Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Admiral Group
Posted on 21. Feb, 2008 by Chi-chi Ekweozor in Social Media Strategies
This article forms part of a study on social media usage amongst FTSE 100 companies.
Each company in the FTSE 100 index was reviewed on its usage of such social media tools as RSS feeds*, blogs, online video, podcasts and social media platforms like Flickr and Facebook on its main website and on occasion, on websites of well-known subsidiary companies.
*RSS feeds are a simple way of delivering fresh versions of a website’s content to online readers automatically.
According to the Guardian.co.uk Business Glossary:
“The FTSE 100 index comprises the 100 most highly capitalised blue chip companies on the London Stock Exchange, representing approximately 81% of the UK market.”
Here’s how car insurance giant, Admiral Group (ADM.L) measured up.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Flickr, etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral Group | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
………………
Online Video/Webcasts: Yes
Annual Results Announcement, sign up required
Usage of Social Media platforms: No
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)
According to Yahoo! Finance:
“Formed in 1991 following the desire of a Lloyd’s agent Hayter Brockbank to offer new ways to take out car insurance via direct telephone sales, this innovative plan was overseen by Henry Engelhardt, head of sales and marketing at Churchill Insurance.
Under the leadership of Lloyds, the project began to take shape and came in to fruition in 1993, giving rise to the company Admiral, formed with a reduced team of five people.
From then on, Admiral sold insurance policies under one brand and by telephone to begin with and then via the Internet from 1995.”
Commentary:
Parent company of car insurance consumer brands like Admiral, Elephant, Diamond and comparison site, confused.com
The Admiral Group boasts its own ‘Ministry of Fun’ – a department that “organises events, both in and out of work, to make Admiral an enjoyable place to work”.
Recommendations:
- Document sponsorship of the arts using online video. Admiral is very active in sponsoring events in the arts in South Wales where it is based. Events it sponsors include Swansea Jazz Festival, Welsh Business Awards and Welsh National Opera. Capturing footage some of these events and displaying them on the site using Internet TV would allow the company to immediately express its enthusiasm for arts and culture events.
- Start blogging. A company blog providing information about events as and when they happened would go a long way to informing consumers about what this energetic and forward looking company is involved in.
As they say on confused.com:
“car insurance is generally a begrudged spend of our hard-earned cash – we spend it because we have to”
Can’t argue with that. However, one could argue that whilst members of the public may not seek out corporate information on an insurer’s corporate responsibility activities, consumers shopping round for car insurance deals may be pleasantly surprised to find out about some of the events the Admiral Group sponsors.
This is ‘easily arranged’ by following the recommendations above.
………………
What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of Admiral Group? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see Admiral Group doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? A CEO blog, perhaps?
Share your opinions in the comments.
Need any help?
Do you work for Admiral Group and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?
Or perhaps you look after marketing for Admiral Group and would like a quick chat about putting some of those recommendations into practice. Contact us.
Related posts:
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BG Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BT Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BSkyB Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Associated British Foods
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Alliance and Leicester
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