A STUDY OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIES OF ANCHOR INSURANCE COMPANY

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CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Public relations is as old as the Stone Age and relations have always existed between people. What is new is the modern public relations practice, which dates only from about 1923 (Okereke, 1976). Several opinions on the concept of public relations have been put forward. However, all of them do emphasize that the basic philosophy underlying public relations practice is that people matter and that the support of public opinion is of prime importance in all spheres of activities.

Public relations is the business of setting up and maintaining favourable relations between a person, organization and the public. In other words it could also imply the specific operating philosophy by which management sets up policies designed to solve conflicts, both in the company’s and the publics interest. The techniques may include among others, publicity, promotion, exploitation and advertising.

The purpose of all that is labeled public relations is to influence public opinion (Cutlip and Center, 1978). The power of public opinion is recognized and it felt everywhere. The automotive, oil, and sugar industries have felt the sting of adverse consumer public opinion when their actions ran counter to public expectation. Community governments have suffered from adverse home-owned opinion when public services were inadequate. No institution can be successful for long without public sufferance, but faith in the good common sense of the people is as fundamental in the practice of public relations as it is in politics. An informed public is a wise public.

Pubic relations is important in any organization. In essence, the aim of public relations in business sis to ensure that all concerned have a better understanding of the company’s policy and methods of conducting its commercial and industrial operations. Thus, public relations ensures the best deal for the customer, the investor, the employee and the citizens of the country. Public relations is the responsibility of the decision makers. It introduces the human factor into management. It is a social science of communication which provides the means of resolving conflicts and establishing contact and mutual understanding. The practice of public relations on a professional scale covers everything from advising the board on the best time of making a new issue, launching a new product, suggesting a new corporate identity for the company, handling the press and public during an industrial relations problem and interpreting company policies to the public.

The Responsibilities of a Public Relations Practitioner

The organization of public relations in today’s administrations requires the assistance and counsel of skilled specialists. According to Cutlip and Center (1978) it does not matter whether the size, nature and scope of the organization are those of a local hospital, a federal agency, a land developer or a resort hotel, all are faced with a complexity of laws and regulations, financial, human problems and competitive factors too great for one person to handle, thus the public relations officer is one of the specialists, whose responsibility to the senior official falls in three areas:

To facilitate and ensure an inflow of representative opinions from the organization’s constituent publics so that policies and operations may be in tune with the needs and views of these publics.
To counsel senior officials on ways and means of maintaining or reshaping operations or communications policies to gain maximum public acceptance.
To devise and carry out programmes that will gain wide and favourable interpretation of the organization’s policies and operations.

Practitioners fulfill these responsibilities in anyone or a combination of three setups. There is the full-time staff executive on the payroll, which, with the aid of assistants serves the employer exclusively. There is the independent counselor who maintains his own offices and staff to serve a number of clients with non-conflicting interests. There is the advertising agency that provides counseling and services either through a department within the agency or through a subsidiary firm. The internal staff represents the dominant choice of employers. In some types of organizations, for example, the military services, the internal staffing is mandatory. However, whether the public relations functions are provided in-house or by outside counsel the work done is much the same.

Okereke (1976), states that there are three types of public relations.

Public relations policy
Public relations practice
Public relations attitude.

Public Relations Policy:

The public relations policy of any company is normally the prerogative of top management. The policy is normally arrived at, after analyzing the problems of a particular company. The pubic relations policy is part of the ………………………………………………………………………………………………. the head of public relations and approved by the chairman or director with public relations responsibility.

Public Relations Practice:

The public relations practice is the job of the professional. The applications include the following:

Positioning steps to achieve goodwill
Action to safeguard reputation
Employee relations

Public relations contributes to effective management practice. The role of the pubic relations executive as a member of the management team, is that of an innovator, catalyst, conscience and the inward and outward seeing eye. Nevertheless, there are different ways in which modern pubic relations profession contribute to good management practice. They include the following:

Counselling based on the understanding of human behaviours;
Analyzing future trends and providing their consequences;
Re-seeking into public opinion attitudes and expectations;
Establishing and maintaining two-way communication based on truth and full information;
Presenting conflicts and misunderstanding;
Promoting mutual respect and social responsibility;
Harmonizing the private and public interest;
Maximizing profitability;
Projecting a corporate identity;
Promoting good employee relations; and
Promoting an understanding or democracy.

Corporate Profile of Anchor Insurance Company, Uyo

Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar was set up in July 1970. It was incorporated by the then South Eastern State government later by Cross River and Akwa Ibom. Anchor was incorporated as a limited liability company under the Company Act of 1968 with the share capital of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand). In 1975, the share capital grew to N500,000, with two shareholders; the then Cross River State Marketing Board with shares of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand) while the defunct investment trust company held shares of N350,000.

In 1977, the share capital rose to N800,000 and that was in conformity with Insurance Act (Decree) of 1976. The aims and objectives of Anchor Insurance company have been:

To provide sound Insurance services for the indigenes of the states and also customers from outside the state.
To conserve funds in terms of its profits for the development of the state.

