Progressive has been synonymous with Flo for years. However, Progressive needed a way to move the needle among young homeowners for its home insurance offering. The Parentamorphosis campaign launched as a direct response to the audience insight - the moment you buy your first home is the moment you start turning into your parents. The campaign evolved to include Dr. Rick, renowned for helping first-time homeowners everywhere overcome this phenomenon. Positive social chatter around Dr. Rick accompanied the commercials and contributed to lifts in business metrics. He quickly became Progressive’s most loved character amongst this target audience. Dr. Rick had taken to TV and digital to share his methods with the masses, but a good doctor has multiple outlets. With work still to be done and young homeowners still to be reached – we needed to find a new tactic for Dr. Rick to bring his advice to untapped homeowners.

Dr. Rick’s book, “Dr. Rick Will See You Now,” is a pocket-size, on-the-go format. Flipping the script on the typical book launch, Progressive took a fresh approach to extend the brand in culture by self-publishing a book from the doctor himself. With COVID surging, 40% of young homeowners said they have read more books than usual. So, Dr. Rick met those suffers where they already were to share his advice in this new way. Each page of the handy guide is like a 1:1 session with Dr. Rick himself, filled with the strategies, exercises, self-assessments, and good old-fashioned straight-shootin' advice to keep young homeowners from becoming their parents. The only book ever written about Parentamorphosis was made available in both hardcover and eBook versions. Not to mention, our audience had taken to social quite a few times demanding a book from Dr. Rick so we were happy to deliver.

Our target audience is first-time homebuyers 25-44 with a sweet spot of 31 years old. They saw Progressive as an option that had been right for them when they were just starting out but viewed competitors like State Farm and Allstate as a more established, better fit for their more grown-up stage of life. One trend with this audience that has been working in our favor was the unprecedented rate people were (and are still) buying homes in suburbia. But others saw this audience as an opportunity too, which meant clutter. We needed to find a way to continue to ‘win’ with our young homeowner audience, who quickly took to Progressive’s Dr. Rick. We had to focus on ways outside of TV to cut through the clutter.

On November 1, 2021, Dr. Rick released his first book, “Dr Rick Will See You Now,” to reach young homeowners in a new way. During the pre-sale window, a promo video about the book teased the launch on YouTube and generated intrigue and chatter. People couldn’t believe it was for real. But it was. The official book launched with 4,000 hard copy books available on Progressive.com, free of charge plus shipping, and unlimited eBooks available for download on Progressive.com & Amazon Kindle (from 11/16/21 – Oct 2022). The launch was coupled with a “press tour” for Dr. Rick where he was interviewed by outlets such as Fast Company and Adage about his new release. Paid placements on Amazon and Goodreads also drove people to discover the book. All contributing to cultural buzz for Progressive’s Dr. Rick and continuing to drive positive conversation around the brand.

Not only did the book sell-out in 5 weeks, but it was also received with rave reviews and a 4.5/5 star average rating on Amazon. There was a 93% lift in WOM conversation for Progressive among those who recalled the Dr. Rick book. All successfully moving the needle on positive brand sentiment (74% Positive Sentiment in WOM) and brand love. Dr. Rick book recall led to greater purchase consideration (+75% for home insurance) and marketing differentiation (ranked #1 compared to competitors). In a culmination of efforts including the book, our Parenta-Life Coach quickly became a household name and continues to be Progressive’s most loved character, specifically among our target audience.