Globally and regionally, the Allianz Group has always been known to staunchly promote sports as a way to connect with communities and their people. In Germany, for instance, it has partnered with no less than FC Bayern for a football camp. In the Philippines, Allianz has chosen obstacle course racing (OCR) as the sport to be associated with. Aside from OCR becoming more popular as it gains followers from running and endurance sports athletes, Allianz was convinced the distinct characteristics of the sport open opportunities for indigenous peoples.
“OCR is an up-and-coming sport, and is slowly but surely gaining popularity in the Philippines. In fact, it will now be included in the upcoming SEA Games. We saw how the spirit of the sport is very much aligned and consistent with our brand belief that ‘life is complicated.., it is a journey of trails, failures and successes,” said Gae Martinez, Chief Marketing Officer, Allianz PNB Life.
For the past two years, Allianz has been the title sponsor of four OCR events in partnership with Conquer Challenge, a group that promotes OCR in the Philippines. Allianz has even included OCR in its corporate social responsibility programs and has invited Aeta youths in its OCR activities. In fact, the company brought five Aetas to the recent Allianz OCR Sunday in Filinvest, Alabang to give them the opportunity to become part of the national pool.
“At Allianz, we want to drive change through the people in the communities we are operating in by providing them opportunities, thereby preparing them to face the future. The Aetas are often overlooked, and we want to give them a fair chance of having employment opportunities in the future. So aside from educating them with the basics of personal finance through our financial literacy program, we would like to impart to them resilience and the value of committing to achieve goals that they have to set,” Martinez said, adding that, “Allianz wants to inspire and motivate the Aetas to succeed in life.”
Prior to supporting the Aetas to join OCR, Allianz was supporting Barangay Villa Maria as its adopted community, a pilot project for their Financial Literary program. After observing the interesting physical stamina and skills of the Aetas, Allianz officials invited some 25 students and their teachers to join the Conquer Challenge in Clark, Pampanga in December last year.
“An obstacle course is very similar to life —as you go thru life’s journeys, before you get to your destination, you will have to tackle and overcome a series of obstacles. But generally people are afraid to take that step, to overcome these obstacles hindering them from moving forward. Thankfully Allianz is here to provide the courage to move forward, the courage to overcome life’s obstacles, for them to have better life. As our tagline goes – we dare you to, because we’re with you,” Martinez summed up.
