Allstate Market Research

Allstate an insurance company which has been around just as long as it’s competitors, such as State Farm, Nationwide, and Progressive. However; what separates these companies apart from each other is not only great customer service but how they meet the demands of their customers. According to an article written in Business Week magazine, Allstate began to see an erosion in their non-traditional market share (Helm, 2007).
Marketing Intelligence
` Allstate may have benefited earlier from the motorcycle boom, if their reaction time to this trend was more proactive than reactive. Allstate knew of the motorcycle trend, however; their reaction time to it was less than favorable. The media alone supplied Allstate the information they needed,
when gas prices were soaring close to $4.00 per gallon. The media consistently did reports on how consumers were changing the way they commuted to various places. Another source of marketing intelligence is the customer. Surveys asking who, what, when, where and how could have bought Allstate’s attention to this trend earlier. Setting up customer advisory boards and asking for the customers opinions is the best way to meet the customer’s needs, because they are telling you exactly what they want. When a customer stop doing business with a company, it is either because the company cannot meet their needs of the customer or because of poor customer service. Allstate could have also benefited by using government data. The Department of Transportation did a survey on motorcycle drivers. The data was posting on the Department of Transportation website and available for all to see.

Forecasting and Demand Measurement When gas prices soared and consumers stopped purchasing cars, Allstate knew they had to find a way to regain its market share. During this time Allstate noticed the sales of motorcycles increasing and new this would be their new targeted market. Allstate began to launch various ad campaigns, even using some of their own agents who owned motorcycles in their advertisements. In 2008 after Governor Deval Patrick introduced managed competition in the auto insurance market, Allstate entered the Massachusetts market. The company appointed more than 130 agents to the Massachusetts market because of the increasing demand in the bay state. Ed Norcia, Allstate’s Northeast region strategic deployment leader stated, “Allstate opened its first brick and mortar location in October of 2012, and has since seen increasing demands. We target cities and areas that show growth as a part of Allstate’s broader strategy, we will be expanding our presence in the Massachusetts market (Simpson, 2013).” Allstate is forecasting the autonomous world will be changing in the near future as well as safety laws with up and coming tech savvy vehicles. Allstate is not waiting for these things to take place, they are moving with full steam ahead. Allstate is uncertain how things will play out however; they want to remain ahead of the competition by staying prepared and proactive for future potential business.
The Marketing Research Process According to Kotler, there are six steps to the marketing research process, you would need to define the problem, develop the research plan, collect information, analyze information, present finding, and make decision (Kotler & Keller, 2011).
Allstate define the problem as an erosion in the market share. They realized they were not keeping up with non-traditional market sector such as motorcycle riders. Allstate’s marketing manager Lorraine Kern, stated the she first determine how Allstate compare in the market to their competitors, she then compile data using interviews with management, review all internal presentations and studies, and she interview external consulting firms that Allstate use for statistical data purposes. Once all of the data is put together, a decision is made to determine whether there’s a need in the market (Ruquet, 2011). Every successful business must utilize the marketing research process, which will determine if there is a need in the market for their business. Allstate uses a database that runs six days a week to survey and compile data in markets all over the United States. This is one of the ways they are able to determine which markets were good for
business. Allstate knew that they needed to come up with innovative ways to keep up with their competitors. The idea that won them a bronze award in marketing strategies was Mayhem. Progressive came up with Flo, Allstate came up with Mayhem. Allstate found that the competition may not have their policies fully covered under all conditions in life, that’s where Mayhem came into place. The strategy of Mayhem was to get the consumers to thinking about different situations that their current insurance company may not cover.
Steps to Quality Marketing Intelligence Allstate has taken steps to hiring knowledgeable, and experience agents to open up offices carrying their name brand.
Allstate has a six week program that all agents must complete to become a part of the agency. The program consist of regional classroom training, agency monitoring, and ten days at the National Educational Center. Allstate has also partnered with the local city governments offering employees discounts on their policies. This was their way of penetrating the government market, which insurance companies such as Geico use to monopolize. The opinions of their current customers and future customers is extremely important the growth of the company. Allstate has an advisory board, which consist of agents from around the United States. These agents are the face of Allstate, they deal with customers on a daily basis and access the needs and demands of the customers. Allstate’s decision to form an advisory board consisting of agents who deal with customers on a daily basis was a crucial decision for Allstate. Speaking with the customers not only give the company a sense of what demands are needed in a particular market, it also gives the company an idea of what ethnic group a particular market consist of . This gives the company a sense of what type of financial products will be demanded in the market at
hand.