7/10/09

Auto Insurance Rate Comparison Ticker Earns Progressive.com a Place Among Fast Company Magazine's Fast 50 Champions of Innovation

Web Site's Real-Time "Rate Ticker" Helps Consumers Understand the Importance of Shopping Around for Auto Insurance

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio —Driver after driver and rate after rate - you're glued to screen, mesmerized by the auto insurance rates that scroll by and how much they vary from company to company. And then it hits you. You're on progressive.com, but Progressive's rates are not always the lowest! Progressive.com's rate ticker, fashioned after news and stock tickers, is an up-to-the-minute display of auto insurance rates provided to consumers across the U.S. who used the company's online rate comparison service. The ticker, designed to highlight the spread in rates available from different companies and therefore the importance of shopping around for auto insurance, won Progressive (NYSE: PGR) a spot on Fast Company magazine's prestigious Fast 50 Champions of Innovation, the company announced today.

The Fast 50 appears in the March issue of Fast Company, the nation's leading magazine for management innovators, hitting newsstands today. The list includes 50 exceptional achievers selected from more than 1,400 online entries from around the world and across the U.S. Companies previously named Champions of Innovation include Morningstar, Microsoft and 3M.

Launched in early 2002, the first-of-its-kind rate ticker was the vision of Progressive's Internet team led by Alan Bauer, group president. "We're thrilled to be part of the Fast 50 because Progressive and our people are all about innovation-each day we work to make the experience of shopping for auto insurance better," said Bauer. "Auto insurance can be confusing and most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. We're convinced that openly sharing information is the key to helping consumers understand their auto insurance options. The ticker tells it like it is, with a snapshot look at rates so consumers can quickly see how dramatically rates vary and that simply shopping around could save them money."

The rate ticker is one of the latest in a long line of innovative Internet firsts for Progressive. The company was the first auto insurer on the Web (1995); the first to offer comparison rates online (1996); the first to sell auto insurance policies on the Web (1997); the first to launch a password-protected online customer service center, personal.progressive.com (1998) and the first to offer wireless access to its site (2000).

Founded in 1996 and published monthly, Boston-based Fast Company ( www.fastcompany.com ) covers ideas, trends and individuals devoted to innovation and managing change in today's economy. The magazine is owned by Gruner + Jahr USA, one of the top-ranked magazine publishers in the U.S., reaching one of the largest readerships in America. Gruner + Jahr USA also publishes Inc, Child, Family Circle, Fitness, Parents and YM.

The Progressive group of insurance companies, in business since 1937, ranks fourth in the nation for auto insurance, provides drivers with competitive rates and 24/7, in-person service and, in November 2002, was hailed by Fast Company as a "master of operational innovation." The companies offer insurance by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE, online at progressive.com and through more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies. The Progressive Corporation, the holding company, has headquarters in Mayfield Village, Ohio. More information can be found at progressive.com

1 comment:

Herman S. Calderon said...

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