AIA Hong Kong has partnered with British football club Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) to raise funds with signed Spurs jerseys, with all proceeds benefiting the AIA Foundation’s youth development programmes in Hong Kong.
On 17 February, Spurs and Manchester United faced off in the DFL Cup quarterfinals. After the game, Spurs players signed unique jerseys with the AIA Foundation emblem. These jerseys were up for auction online until 2 March. The funds raised from this charity initiative will support educational and personal development programmes for young people in Hong Kong, helping them live healthier, longer, better lives. Fans can bid on signed jerseys from Spurs players online until 2 March.
Since 2013, AIA Group has partnered with Spurs and is now its global principal partner. AIA and Spurs work together to promote health and wellness through community football training programmes, inspiring communities across Asia to actively participate in sports and develop healthy lifestyles.
The special-edition jersey auction was first initiated in the 2015/16 season. Each season, during a designated Spurs home match, Spurs players wear jerseys featuring the logo of a selected charity from one of the AIA markets to show their support.
After the match, these jerseys are signed by the players and auctioned to raise funds for the featured charity. Over the years, the initiative has supported charities and communities in Mainland China, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. For the 2024/25 season, proceeds will go to the AIA Foundation for the first time.
Donna-Maria Cullen (pictured middle), executive director, Tottenham Hotspur and trustee of the club’s foundation, said, “We are proud to continue our work alongside AIA to provide a unique platform to raise awareness for worthy causes from across the Asia-Pacific region every season, with the fantastic work of AIA Foundation promoted to a global audience of billions around our fixture with Manchester United.”
Melissa Wong (pictured right), chief customer and marketing officer of AIA Hong Kong and Macau, said, “We are honoured that AIA Foundation in Hong Kong has been selected as the featured charity this season. This charity initiative makes our partnership with Spurs even more impactful, extending beyond football and health and wellness to also support youth development and nurture the next generation of leaders in Hong Kong.”
MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to AIA for more information.
The partnership also aligns with AIA's recent brand campaign to "Rethink healthy", challenging stereotypes, narrowing depictions of health in Asia and calling for new definitions of health that will encourage more people to live healthier.
As part of AIA’s One Billion ambition to engage people to live healthier and better lives by 2030, “Rethink healthy” aims to promote a more holistic and sustainable approach to wellbeing that is inclusive, relevant and achievable for people in Asia.
During an interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously, Stuart A. Spencer, group chief marketing officer, AIA, said as one of the largest life and health insurers across Asia, AIA is trying to liberate consumers with the campaign, shifting from a one-dimensional view of what healthy looks like and redefining healthy on people's individual terms.
“We are trying to unhinge people from the belief that they cannot become healthy, by making them realise that actually, that's only one view of being healthy[...] And what we want to inspire people to do is to embark on their own personal journey to live healthier, longer and better lives, on their own terms, not on social media’s terms,” said Spencer.
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