2012-02-28 Glenn M. Renwick’s Letters to PGR Shareholders

2012-02-28 Glenn M. Renwick’s Letters to PGR Shareholders


Letter to Shareholders  
致股东信

It’s not always apparent when meaningful business history is being made and in auto insurance that’s not very often, but in 2011, Progressive’s introduction of Snapshot® just might qualify.  
当真正具有意义的商业历史正在书写时往往并不明显,而在汽车保险领域,这种情况并不多见,但在2011年,Progressive推出Snapshot®便有可能成为这样的时刻。

“I’m a good driver why don’t I get credit for that?” “What does my age or occupation tell you about my driving?” … and the list goes on as consumers struggle with group statistics of correlation versus their sense of controllable causes. Snapshot, and what is sure to follow in its evolution, is a meaningful start toward personalized insurance pricing based on real-time measurement of your driving behavior – the statistics of one.  
“我是个好司机,为什么不该因此得到认可?”“我的年龄或职业又能告诉你什么驾驶信息?”……随着消费者在群体相关统计与他们对可控因素的感知之间苦苦挣扎,这样的问题层出不穷。Snapshot以及其后续演进无疑是迈向基于实时驾驶行为测量(即“个体统计”)的个性化保险定价的一次意义深远的尝试。

The power of participation and personalization has strong appeal, no better demonstrated than when we asked customers, employees, shareholders, and directors to contribute artwork for this Annual Report. A simple request to draw online a car facing to the right resulted in tens of thousands of responses – no two the same. Objective curation of the responses has selected a sample to highlight this report – sadly mine is absent, but the point is not diminished. The numerosity of responses provides a visual clue as to the expansive power that personalization provides to segmentation in insurance pricing.  
参与和个性化的力量极具吸引力,这一点在我们邀请客户、员工、股东和董事为本年度报告提供艺术作品时表现得淋漓尽致。仅仅一个简单的请求——在线画一辆朝右的汽车,就收到了成千上万份各不相同的作品。经过客观筛选后,我们挑选了一部分作品以突出本报告——遗憾的是,我的作品未能入选,但这并不影响主题。大量的回应直观展示了个性化如何在保险定价细分中发挥巨大作用。

As exciting as Snapshot is, and I’ll discuss it in more detail later, there is much more to reflect on for Progressive in 2011.  
尽管Snapshot令人振奋,我稍后会详细讨论,但对于Progressive来说,2011年还有更多值得回顾的地方。

For the first time in Progressive’s history net premiums written topped $15 billion, surpassing that mark in the closing days of the year. Earned premiums, recognized on a lag to written, finished around $14.9 billion.  
Progressive历史上首次,净承保保费突破150亿美元,并在年末最后几天超过这一水平。已赚保费(按账面保费滞后确认)最终约为149亿美元。

Our combined ratio of 93 was an equally satisfying result, and while three points better than the objective we communicate to shareholders, it benefited from what I would classify as generally higher-than-expected favorable development from prior year loss reserves, as those estimates were refined based on actual payment patterns. However, net of any favorable development, we outperformed our target 96 combined ratio and comfortably handled an active catastrophe year.  
我们的综合比率为93,这一结果同样令人满意,虽然比我们向股东传达的目标低了三个百分点,但这得益于前一年损失准备金的有利发展普遍超出预期——这些估计是基于实际支付模式不断调整的。不过,即使剔除这些有利因素,我们依然超越了目标96的综合比率,并从容应对了一个灾害频发的年份。

Net premiums written growth for the year was 5%, or alternatively about $670 million, not yet numbers that come close to taxing our ability or desire to manage growth, but a strong growth quarter to end the year was encouraging. Reporting last year I commented that, “The closing years of the decade appear to be the approximate time frame during which industrywide profitability will once again be moderated and sustained industry premium declines will turn positive.” This appears to have some continued veracity and for Progressive the combination of growth and margin in the last few years supports our turn.  
全年净承保保费增长率为5%,约为6.7亿美元,这一数字尚不足以对我们管理增长的能力或意愿形成巨大压力,但年末的强劲增长季度令人鼓舞。去年我曾表示:“本十年末似乎正是整个行业盈利能力再次趋于温和,并且持续的行业保费下降将转为正增长的时期。”这一观点似乎仍然成立,对于Progressive来说,过去几年增长与利润率的结合证明了我们的转型方向。
 
