One client, for example, took the identification of a new consumer target that valued features over price as an opportunity to refine their existing product portfolio strategy to ensure maximum return on their investment. They chose to leverage The Cambridge Group's unique Customer Demand Analysis^TM approach to seamlessly align demand and supply insights in the development of their strategy. Through this demand-led process the team was able to maximize profitability by understanding precisely what consumer demand to serve with exactly which offers at the price points that optimized returns.

At the time, the company was facing increasing competitive pressure from fast growing direct-to-consumer insurers (e.g. Geico) that were able to offer insurance at much lower costs than was possible with an agent network. Given the significant inroads made by these competitors, the management team believed that car insurance had become a commodity market, and that price was all that mattered to customers. However, when they discovered with The Cambridge Group that nearly 40% of consumers actually valued features over price, the team rightly decided they needed to better understand precisely which features were motivating to these attractive consumers and focus on those.

To determine exactly what product features to invest in for maximum returns, the team needed to better understand the specific trade-offs and decisions consumers were making when shopping for car insurance. To do this the team conducted a Customer Demand Analysis^TM, in which consumers participate in a simulated shopping experience and are asked to select from a series of products based on the various benefits and features they offered. Consumers saw a range of scenarios during the online exercise and were asked each time to select the car insurance product they would prefer to purchase.

Based on the choices and trade-offs consumers made, the team was able to identify a handful of features that these consumers were highly motivated by. These benefits – no premium increase if not at fault, good driver deductible rewards and 50% savings via certified repair network – were ultimately most motivating as consumers found them to be both highly relevant and highly differentiated from competitive offerings.

Ultimately, these core features formed the foundation of an entirely new product offer that eventually transformed the car insurance industry. What the team discovered was that these features addressed a core demand among target consumers – their demand for more choice, enhanced personalization and greater perceived control from auto insurance. Fundamentally, consumers believed that insurance companies were unfair to good drivers. The company had all the power in the relationship, and good drivers were penalized for the poor choices of bad drivers. Bundling these three features together, and offering a choice of a range of other features were also financially attractive for the company, gave consumers the choice and personalization they had craved – the offering readjusted the balance of power between the company and their customers and ultimately elevated and distinguished the company in the eyes of the target consumer.

The Cambridge Group's unique approach to aligning demand and supply insights enabled the team's decisive action, and ultimately resulted in the launch of the company's most successful new product ever; a new product that would transform the industry.