MARKETING STRATEGY AND THE COMPETITIVE STRUCTURE OF BRITISH GENERAL INSURANCE, 1720-1980

This paper surveys the evolution of marketing strategies in British ge neral insurance from 1720 to 1980. Its emphasis is on the way in which the methods used evolved in response to problems created by the struc ture and conduct of the market. This can help explain 'stages' in the evolution of marketing. It shows how the four main strategies of premi um rate competition, collusion, merger and non-premium rate differenti ation interacted and predominated in different periods. It focuses par ticularly on the creation of branch office organisations. This forward integration was created by the success of formal collusion in the lat e nineteenth century. It contracted when premium rate competition, mer gers and legislation eroded formal collusion in the 1960s and 1970s. T he paper concludes that the assumption that forward integration can be seen as an internalisation that solely yielded welfare benefits must be resisted. It also suggests that marketing history must not be studi ed in isolation, but involves the whole business environment within wh ich it develops.