It takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez and yes, they got Richard Gutierrez and Sarah Lahbati and their kids Zion and Kai to tell their story.

Just like you, Richard and Sarah had to find ways to make their homes germ free to protect their kids and their whole family. In this pandemic, we receive packages, touch doors, handles, cars, sign documents, which means there's always a threat from germs and viruses. Sarah always makes it a point to sanitize at home which is why they trust Defensil. It's 70 percent Solution Isopropyl Alcohol and has moisturizer in them so it won't dry your skin. They needed to do it quite frequently these days because of obvious reasons. They have confidence that it kills 99.9% of common germs and bacteria, hypoallergenic and keep things safe at home. Holidays will surely still feel special and they won't worry that much because they've got Defensil by their side.

You too can know more about their family and what Defensil can do for you via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/defensil.philippines. It's time you get to know more about it, because so far, I've been enjoying Defensil in the spray bottle, kept it too when it gets spent and just refilled it with a bottle.

You've got to try it!

TAWILIS: A Good Breakfast Treat

If there's one thing that this pandemic has done, it's that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Filipino actually surfaced. Tons of businesses left and right, to survive, we had to resort of many ways to earn a living. This includes services, products, even food, which all remind us of our humble beginnings.

 Now I loved staying in Tagaytay city. Whenever we stay there, our relatives remind us how welcome we are each time we visit. In the morning, I always wait eagerly for breakfast which includes toast, rice, ham, bacon and eggs, plus my favorite the super crispy fried Tawilis. The pandemic had us all confined in the city and think twice about going out of Metro Manila. While I wanted a taste of good breakfast in Tagaytay, it was a bit impossible as Tawilis was pretty much sourced only in Taal Lake.

Lo and behold, our friends heard our wishes. There actually exists DRIED TAWILIS. I was so ecstatic that something like this is available in Metro Manila. During breakfast the next day, I lightly toasted this over hot canola oil and I was overly careful not to do it too long as it might burn. I also sprinkled a little sugar just like how I cook my dilis. And voila! You now have your own Crispy Dried Tawilis at home. Since this is Tawilis, it's not overly salty because it comes from fresh water. 

What's good is that one packet of these actually can feed a bout 3 or 4 people. It looked quite small with the packaging but when you fry and take it out, it's enough to feed a small family. Now imagine having this with fresh sliced tomatoes, onions and salted egg... ugh... I know right? Well don't fret because it's actually easy to order from them. Just call Kuya Nic's via 0995 3336670. He's doing this also to help a business in Tagaytay that was heavily hit during Taal Volcano's eruption a few months ago and of course they typhoon.

 You'll love this good breakfast treat, I'm sharing it so you too can help businesses thrive during the pandemic. 

Cheers!

A Celebrity Secret Solution for Oily Skin

It’s a great day today. Been busy covering events left and right and honestly I didn’t know how celebrities do it. I’m a man, I don’t wear make up, I don’t put a lot of things in my face because I want to maintain it clean and simple. My schedule is packed, I go from morning events til evening movie premiers. I have one problem though, which is more or less faced by people who go through the same crazy schedules that I have. It’s oily skin, especially in the T Zone, that’s on my forehead and nose area.

What I usually do is to ALWAYS go to the Men’s Room and wash my face, dab it lightly with a paper towel then wipe it with a handkerchief. It’s a little troublesome because it takes away minutes from my coverages and also, it’s not just everywhere too that we have clean toilets and I abhor also those who have no water at all (yes it happens). Bloggers like me also need to be presentable, people take photos, you also meet executives, artists, people in front or behind the camera.

Don’t you wonder how celebrities do it? How do they maintain looking so fresh and oil free the whole day? It’s been a problem too for Ms. Beverly Salviejo, as you may know, the renowned actress has been having skin issues and even swear how it has been impossible for her to maintain her makeup on the whole day. She had to retouch, remove her makeup sometimes because it just wouldn’t look good on screen... and because of her ultra oily skin.

She’s finally found the solution and shared her experience. It’s one of the things that some celebrities are using but are keeping it a secret. It’s called Magiteque Liquipowder by Beverly Glow.

Here’s Ms. Beverly Salviejo to tell you all about it on video and shared how she solved it with the help of her doctor. This is also locally made with the quality processes they follow.

During our interview, she also didn’t hesitate to let us try Magiteque Liquipowder by Beverly Glow ourselves. She stood up and applied the product on me. Now mind you I was a bit oily on my T Zone and I didn’t know if it would work on me.

Well in fact, it felt like a layer of baby powder was applied on me. It was light, not sticky, and I could see the difference. That shinyness on my my forehead was gone in seconds, my face became brighter and I didn’t feel heavy. It was just as if I cleaned up and I haven’t even been to the men’s room this time. For women, this works as a base before you out on your make up and sets it so that you won’t have oily skin later on and have that cakey look on it. Artists who shoot the whole day use it and just retouch later on without the need to re-do it. It’s a mineralized mattifier and make up setter in a nutshell, but I didn’t have to wear makeup and just use it on it’s own, I look good, I didn’t become oily for hours and didn’t felt sticky the whole day while covering events.

