Aflac CEO Dan Amos on the Value of Creating a Vision and Sticking to It
The supplemental insurance company’s out-and-about duck mascot speaks to its brand and to philanthropy — with one voice.
Originally published on PR Week
By Betsy Kim
On the first day of the 21st century, Aflac’s White Pekin duck debuted, quacking the company name, an acronym for the American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus.
The mascot helped awareness take flight, driving Aflac’s brand recognition from 11% to 94% by 2014.
The saying, “If it quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck” means things are what they appear to be. And Aflac CEO Dan Amos finds that message integral to his communications.
“I pride myself on being an individual you can read. There are no surprises,” he says. “People get nervous with uncertainty.” At the helm for 31 years as the company’s CEO, he believes it’s important to create a vision and then stick to it.
Aflac is a leading supplemental insurance company in the U.S., but it also insures one in every four households in Japan. Amos communicates consistent stability to its 50 million customers, its employees and in branding and reputation.
