Aflac's Star

American Family Life Insurance Company (Aflac), is a insurance company that is based in Columbia, Georgia. Aflac was founded in 1995 and  is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, but it wasn't always like this. In the late 1990s Aflac's brand recognition was extremely low, at about 10%. They realized they needed to change in order to be able to take on the competition. They needed to define their brand and spread awareness.

Aflac invited several agencies to come pitch them ideas for a new advertising campaign. Aflac was looking for a idea that could be a fully integrated campaign and would be able to communicate the company's brand message. The agency that fulfilled what they were looking for was the New York based Kaplan Thaler Group. This agency created Aflac's iconic duck mascot. The Aflac Duck campaign was launched in 2000 and hasn't looked back since. In a very short time period Aflac was able to raise their brand recognition up to 90%.  The Aflac Duck did such an incredible job gaining brand recognition because they were able to get the consumer to remember them. It appealed to the public because of  the humors and entertaining mascot, the duck helped bring personality to the brand. Since the campaign was launched  Aflac won numerous awards and is known as one of America's favorite advertising mascots. Some people criticize the duck for being annoying and loud, but the Aflac Duck has a life of its own and is impossible to forget.

 
But that’s where the company’s branding success stops; most Americans have only heard of the brand. While the duck advertising campaign did an amazing job of increasing Aflac's brand recognition, research showed that consumers don't know much about the company. People want to learn more about the company's products and services, Alac needs to better explain what they do in their advertising. As a result of this change in strategy, Aflac has recently launched a new branding campaign. These new ads still feature the trademark duck, but they also explain exactly how Aflac’s insurance policies can help consumers.


The Aflac Duck has appeared in 52 television ads and numerous radio ads, and has done an amazing job helping increase the company's brand recognition. But Aflac recognized that spreading awareness wasn't enough on its own. As a result, Aflac has taken steps to develop a new campaign that will provide a greater understanding of what the company offers and why it matters. The Aflac Duck campaign has become one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history.