All Nation Insurance Co., Southfield, MI, is expanding the reach of its direct-to-consumer auto insurance program, Driver’s Direct, into Wisconsin and will launch a large direct mail test in the first quarter of next year as part of an effort to obtain a better demographic profile of who its best customers are.
The company currently sells auto insurance directly to consumers in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska – and has plans to expand into other Midwestern markets during the next few years after bringing its brand to Wisconsin.
The firm mails about 600,000 direct mail pieces a year, according to Ronald J. Keller, senior marketing manager at Driver’s Direct.
“We’ve used direct mail in the past and it works pretty well for us,” Keller said. The company’s control piece includes a letter and a brochure.
Although the company has built a marketing model for its best prospects, Keller said the campaign it is planning for early next year should help it refine its model further.
Driver’s Direct is working with Marketing Information & Technology Inc., Andover, MA, to generate prospecting lists for next year’s campaign.
“We’re going to see who we find to be the best responders to our offer,” Keller said.
Keller said the specific details about the campaign had not yet been finalized, but he said the MITI database would provide a high degree of granularity that will enable to the company to get a more complete picture of its customers.
Jim Alvarez, president and founder of MITI, said the company’s database, called the Universal Prospecting Data Warehouse, contains extensive credit, auto and demographic data, among other elements that make it relatively robust.
In addition to the direct mail campaign, Driver’s Direct also is planning to launch a direct response TV effort in some Wisconsin markets next year, including Milwaukee and Green Bay. A limited print campaign introducing the brand was launched this month.
“All our indicators suggest Wisconsin will be terrific for us,” said Peter Feeney, vice president of Driver’s Direct.
