ABOUT

OVERVIEW
The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) engaged the ad agency as its consultant because it saw the need to further raise public awareness on the Authority itself and the program – the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa – it offers. It further noted that its Facebook page became the center of communications and concerns by potential visa applicants, existing members, and by other stakeholders. This presented the Authority with the opportunity to primarily use its official Facebook page in developing an awareness campaign to prospective retirees, marketers, and other stakeholders. PRA banked on the more than a decade's experience and expertise of Ad agency to meet its ambitious targets, including those set for them by the Governance Commission for GOCCs.

SOLUTION
Strategy: The idea for "Experience Retirement in the Philippines” are driven by two things: (1) addressing the main drivers for foreign retirees in considering relocation to the Philippines and (2) maximizing the popularity and effectiveness of the overall Philippine tourism campaign of It’s More Fun in the Philippines.

By focusing on these two drivers, the social media communications campaign hoped to portray the Philippines as a country that offers the best benefit for retirees that maximizes their funds in a fun and exciting way. It also aimed to position the PRA as their partner in getting seamless services so they can enjoy retirement with no worries.

To implement this communications strategy, we created a retiree funneling strategy which involved the following the journey described below:
Step 1: Increase PRA fanbase and engage current and potential customers. Develop Facebook ads enticing potential retirees to like or follow the PRA Facebook page. These ads will have regional variants wherein captions and copies on the ad materials will be in the local language where the audience currently is residing. This will be supplemented by engagement ads that feature content discussing who the PRA is, what the SRRV is and its benefits, and the reasons why the target audiences should consider retiring in the Philippines.
Step 2: Provide curated content to drive retirees to consider the Philippines as their retirement destination. The PRA Facebook page will post relevant content, which includes PRA services, benefits of living in the Philippines, and testimonials from actual retirees currently enjoying their life in the country. To ensure the freshness and authenticity of content, monthly themes and content buckets have been developed to guide content creators in crafting copies and creative materials.
Step 3: Offer 24/7 customer support to potential retirees. To provide the best information possible to potential retirees, 24/7 support will be given to people who will message the PRA through its Facebook page. Community managers from both the ad agency and the PRA are on standby to respond to inquiries received during business hour while a chatbot using Tidio has been designed and developed by the ad agency to answer any query that would be received outside office hours.
Step 4: Drive traffic to the PRA website, with the goal of convincing retirees to apply for the SRRV. After providing information through social media posts and support through community management and the chatbot, the end goal is to direct retirees to the PRA website so they can begin the process for applying for the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa.

Creative approach: Since our target audiences are part of the ageing population, creative materials such as social media posts use natural colors that represent relaxation, calm, and new adventure. Elements like wavy backgrounds and rounded corners for shapes were also added to represent flexibility, smoothness, and comfort. In terms of typography, sans serifs are chosen as these are easier to read for the target audiences and are more direct. Size of texts are only considered for better readability in mobile devices.

Key messages: Facebook content and social media ads reinforce overarching messages such as ‘Retirement in the Philippines is fun and exciting’, ‘Choosing to retire in the Philippines is a great escape that opens doors to both relaxation and adventure’, and ‘You can fulfill your lifelong dreams when you retire in the Philippines.’

1. Retirement in the Philippines is fun and exciting.
• Develop monthly content and ad themes that highlight the many things the retirees can expect when they relocate to the Philippines: summer and fiesta, environment, food and nutrition, history and culture, local adventures, health and wellness, Filipino values, and unique holiday traditions and experiences.
2. Choosing to retire in the Philippines is a great escape that open doors to both relaxation and adventure.
• Feature content that shows what retirees can do in the Philippines: showcase destinations, festivals, events, and activities.
• Excite retirees by using high quality images of destinations and activities.
3. You can fulfill your lifelong dreams when you retire in the Philippines.
• Feature content which presents all information retirees need to know about the PRA (i.e. how to avail services and assistance).
• Feature content which spotlights on the recommendations of satisfied foreign retirees living in the Philippines, including their success stories.
• Feature content which discusses reasons that make the Philippines the perfect retirement destination: world-class healthcare professionals, value for money healthcare costs, tropical weather, friendly people.

RESULTS
"Experience Retirement in the Philippines” succeeded as a social media communications campaign in improving the social impact and financial viability of PRA’s retirement program, the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa, through better reach and engagement of PRA customers in its official Facebook page.

Objective 1: Drive awareness and spark engagement among customers of PRA.
• Added 12,028 new fans/followers, resulting to an increase of PRA Facebook page fanbase by 73% (vs target of ≥ 15% increase in Facebook fans/followers)
• Facebook content reached a total of 8,040,814 people worldwide, recording an increase of 492% compared to total reach of published content in 2021 (vs target of ≥ 15% increase in total reach)
• Recorded a total of 427,652 engagements for published content in 2022, resulting to an increase of 28% compared to total engagements of published content in 2021 (vs target of ≥ 15% increase in total engagements)
• 800 out of 1,000 customers served by community managers and by the PRA chatbot gave at least a satisfactory rating for the support they received, meeting PRA target of ≥ 80% customer satisfaction rating

Objective 2: Improve the financial viability of the SRRV program.
• Registered a total of 2,576 new enrollees to the SRRV program, beating the target of ≥ 1,300 enrollees
• Recorded a net operating income of Php378,000,000.00 for 2022, exceeding the target of ≥ Php150,000,000.00 net operating income
• Achieved a 247% return on marketing expense, surpassing the ≥ 127% target

Objective 3: Improve the social impact of the PRA.
• Recorded a total of $30,538,138.89 in foreign currency representing the total of new visa deposits received for 2022, beating the target of ≥ $11,121,500.00 in annual foreign currency generated