Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Alliance and Leicester
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 the UK’s seventh largest bank, Alliance & Leicester (AL.L) measured up.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Flickr, etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance & Leicester | No | No | No | No | No | No |
………………
Online Video/Webcasts: No
Usage of Social Media platforms: No
(Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg etc)
According to Yahoo! Finance:
“The Alliance & Leicester is above all a mortgage specialist and intends to remain one. The financial Group has been operating since 1853 and offers a range of products and loan and insurance services throughout the UK.”
Commentary:
Well designed company website includes a Shareholder Services Portal and a media centre that links to www.newscast.co.uk for a photo library. This only had one photo when I checked, however and the only way to do so appeared to be by conducting a search for ‘Alliance & Leicester’ on the site.
Once again, very little use of social media for distributing corporate information.
Recommendations:
- Provide RSS feeds! The corporate website for Alliance & Leicester is an aesthetically pleasing site but is sadly lacking in any way to subscribe to receive information automatically using RSS. The consumer facing site is not much better.
- Use online video to relay company origins. Once again, this is a corporate body that has a fascinating history (excerpt below):
“The Alliance & Leicester Group can trace its origins back to 1852 and the formation of the Leicester Permanent Benefit Society.
Two key events in the history of the Group were the merger between the Alliance Building Society and Leicester Building Society in 1985 to form the Alliance & Leicester and the purchase of Girobank from the Post Office in 1990.”
- Start blogging. Some of this rich history could easily be relayed to consumers online using an interactive social media platform like blogging.
Alliance & Leicester has much to gain by incorporating simple social media technologies on its corporate website. It can very easily engage and delight new and existing customers by telling its brand story in a way that captivates and holds interests much more effectively than the cursory flashing banner advert or 30 second TV advert.
………………
What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of Alliance & Leicester? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see Alliance & Leicester 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 Alliance & Leicester and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?
Or perhaps you look after marketing for Alliance & Leicester 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 – Alliance Trust
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BG Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Admiral Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BT Group
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Bunzl
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