Brandon Muschlitz
Marketing Strategy,
Marketing Collateral
Dimi Bizios
Ryan Hines
Emily Kinney
Brandon Muschlitz
Amanda Patterson
Maggie Thomas
Root Insurance is a fast-growing, Columbus-based, car insurance startup. Despite their rapid growth, Root was having trouble attracting and engaging millennial women. In fall 2017, they partnered with Ohio State University Fisher College of Business to host a senior marketing capstone project.
Over the course of a semester, my team conducted primary and secondary research, analyzed results, and determined two strategies Root could put in place. At the end of the semester, all eight teams presented their findings to Root executives—our team won first place.
1. Evaluate how millennial women feel about car insurance, especially Root Insurance.
2. Determine what factors it would take for millennial women to switch their car insurance policies to Root Insurance.
3. Determine the best routes to reach and engage millennial women with Root Insurance.
To get a better understanding of how millennial women view car insurance, our team developed an online survey using Qualtrics. After analyzing the data, we conducted in-depth interviews with 12 millennial women to gain qualitative insights. We also conducted secondary research through trade publications and industry-specific sources. Finally, we gathered our research and distilled it into three key insights.
446 Total Respondents
274 Valid Responses*
56 Valid Responses* from Millennial Women
12 One-on-One Interviews
Millennial Women aged 21 - 31
The Nielsen Company
JD Power
Forbes
*valid responses must satisfy the following three requirements: 1) respondent must own/lease a car, 2) respondent must have their own policy or be on a spouse's policy, and 3) respondent must be looking to get a policy within the next 12 months
Millennial women choose their current car insurance providers based upon forms of personal recommendations, not necessarily from traditional advertisements.
In general, millennial women lack trust in car insurers and are skeptical of Root Insurance because of the perceived lack of transparency about Root’s review process, telematics privacy, and pricing.
Millennial women can go without agents but they still need a reliable human factor to communicate questions, comments, and concerns with. The agent or customer service representative must be knowledgeable and confident about the price, coverage, and general process of the company.
Leveraging key insights from the research, our team developed two strategies to engage Millennial women. The first strategy focuses on personal recommendations through Hulu Ads, YouTube influencers, and podcast ads. We also developed a creative campaign using the hashtag #RootedInChange.
The second strategy centers on improvements to the Root app, including a chat service, interactive test drive results, and a policy roadmap that outlines the perks of Root Insurance.
Leverage personal recommendations through influential people to engage millennial women.
We based the Root campaign on the idea that lots of technological advances are initially rebuffed based on their implausibility. While getting car insurance through an app seems preposterous to some, Root embraces technology and sees it as an integral part of the future. We used the #RootedInChange hashtag to boost social media engagement.
Hulu Ads
Millennials in general have a high rate of online streaming. The cost per impression onHulu is $20-25, which is 30-40 percent less expensive than other streaming services.
YouTube Influencers
Beauty and lifestyle influencers online have thousands of followers in our targeted demographic. Followers are more likely to purchase a product if an influencer gives it an authentic endorsement.
Podcast Ads
Like influencers, authentic female podcasters enjoy a large following of Millennial women. Followers are more likely to purchase a product or service if a podcast host gives it an authentic endorsement.
Provide millennial women with an accurate and transparent message, supported with reliable human factors and informative resources, in order to build trust and comfort in Root Insurance.
Root Instant Message Chat Service
Adding an instant messaging chat bot to Root’s website and mobile app would let them answer user questions with speed and ease.
Test Drive Results
Root requires every potential customer to take a test drive before signing up forRoot Insurance. Not so fun, especially when you don’t understand your final score and the decision behind it. We suggested incorporating Test Drive Results, giving testers the ability to understand why they did or didn’t pass.
New Customer Policy Roadmap
We recommend a direct mail campaign, like a Policy Roadmap, to engage customers who passed the Root Test Drive but didn’t purchase an insurance plan.
