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May 20, 2005
Openness as Strength - the New Progressive Campaign
Doing a price promotion campaign by showing that the other guy has a lower price? Is this crazy or is it really smart?
Just saw this new campaign for auto insurance from Progressive recently. They call the campaign "Think" (watch the clips on their site here). In it they highlight a unique feature of their online insurance quotes - that it will show their price as well as that of their competitors. They also highlight that sometimes they aren't the best price - openly showing the "scorecards."
The approach very much recognizes that in the world of the internet and of Pricegrabber you can find just about any info you want. The Economist had a great survey in March - about how the consumer has become king - where they highlighted this trend:
- "the ability to get information about whatever you want, whenever you want, has given shoppers unprecedented strength"
- "If Dell changes prices on its website, its customers' buying patterns change literally within a minute. That tells you people are well-researched and knowledgeable," says Mike George, Dell's chief marketing officer
- "Over 80% of Ford's customers in America have already researched their prospective purchase on the internet before they arrive at a showroom, and most of them come with a specification sheet showing the precise car they want from the dealer's stock, together with the price they are prepared to pay"
- "more than three-quarters of mobile-phone buyers in America do their research on the web"
Rather than fighting this process Progressive's campaign instead embraces it and in essense says "Bring it on." We're not afraid, we'll make the process easier for you (with the call to action of "Quote, Compare & Buy", we'll be honest and open, we might not always win but "You be the Judge."
They end up positioning themselves as more trustworthy by making themselves vulnerable and trust is obviously a key factor in insurance. Not sure how sustainable this is as differentiation but it sure seems more compelling than a Gecko.
Posted by johnza at May 20, 2005 06:29 AM
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