It solved her problems, it solved mine (I used it for 4 days straight) and I didn’t even need to wash my face too often because it wasn’t as oily anymore. Would you like to experience that? You may order via Facebook.com/liquipowder or just search BeverlyGlow on FB or order via 09189428298 wherever you are in the Philippines. Don’t take my word for it, you should try it and see how it has helped celebrities and ordinary people like me.

KUMAGCOW

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A NONI Fruit and Stevia Farm Tour in Bulacan

Have you heard or seen a NONI fruit? How about a Stevia plant? Well I have heard of it but have never seen it. Today we're privileged to have been able to visit a Stevia farm in Sta. Maria Bulacan. 

Dr. Tito Contado and The Queen o Stevia Ms. Au De Leon welcomed us and said "It's a good day today and we hope we could get you to enjoy the little tour we prepared for you in the Sweet and Fit Stevia farm which is dubbed as The Sweetest Farm In Town. We thank you for your gracious presence, today the NONI that we are talking about is a creation of God who is the formulator of the natural NONI. While Au is the queen of Stevia, you can call me the King of NONI in the Philippines. As part the media, I could only imagine what would interest you in this farm, I have been an agricultural professional since the 60's and I have been educating farmers about new farming technologies here and abroad. 

I have comfortably retired already, but I decided to come back here because I felt there was so much I can do for the development of the country. With all the pool of comfortable life outside the Philippines, I asked myself how we have tons of scientists and research but don't have products in the country. They all end up in other countries instead of us making a product. We have labor but don't have them working mostly here. I learned in my travels that entrepreneurs are the backbone of any country, it generates employment and producing multimillion wort of products from NONI, an obscure medicinal plant, have been able to convert this into a really good enterprise. 75 percent of it is being sold on exports and only have 25% sold in the Philippines. We want to revere that and hopefully sell more here. We have local farmers here who find this fruit in the wild, and they get paid a lot as we produce tons of it. Americans have tested this to be the most potent neutraceutical content and it was Tahitian Noni, but people have discovered we have this already in the country. 

With this NONI Juice, some people have found it to cure tumors, I had a bypass in the 90's and only 3/15 of us in the hospital who took it, and learned we healed faster than the others since we had our surgery. Our blood pressure has been constant and found us healthy. Many of these people in Los Banos where I got my bypass were still in theraphy, they were all gone and I am still here even if most of them were younger than me. I said thank God! I beleive that at 81, I shouldn't be doing many things like what I am doing now, but NONI is good and I want to make people know about it. I want them to know that if it comes in the Philippines we have a good product. I want everyone to be younger, better, healthier even at the golden years of their life."

So we also saw how they planted and produced the Noni fruit and Stevia plants, they call it PhilNONI Juice Con Stevia, and recently they have been able to supply this at Mercury Drug nationwide! I think they would be able to realize their dream locally since the biggest chain already approved it in their stores. The company who produces it is called Philippine Morinda Citrifolia, Incorporated and it is basedin 9613 Taal Street in Los Banos Laguna. You can visi their channels at Facebook.com/PhilMorindaCitrifolia and their website www.philnoni.com.

It retails for Php 1050 per 500ml bottle in Mercury Drug outlets nationwide.

KUMAGCOW

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Sanicare: Never Compromise Hygiene

I've been a stalwart of standard hygiene and grooming for men and with the products available in the market, I sit and wonder if it is worth it to use products that are a little off tangent? I mean outside the norm of what we usually use because of name recall? Be it as it may, we know we have several things in our homes that qualify for that category. This particular time it had me thinking, I might have been doing it wrong the whole time. My mistake was just buying off what was cheap and economical, rather than knowing about the harmful stuff I could have been experiencing in my own home. I just had to remind myself, that I think that's really scary.

Do you have kids in your house? I don't, but I generally care for the sons and daughters of my relatives that I become instant baby sitter when they visit me at home. I'm quite handy and can change diapers when I need to. The real test was not to get each of them sick, especially the part where we have to take care of their skin. It's a chore to find that perfect diaper if it's a hot day and you want to just keep them hygienic.

The last thing you would want to end up with is rashes and skin irritations that would immediately make you want to go to the doctor because you didn't know. You plan ahead and need to know what's light, breathable and  can be conveniently stored in baby bags, to keep them dry without going overboard on the budget. Sanicare was good, I'm thinking people are only buying the popular ones because of name recall. This one made my nephews and nieces happy, that's good.

My Mom and Dad always had a stash of Cotton Balls lying around because we know how nicks, bruises and bumps do to diabetic people. It's quite a chore for them to heal because of their condition, aside from that I have day and night creams that I also apply on my face (secretly) so it gets the moisture it needs, but I don't use my bear hands for that because having cotton balls is the hygienic way to do it. What surprised me the most is that these things are available in different sizes with Sanicare, I use the jumbo ones because I don't want to feel icky before I sleep. My Mom and Dad uses the small ones as it proves mighty useful in nooks and crannies. They also have it when they're having manicures and pedicures as it fits snug in between toes. It could prove very good too with babies because it could cover a huge area. We have to remember though that having 100% soft and pure cotton is a must, it wouldn't feel right if you get something synthetic. Aside from the danger of germs you could get some nasty reaction with chemicals that might be in those things, we don't want to gamble.

