Designing New Products to Drive Growth with New Consumers

The Challenge

Prudential has become a household name by providing life insurance for over 140 years.

However, the Millennial demographic feels less urgency to purchase life insurance than their parents and grandparents did, and yet Millennials are the life insurance premium payers of tomorrow. So how do we put life insurance within reach of these under and uninsured consumers today? And most importantly, how do we do so in a way that does not interfere with existing channels, namely the crucial network of insurance agents and advisors?

Prudential asked us to help answer these questions by creating entirely new life insurance products that appeal to these digital natives and early adopters ages 22-45.

The Key Insight

To help Prudential connect with this important consumer segment, we defined a strategy that leveraged the company’s unique positioning to be present in consumers’ lives for the defining events when insurance matters most.

We underwent a phase of testing and learning through rapid prototyping to assess the business model and product experience. Using these learnings, we developed a portfolio of digitally-native products that modernized old life insurance products and services by making them more relevant, optimistic and flexible in response to the changing shape of American families and lifestyles.

The Solution

With a defined strategy and a portfolio of products to choose from, Prudential moved forward with two products to advance to initial proof of concepts. The first product focused on connecting with consumers as they develop new dependent relationships. The concept empowered friends and family to be able to gift life insurance to new parents through popular third-party baby registries.

The second concept was a shared insurance product geared toward modern interdependent families. Designed to be introduced in moments when partners or siblings gain a new responsibility, the second product was especially pertinent when getting a mortgage, launching a small business or taking over care of an aging parent.

Our initial proof of concept tested well with consumers and is currently being considered for further validation and implementation work, as well as back-end integration into Prudential’s existing technology and operational systems.