The Palawan marketing team and partner agencies Advertising Without Borders and Browne Communications come together to accept the Silver Award for Excellence in Anniversary Marketing for the “Ikaw Pa Rin ang #1 sa Palawan: Matatag, Maaasahan, Mapagkakatiwalaan” campaign.
The Palawan Group of Companies turned everyday Filipino realities into award-winning financial solutions, taking home five honors at the Marketing Excellence Awards Philippines 2026 for campaigns that made insurance, government assistance and financial services more accessible.
Among the biggest winners was “Project Sachet” of PPS Insurance Agency Inc. (PPSIA), the insurance arm of the Palawan Group and operator of the ProtekTODO microinsurance brand. The campaign won Gold and Bronze awards for Excellence in Financial Empowerment Marketing after tackling a long-standing perception among many Filipinos: that insurance is expensive and only for those with money to spare.
Palawan’s 40th anniversary campaign, “Ikaw Pa Rin ang #1 sa Palawan: Matatag, Maaasahan, Mapagkakatiwalaan,” also bagged Silver and Bronze awards for Excellence in Anniversary Marketing, while Palawan for Business earned Silver for Excellence in B2B Partnership for its campaign, “Bridging Distances, Building Trust: Delivering Inclusive Government Aid in Remote Philippines.”
Together, the campaigns showed how Palawan has been expanding beyond its pawnshop and remittance roots by focusing on one common challenge: bringing financial services closer to Filipinos who need them most.
Bernard V. Kaibigan, Chief Marketing Officer of the Palawan Group of Companies.
Insurance, the ‘tingi-tingi’ way
Project Sachet took inspiration from a deeply familiar Filipino buying habit.
For households working with tight daily budgets, essentials such as shampoo, coffee, seasonings and other products are often purchased in sachets or small quantities. Palawan applied the same principle to insurance.
Instead of requiring customers to pay large premiums upfront, ProtekTODO offers microinsurance products with entry prices as low as ₱20, making financial protection easier to include in everyday household spending.
The idea is summed up in the campaign line: “Patingi-tingi ang presyo, pero todo ang benepisyo.”
Working with insurance partners Liberty Insurance, AlliedBankers Insurance and Oona Insurance, ProtekTODO sought to dismantle the idea that coverage is “pang-mayaman lang” by offering affordable options designed around the financial realities of ordinary Filipinos.
The campaign’s recognition underscores a simple but potentially powerful approach: instead of asking consumers to adjust to traditional insurance products, redesign financial protection around the way consumers already manage their money.
A 40-year brand looks beyond pawning and remittances
Palawan also used its 40th anniversary not simply to look back, but to reposition itself for its next chapter.
Its anniversary campaign highlighted the trust the company has built over four decades while introducing a broader financial ecosystem that now goes beyond pawnshops and money transfers.
Through digital and broadcast content, media engagements, employee programs, community activities and customer stories, Palawan emphasized that while its services have evolved, its core values of accessibility, reliability and malasakit remain unchanged.
The campaign reinforced Palawan’s effort to stay relevant to a new generation of customers without abandoning the brand qualities that built its following in the first place.
Bringing government payouts closer to communities
Palawan for Business, meanwhile, focused on another problem familiar to Filipinos living outside major urban centers: the cost and difficulty of traveling just to receive government assistance.
Through partnerships with agencies including the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Palawan turned its branches into localized payout hubs and deployed mobile caravans to communities in Quezon, Batangas, Cavite and Rizal.
The initiative helped nearly half a million beneficiaries gain more convenient access to government assistance, reducing the need for long journeys, transportation expenses and extended waiting times.
The approach was straightforward: if beneficiaries have difficulty reaching the service, bring the service closer to them.
Turning everyday realities into financial solutions
For the Palawan Group, the five awards reflect a marketing strategy increasingly built around understanding how Filipinos actually spend, save, receive money and access essential services.
“The best campaigns are those that people can see themselves in. We want our work to resonate by starting with real Filipino experiences—from how families manage their everyday budgets to how they build trust with brands and access essential services,” Palawan Group Chief Marketing Officer Bernard V. Kaibigan said.
“These recognitions affirm that when marketing is grounded in what matters to people, it creates a stronger connection and a more meaningful impact,” he added.
Palawan is supporting that strategy through what it calls its “bricktech” approach, combining a nationwide physical network of more than 3,800 branches with its digital platform PalawanPay, which has more than 23 million users.
After 40 years, the company’s latest awards suggest that its next growth story may not simply be about adding more financial products, but about making those products easier for ordinary Filipinos to afford, understand and reach.