I had the notion that wet wipes were for babies so I didn't bother to use them regularly nor stock any of it at home. I usually just ask friends who have em at times, being a cheapo had its perks. Now I haven't been able to really know how convenient it is to have one all the time because I'm not a germ freak, but do you know how dirty things are today and how many germs, bacteria are in everyday items like your phones? Mind you, it could actually make you sick. It's a fact and if you're not careful, you could end up in a hospital, waste thousands of pesos paying for a medical bill that could have been prevented by wiping it off with an anti bacterial wipe like this one from Sanicare. This is Sanicare's Cleansing Wipes.

I like this the most as I've been using it for a week. It's textured so if you're wiping off something like an oily body part, you not only get to clean it up, you also get needed moisturizer which keeps your skin hydrated no matter what time of the day.

The technology in packaging is impressive nowadays that you can simply stick everything back and close it up. No spills, no contamination, plus would you believe... it's got Aloe Vera and Vitamin E.

The formulation would be okay for adults and kids, but for babies it should be this instead!

Sanicare Baby Wipes have the same anti bacterial effect (which you really need) plus it's actually alcohol and paraben free (as that could cause problems with soft babies skin). Parabens are basically preservatives that are found in most cosmetic products, although there are still no claims if it does pose health risks, companies have begun removing them as it is being also absorbed in the skin as test in male subjects have also been done. It's a good thing we don't have to worry about it anymore as there are still studies being made on the matter, and Sanicare doesn't have that already.

The packaging is also kept safe by the technology they employed on it. Now you don't have to worry as long as it's shut and stuck neatly in place.

For those who want it handy, they also have Sanicare Multipurpose Tissues. Since it's a small pack, it can easily fit in your gym bags, purses, cases, and does the job of your usual tissue papers. It felt a bit on the dry side so you'll probably be able to use this to wipe wet surfaces with ease as it could absorb quite nicely even if it is that small.

Now I know a lot of guys who own cars and need this 24/7. Sanicare Facial Tissues are available as refillable boxes.You can buy the refill in places where you get this as well and all you have to do is open the flap on the sides and put it in. Just make sure you've got the slit on top opened before you do so. Dirt on your dashboard, spilled food and drinks from a regular drive through stop you made in Jollibee? That's not going to be good unless you have the Sanicare Facial Tissue handy. 

Aside from that, your regular sniffs, the dirt and pollution that's going to your face, this can help a lot. It's so soft and smooth, and won't irritate your skin even if you're rubbing it a bit hard on your face (I actually did). It picked up dirt quite easy and also absorbs quite nicely. Thin as it looks, it's got enough ply to make it useful for everyday use.

At 140 pulls, this could actually save me a lot instead of buying those other ones that are cheap, but totally rough on the skin. I was wrong to do that and I'm probably going to correct it now that I know the difference. Aside from the environmental gain we get from using refillable facial tissues, these boxes are super nice because it resembles wooden boxes and stone, depending on the design you prefer to buy. That's what you call options, a good thing in terms of changing interiors and fashion sense among men of our age, younger or older. It's like a sensible choice.

Sanicare also has Sanicare Premium Hygienic Facial Tissues. What caught my eye was the term "Virgin Pulp" that tells me it's fiber is from trees that have been cut fresh from a forest, where the process doesn't need de-inking like when the process is from recycled paper. Their procedure calls for real trees that comes from farms - that grows fast, replanted so you only get new pulp in each cycle. If you think about it, that would cost a lot but it would mean you'll get less carbon footprint as the process is healthy. You get something that's not processed in harmful chemicals, you get what you deserve. I love how white and soft it turned out to be and I am quite content with the way they get the material from certified farms, it gives me peace of mind that I won't get sick because of what the paper has gone through. I mean, would you even gamble your health? How about your baby?

Which takes me to our next point, I love how Sanicare also came out with these Sanicare Large Cotton Buds. Did you know that doctors usually don't suggest you poke your ear that far with a cotton swab? It's because it could cause ear infection, something that we don't want to happen especially for babies. Though it is quite often for Asians to actually have dry ears, we still shouldn't do things that doctors won't advise. It makes sense though, and we know we should only clean it just on the parts where it's safe. We don't want complications and this would surely be the perfect thing to prevent you from going overboard especially for babies that have sensitive skin.

If you are a person who prefer to be detailed, pick up miniscule dirt along hard to reach areas of the ears or use things like medicines, creams without using your hands, Sanicare has Mini Cotton buds that could fit the bill. Make sure though you don't stick it anywhere that the doctor says it shouldn't (I have reminded you earlier!). Better be safe than sorry!

I made a mistake of making grocery shopping decisions by getting hygiene products just because they're cheap. I'm glad to know that there are a lot of other options I should have considered, because Sanicare isn't that expensive, they are actually in the middle range and everyone knows... quality really matters. I'm sorry I learned the hard way, but I'm glad I got to know Sanicare a little more. I'm happy to know what I have achieved in this small article. 

I learned to never compromise when it's about hygiene.