How a national insurance provider doubled media value while cutting investment

‍In one year, the provider doubled the value of its media.

With stronger attribution, smarter buying, and GainShare Performance Suite (GPS) guiding in-flight decisions, the provider generated more qualified calls while significantly reducing media investment and cost per response.

• Nearly 30% increase in qualified calls YoY  

• More than 50% reduction in cost per call YoY  

• Nearly 40% reduction in media investment YoY  

• 2× media value vs. the prior year

The Challenge

The media program showed several signs of inefficiency. Sales volume was down year over year while media costs climbed. Optimization cycles were limited to quarterly adjustments, which made it difficult to respond quickly to changing performance.  

Attribution also relied heavily on probabilistic models. The team could see broad channel performance, but not which stations, placements and creative executions were producing valuable calls, leads and sales.

The media mix also needed a stronger audience-quality lens. The station mix appeared to be skewing younger than the core converting audience, creating two problems at once: those viewers were less likely to be watching linear TV and less likely to convert. As a result, CPMs were high, but the spend was working against an unproductive audience.

The provider needed a clearer view of what was driving valuable demand, so it could move budget away from inefficient delivery and towards the inventory most likely to perform.

The approach

We started with an audit of the existing media plan, then turned that diagnosis into a new operating model for performance.

The first priority was measurement. Unique toll-free numbers were assigned by station, replacing probabilistic attribution with deterministic call tracking. For the first time, the team could see exactly which stations, placements, and creative were actually driving response.

Next, we shifted the optimization cadence from quarterly reviews to continuous day-to-day management. Instead of waiting for the next planning cycle, now the team could monitor performance in market, identify inefficiencies sooner, and adjust while there was still time to improve outcomes.

Buying decisions were also reframed around audience quality and response potential. We refined the media mix using audience composition, index, reach, frequency, and incremental reach-to-target, shifting investment toward placements with stronger audience fit and higher conversion potential.

GPS brought campaign response, media efficiency, lead quality, ROAS and seasonal performance into one live view, giving the team a clearer basis for every optimization decision.

The Results

The program moved from delayed, broad reporting to placement-level performance intelligence the team could act on in market.

In one year, the provider increased qualified calls by nearly 30% YoY while reducing media investment by almost 40%. Cost per call fell by more than half, producing twice the media value of the prior year.

The result was a more accountable media program that generated greater response from substantially less investment.