Brief:

• Allstate, the insurer that covers 16 million U.S. households, partnered with crowdsourced navigation app Waze to help stranded drivers with Allstate Roadside Services. The service rescues about 4 million motorists a year including 2 million Allstate customers, per a statement.
• Waze, which was acquired by Google in 2013, now lets users digitally request roadside help from Allstate’s Good Hands Rescue service with a few smartphone taps in the app designed to make it easy for smartphone users to report traffic congestion, accidents, blocked roads and speed traps to other drivers. Waze this year has received more than 5.3 million monthly reports of cars stopped on U.S. roads.
• After requesting Allstate’s rescue service, drivers can track the location of the tow or service provider from their smartphone and share this information with family and friends. Waze users don’t have to be an Allstate customer to use the service. They can pay for services as they need them, including towing, tire change, lockout and jump starting.

Insight:

For Allstate, Waze presents an opportunity for the insurer to market its roadside assistance service to the app's users, and promote the brand in a crowded auto insurance market. The partnership is a great idea in helping drivers to seek assistance when they’re stranded on the road. While not stated in the press releases, it seems likely that Allstate will also promote Waze to its members as an added service. In this way, the deal could be similar to a cross-promotion partnership Waze and Spotify announced earlier this year. 

Waze is gradually building out marketing opportunities for restaurants, hotels and local businesses. The app sells branded pins that embed an advertiser’s logo on its map to show the nearest location. Waze not only provides navigation to the store, but also can serve a coupon to to download at the destination. Last week, Waze partnered with Homesnap, a home search platform for real estate agents and their clients, to provide geotargeted ads aimed at prospective homebuyers.

Waze’s power comes from the real-time information provided by its users, who are rewarded with digital points and badges for contributing to the accuracy of maps and the reporting of traffic incidents. The points aren’t redeemable for material prizes like cash, but they do help keep people engaged in the app.