Reflections on the road: AIA CMO Melissa Henson shares lessons she learned in her second year at the helm

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – “As a CMO, I don’t just wear the brand hat — I [also] wear the customer hat. When I sit in any meeting … I am there to defend the customer in every instance and make sure that we understand what the customer [needs].” With a smile on her face and a determination to serve people, AIA Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Henson makes the business of leading a healthy life seem easy and, more importantly, attainable.

In an exclusive talk with adobo Magazine, Melissa broke down the makings of a good leader, how AIA is helping Filipinos become healthier, and the importance of connections in marketing.

The makings of a good marketer

In her second year in her role at the leading insurance company, Melissa has painted a perfect picture of what an ideal CMO and leader should be like — reflecting her own traits as well. Beyond the technical skills and know-how of the industry, she emphasized three soft skills that a proficient leader must have, starting with intuition. 

“I think for someone to reach the level of a CMO, they probably will have strong intuition. And for those that are moving up in the marketing area, [or] in the creative area, gut feel, to me, is something that sometimes we underestimate.” She went on to share that during the times that she ignored her gut feeling, things have not panned out as well as she wanted. On the other hand, she explained, “The times when I’ve listened to my gut, even if it doesn’t make logical sense, have actually really been good.”

The second trait she identified was risk-taking. “A little bit of courage, I think, is critical because marketing is about cutting through. It’s about breaking through noise, cutting through clutter. If we don’t have the courage to do something different from what the next person is doing, it’s going to be extremely challenging to achieve that,” she expounded.

Lastly, she pointed to the importance of a CMO’s capability of keeping things fun. She shared that as a CMO herself, Melissa’s day-to-day activities require her to have a flexible role — and sometimes, that can be quite technical and strenuous. But she stressed that despite the heavy workload, she finds ways to make things enjoyable. She enthused: “I think maybe that is sort of an inborn talent of every marketer. We just know how to have fun. Even when the work gets heavy, we can keep things light. And I think people see that in the output also: if you’re having fun doing what you do, then the output is just so much better.”

Keeping the people in mind and in heart

Melissa’s passion for her work extends beyond her desk, and into the actual lives of Filipinos. And she does this through the development of AIA’s campaigns. This begins with the first step: getting to know the people she wants to talk to. 

“We still have fairly low insurance penetration in the Philippines,” she began to explain. “There’s so much room and so much opportunity for more Filipinos to enjoy the protection and the peace of mind that comes with insurance.”

Upon doing research for their campaign “Rethink Healthy,” Melissa and her team found that almost 60% of the respondents said they suffer from stress because of financial worry. In relation to that, she stated that almost half of the respondents said they hesitate to get health care because of the price. “The financial worry actually affects people’s mental health because it puts them under stress. It affects their physical health because they don’t seek the care that they need out of fear of the cost,” she summarized.

“I think it’s important for us as insurance companies to continue to educate and continue to understand [consumers].” She rationalized that through the research for “Rethink Healthy,” her team realized that people have a real concern for their health, but they also don’t know what to do about it. This led Melissa to ponder what role AIA can play in people’s lives, and how they can answer or solve people’s concerns. “Part of that is not going straight into the insurance bit, but really just talking about health. Then from there, we move forward.”

A significant key to gently approaching consumers and talking to them about insurance, as Melissa stated, is to simply build a good rapport with them. “Insurance isn’t something that you buy at the store just like that, or [something] you can quickly pick up off the shelf. It’s something that requires us to talk to people, understand their personal needs, so we can find the right solution for each individual,” she emphasized.

Rather than just pushing pamphlets in people’s faces, AIA took to the streets and demonstrated what services the company can offer people through a practical approach. One of these is the initiative “AIA Healthiest Schools,” a health literacy program wherein AIA visited public schools and taught students how to eat healthy, be active, and live sustainably. From the school year of 2024 to 2025, the company visited five cities and reached 7,000 children. At the end of the program, AIA ran a local contest among the participating schools on creating a project on applying the lessons the children learned. The local finalist, Happy Hollow National High School in Baguio, was then brought to Da Nang, Vietnam as part of the regional leg of the contest. 

Another effort of AIA to reach people where they are is the Hope Mobi-Clinic, in partnership with The Medical City, that provides free breast cancer screenings for women in Metro Manila. The mobile mammogram initiative has recently made stops in Pasig City, San Juan City, and Quezon City, with plans to bring it to more cities in Manila this year. 

