Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Amlin
Posted on 25. Jan, 2009 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 specialist insurance and reinsurance underwriting group, Amlin (AML.L) fared.
| FTSE 100 Company | RSS | Podcast | Blog | Online Video | Audio | Facebook, Flickr, etc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amlin | 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:
“Operating on the insurance market represented by the Lloyd’s group, Amlin created in 1998… offers policies covering four specific areas of insurance including maritime insurance policies (hulls, cargo, yachts, war perils among others), vehicle fleets and risks in the aeronautical sector.”
My pre-evaluation expectation of how the company will fare:
Aviva’s stellar performance with its abundance of RSS feeds and slick blog at avivaoceanracing.com will take some beating by any another insurance company in the FTSE 100. I hadn’t heard of Amlin before this, will be interesting to see what their web offer is like in terms of social media.
Commentary:
A presentable website… well designed, perhaps with the aim of presenting the user with as little clutter and unnecessary information as possible.
The first three links that catch my eye are listed below with first reactions:
Webcasts which unfortunately links to a third party service’s registration ‘wall’
Register for News Alerts which links to an email newsletter service. I do like the descriptive call to action:
“Alert Service
Please follow the instructions below if you wish to be alerted about significant changes to the contents of the site.”
Download Centre which has a whole lot of PDFs (Annual Reports, Interim Reports etc etc) and nothing I can watch/listen to.
To cap it all, the Latest Corporate News links to a rather disappointing Press Release Search page.
Very little engagement, I’m afraid. This is going to be a ‘Nil Point’ effort I suspect…
Recommendations:
- Use RSS Feeds - with a website as unengaging as this, the least Amlin can do is provide visitors with a reason not to return.
How?
By providing RSS feeds of the content.
The email subscription for press releases and other news is probably effective and well-subscribed by those who need to know, however I reckon using an RSS-to-email service like Feedburner could easily provide the same function but also ensure that the content can be received by ‘remote’ visitors using RSS feed readers like Google Reader.
- Provide Some Corporate Online Video – Unfortunately, I am none the wiser about Amlin’s core business: “providing insurance cover to commercial enterprises” even though I’ve spent time reviewing its corporate website.
Perhaps a 30 second video espousing the Chief Executive Charles Philipps’ ‘vision for 2009’ would have held my attention long enough to learn:
“Our vision for 2009 is to become the global reference point for quality in our market. Everything we do between now and then is designed to enable us to deliver this vision to our clients, brokers, employees and shareholders.”
Your competitors have been doing this with social media for more than a year, Mr Philipps.
Isn’t it time you did?
………………
What do you think?
Are you a customer, employee, shareholder or stakeholder of Amlin? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this review. What would you like to see Amlin doing more of in terms of social media? More online video? A CEO blog, perhaps?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Need any help?
Do you work for Amlin and want some insight into some of the ideas published here?
Or perhaps you look after marketing for Amlin 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 – Cairn Energy
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Alliance Trust
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Aviva
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – Centrica
- Social Media Usage in the FTSE 100: Company Profile – BT Group
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