Grupo Catalana Occidente, from new trend to opportunity

Foto: Grupo Catalana Occidente, from new trend to opportunity  Crédito: Unsplash

This is why renting vehicles, a very popular trend among big companies looking to change models every few years, all costs included, is now attracting private citizens. One of the largest insurance companies in Spain, Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO), was the first to see this opportunity to position itself as a leader in the mobility market. 

"After the first meetings with Grupo Catalana Occidente, it became clear they wanted to assess the potential growth of this new trend and take advantage of it, by offering a new renting service to its clients," says Anna Marmyleva, Project Manager at Opinno.

So, in the summer of 2019, together we launched a collaborative project and established a set of goals: evaluate the opportunity to offer a renting service for private clients, analyze potential business models and define a course of action to develop the best possible model within a pilot program, which would include an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

During the first month, we focused on analyzing the private renting landscape in Spain to get a complete and up-to-date perspective. This phase included a development study, a three-year market growth projection, an analysis of operators and intermediaries, as well as a compilation of the best practices among insurance companies already offering the service in other countries. 

Over the following two weeks, our focus turned to analyze potential marketing techniques in order to understand the current digital demand for the service, the volume of competition and the average cost of acquisition per client.

We then launched a study of potential business models, by conducting a comparative analysis, and evaluating the operational and financial aspects of each one. 

Taking into account the potential risks and benefits, the best possible model was an alliance with one of leading operators in the market, which would be responsible for both purchasing the vehicles and providing all the services included. GCO on the other hand would take care of marketing the service and policy, as well as managing all aspects related to insurance.

Once the study was complete, we ran a digital test on three different websites to identify the best value proposition for private clients, our main target. At this stage, we launched paid marketing campaigns to generate traffic and conduct interviews with the people who contacted us through each website. 

Not only were we able to define the best value proposition, but also got a much better understanding of the potential clients that would use this new service, including their socioeconomic status and age to their needs, motivations and preferences regarding models and conditions.

Now, it was time to conduct another study to define the best plan of action for pilot testing. To do this, we developed a set of guidelines, including milestones and procedures that needed to be performed in order to successfully launch the new service.

Finally, in 2020, GCO closed a deal with ALD Automotive to offer vehicles to its private clients. Both companies committed to always include the option of hybrid or electric vehicles, and models renovation according to active ALD campaigns and client needs.  Since November of last year, the service has been operating in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia through the network of Seguros Catalana de Occidente.

In 2021, the service will expand to the rest of Spain and be offered by two other insurance companies, Plus Ultra Seguros and Seguros Bilbao. At Opinno, we are proud to have collaborated with Grupo Catalana Occidente in defining a new business model that is now part of the company's reality.