“We are able to screen about 1,000 women every year. And last year, through the screening, we detected breast cancer in three women. Two are already in remission, and one is about to complete her treatment. AIA covers the full treatment as well,” Melissa beamed proudly. “When we talk about healthier, longer, better lives — even the way we reach out to our communities — [it] is focused on either building healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle from the beginning, or providing access to women who may not have the right access to care for their needs.” 

When it comes to building connections with potential customers, they assume a practical method through on-ground events. Another initiative she cited is “Rethink Healthy,” with its recent event being a collaboration with the Just Show Up Run Club and an after-run sober coffee party, which was held at the Ayala Triangle right outside AIA’s office in Makati City. 

Melissa also noted that AIA recognizes people’s varying preferences in caring for their health. She shared that they have also sponsored mindful painting classes, spinning, boxing, and even pole dancing. “People have other activities they engage in to release, to feel healthier, to feel better about themselves, and we’re here to support all of those different efforts,” she highlighted.

Reflections on the road

While it’s still daybreak in Melissa’s journey with AIA, she’s already gained profound appreciation for what she and the brand do for people. “I think what I’ve enjoyed the most in my two years with AIA is [that] we’ve reintroduced the brand, tried new things, experienced new challenges, and learned new things in the process as well. Our focus really is on health, and that in itself has allowed me to learn so many things,” she reflected.

She pondered on the many ways that AIA has tried — and succeeded — to communicate with their target market. She cited that they had been experimenting with “moment marketing” and had quite a bit of fun with that, and even with their out-of-home materials for Rethink Healthy, which clearly left a mark on herself. “When we did Rethink Healthy, we put up mini billboards on the De La Rosa walkway that were interactive and represented the four health pillars that were part of the campaign.” 

She went on to explain each effort: “There was one for physical health. It was in a rainbow shape, so you would get a neck exercise while reading the ad. There was one for mental health, which was a self affirmation selfie mirror. I was particularly proud of the one for environmental health because it was covered with little stickies that’s actually plantable paper. People would take a piece and they could plant it, and we had to replenish it a few times because it ran out so quickly! And the financial health one that was almost like a hologram. As you walk, the words would change.”

“Fun executions, things maybe we’ve not tried before, things that are unexpected from an insurance company — I think that’s part of the fun and challenge of being here,” she stated.

Lessons from the top

Being at the helm of an insurance company, Melissa has learned two of the most important lessons that her roles require of her in order to achieve the results she wants, and foster meaningful engagement with customers. The first, she recounted, is putting the customer first. “As a CMO, I don’t just wear the brand hat — I [also] wear the customer hat. And more than anything, when I sit in any meeting, when I have a conversation with anyone, I am there to defend the customer in every instance and really make sure that we understand what the customer [needs].” 

“The second thing, I would say, is connection.” She reflected on how AIA was previously known as Philam Life — a well-known name for over 70 years — and how that history has benefitted AIA in its rebrand, and how much it means to continue such a successful legacy. “As we rebuild the brand, connection to us is super important. We have a lot of tenured colleagues, we have a lot of tenured insurance advisors. So I need to make sure we’re connecting and building relationships with our internal stakeholders, so that they become ambassadors of our new brand, and at the same time, also connecting with consumers.” 

“We are riding on the coattails of a strong legacy brand. How we bridge from [Philam Life] to AIA, and making sure we’re connecting with customers, making sure the message we send out is received and engaging, is quite critical,” she stressed. 

A word for would-be marketers and fellow CMOs

As we witness her promising journey unfold before our very eyes, Melissa shared one piece of advice that she has for fellow CMOs and budding marketers, and it’s one that she herself practices on a daily basis too: be brave.

“The role of the marketer, the role of the CMO, is evolving.” She looked back on her own personal journey, from joining brands and communications, to immersing herself in customer engagement. “It’s a role that I think will continue to evolve as the business needs change as well. So, we have to be brave. We have to be open to change. We have to be agile. We have to be open to accepting new challenges and finding new ways marketing can impact the business.”

“It can mean a lot of experimentation, a lot of trial and error. Not everything works, but being able to try something and pick ourselves up if it doesn’t work, then move on to the next thing is very important.”

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