Client Background

Assurant supports some of the world’s most recognisable brands and helps them solve their business challenges. They find solutions for the challenges that face everyday people, too, such as floods, car trouble, or unexpected expenses.

 Our Brief

Assurant is a US-based business with a strong position in the UK market but needed to break into the EU market in a more significant way. As a result, Assurant needed to build a strategy that allowed them to accelerate their efforts and bring their UK capability into the four biggest EU countries: France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

This was focused on understanding the competitive landscape, direct competitors, and emerging challengers. It also meant thinking about traditional partners such as dealership models and who their logical customers would be.

What We Did

We needed to understand where to start, as it was such a broad project. As no good business strategy says you should do everything, we had to begin from a place of research to understand priorities and find a good starting point. So we came up with a series of recommendations based on a variety of different channels that would form the foundations of the strategy.

We wrote the strategy based on the research that we undertook and made further key recommendations such as acquisition opportunities and partnership opportunities. This also involved making recommendations of what Assurant shouldn’t do, which is often a step missed out when companies are advising or consulting. We also made strategic recommendations around which territories Assurant could move into and operate in.

Outcomes and Solutions

The strategy was well received by the UK and Global board at Assurant. It was so well received that the strategy and recommendations are now being rolled out across Europe. The problem that we solved was the clarity of focus around strategy and research, which is an area we specialise in. It can be challenging for businesses and brands to see the wood for the trees and gain focus and insight on their own business, and we were able to deliver both of those components in abundance.