To provide employment opportunity for qualified Nigerians.

Anchor Insurance Company mainly handles insurance business and it underwrites all classes of business including life and non-life insurance. Anchor Insurance has a staff strength of 300 made of 229 junior staff and 71 senior staff with nine management staff. The company undertakes reinsurance transaction with both Nigerian and overseas reinsurance companies. In keeping with Anchor’s objective in contributing to the development of the state, it has invested in various industrial businesses in the present Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. These include the Champion Breweries at Uyo, Peacock Paints at Etinan, Quality Ceramics at Itu, Sunshine Batteries at Ikot Ekpene, International Biscuit Limited at Ikot Ekpene, Qua Steel Mills at Eket Cooperative Development Bank Uyo, all in Akwa Ibom State. In Cross River State, Mercantile Bank, Calabar, Durafoam Factory in Ikom and Ogoja Rice Mill, are the other investments by Anchor Insurance Company.

History of Public Relations in Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar

The functional or organized pubic relations began in Anchor in June 1986 following the reorganization of the company. The need for the public relations unit arose out of the desire of management to educate and enlighten the public on the various aspects of insurance, the need to insure especially with Anchor Insurance Company, and also to inform the public that inspite of the re-organization, Anchor Insurance Company would still serve the public, and better.

The activities and tools of public relations practice in Anchor Insurance Company are centered around advertising and publicity. This is in consideration of the fact that Insurance is an intangible product which requires more efforts to sell than in the sale of tangible products. With the awareness that insurance understanding of a public is still below gauge, the public relations department in Anchor undertakes a wide range of advertising, publicity and information activities to promote the company in the eyes of the public. The department harnesses radio, television, press and person-to-person media of communication in carrying out its activities.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

According to some authorities (Cutlip and center, 1978; Okereke, 1986; Oviosu, 1986) public relations is an important feature of modern management. Its services in promoting harmony are relevant in businesses, industries, voluntary organizations as well as government. How successful its goals are, depends on the individual institution that utilizes this instrument.

In recent times, pubic interest has focused on the activities of insurance companies in Nigeria. Invariably, this interest relates to public perception of insurance companies generally, and their treatment of clients in particular. The problem in this study focuses on the assumption that although insurance companies make huge profits every year, they do not seem to evolve or reflect adequate public relations attitudes and activities in their day-to-day management. To this extent, many people believe that insurance companies lack good relations with their publics, provide little information about their services and treat claims at slow speed.

Anchor Insurance Company Limited, Calabar is no exception, in this regard, this study is an attempt to assess its public relations organization, attitudes and practices with a view to making recommendations that aim at redeeming the image of the company and providing adequate services to both its internal and external publics.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The main objectives of this study include the following:

To identify the kinds of people who do business with Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar;
To identify the kinds of business and the motives for choosing Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar;
To establish the level of satisfaction with the company’s services;
To identify areas of conflicts between the company and its clients; and
To recommend policy changes that can enhance effective public relations practice in Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar.

1.3 Research Questions

The concern of this study is effective public relations in insurance industry, with Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar as a case study. For such reasons the following research questions were drawn up to provide answers to the problems raised in the study.

What kinds of clients do business with Anchor Insurance Company, and for what kinds of business?
How do clients assess the public relations attitudes of Anchor Insurance staff or agents?
What are the kinds of conflict between Anchor Insurance Company and its publics?
Does Anchor Insurance Company evolve public relations as a management tool?
To what extent are staff of Anchor Insurance Company aware of public relations attitudes?

1.4 Justification for the Study

The problems of insurance in Nigeria are multi-various. The most outstanding perhaps, is the fact that the public or insurance customers are not adequately provided with desired services. Here again, this problem is compounded by alleged poor public relations attitude by insurance companies and their agents. It was the belief of this researcher that if proper investigation were conducted, it would be possible to identify the problems militating against effective insurance practices in Nigeria. Also it would be possible to recommend a functional public relations practice to ease the existing impasse between clients and insurance companies.

If the recommendations are implemented, staff of the insurance companies will be properly informed about good conduct, efficient services, and human relations as they pertain to insurance business in Nigeria. So far, it does not seem as if this kind of study had ever been undertaken in Nigeria. Hence, this pioneering effort.

1.5 Limitations in the Study

Investigation in this study would have covered more than one insurance company at least for effective comparison of findings but because of time limit and financial constraints, this study was limited only to Anchor Insurance Company, Calabar. The restriction does not however invalidate any generalization about public relations and Insurance practices in Nigeria.

1.6 Definition of Terms

In order to focus more precisely on relevant aspect of this study, there was need to define such terms as clients, organization, policy, corporate identify, internal and external publics. Thus, the following definitions are provided:

Clients: The customer of the insurance company who pays for the services rendered.

Organization: A group of people with a special purpose.

Policy: A plan or course of certainty in directing affairs. A written statement of the details of an agreement with an insurance company.

Corporate Identity: The image the company is trying to project.

Internal Publics: The staff and management of the insurance company.

External Publics: The clients and the entire public who deal with the insurance company.

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