  

I favor unit counts in analyzing the health of the business and for 2011 we increased our number of policies in force by about 580,000 and by extension approximately a million new customers. Combined with our internal mandate to serve all of our nearly 13 million policies over an ever increasing life expectancy, we would assess 2011 to be a healthy year – notwithstanding considerable room for improvement.  
我倾向于通过单位数来分析业务健康状况,2011年我们的在保保单数量增加了约580,000份,进而新增客户约一百万。再加上我们内部关于服务近1300万保单并延长其保障期的要求,我们认为2011年是一个健康的年份——尽管仍有相当提升空间。

Our net income of just over $1 billion and the per-share equivalent of $1.59, aided by share repurchases, are reasonably comparable to the equivalent results from the prior two years. Thankfully nothing compares well to 2008. Our objective however, is not annual comparability but superiority. So what’s in this year’s results that a closer diagnostic might highlight and support the optimism I feel for the year ahead?  
我们的净收入略超10亿美元,每股收益1.59美元,加上股票回购的助力,与前两年的相应结果基本相当。谢天谢地,没有什么能与2008年相比。然而,我们的目标并非年度可比性,而是追求卓越。那么今年的业绩中有什么,通过更深入的诊断能突出并支持我对未来一年的乐观预期?

Closing Speed – Our fourth quarter production, a composite of rate, new policies, and renewal acceptances, across all products was, at 8% written premium growth, stronger than any prior quarter for the year and, in fact, for the last 26 quarters. It’s always nice to be carrying momentum as the year closes, but any projections of what this may or may not mean holds considerably less value than our ongoing monthly reporting of attained results.  
收官速度——我们第四季度的产出(涵盖费率、新保单以及续保的综合指标)实现了8%的账面保费增长,这一增长超越了当年以至过去26个季度中的任何一个季度。年末保持动力总是件好事,但对这一表现可能意味着什么的预测远不如我们每月实际业绩报告来的有价值。

Our Agency business had and continues to maintain very steady production since regaining positive policy growth in late 2009. Meaningful trends in production in this channel are subject to many factors, perhaps the most significant of which is rate presentation and competitive positioning. We’ve worked diligently to ensure that, regardless of the means an agent uses to get our rates, our best product options are always presented. Our unwavering philosophy of continuous rate review by state and distribution channel often means we are taking rate ahead of competitors, but it also means that significant rate action by others may not need to be directly matched by us.  
我们的代理业务自2009年末实现正增长以来一直保持非常稳定的产出。该渠道生产的有意义趋势受多种因素影响,其中最关键的可能是费率展示和竞争定位。我们一直勤奋工作,确保无论经纪人采用何种方式获取我们的费率,我们始终能呈现出最佳产品选择。我们坚持按州及分销渠道持续审查费率的理念,往往使我们领先于竞争对手,但这也意味着对手的重大费率调整并不必然要求我们直接匹配。

While in many states 2011 rate changes were moderate, we were still advantaged by our philosophy, as several competitors in several states took needed rate actions. Our expectation that our agent-produced policies would reach an all-time high early in the year in-fact happened, and we ended the year even higher, fully correcting a negative trend in this key measure which began in 2006.  
尽管在许多州2011年的费率变动较为温和,我们的理念仍使我们受益,因为多个州的几家竞争对手采取了必要的费率调整。我们预期经纪人推动的保单早期会达到历史最高点,这一预期确实实现了,而且年末的数字更高,彻底扭转了自2006年开始的这一关键指标的负面趋势。

Our Direct business received a welcome lift from a very healthy shopping trend in the early part of 2010, but momentum was noticeably slowing by year-end and, as expected, carried into 2011. While attracting a healthy number of new customers in 2011, we did not match the new business application counts achieved in 2010 for much of the year. However, by the fourth quarter, we were once again posting positive new application growth.  
我们的直销业务在2010年初受益于非常活跃的购物趋势,但到了年末势头明显放缓,并如预期延续到了2011年。虽然2011年吸引了大量新客户,但在大部分时间里,我们的新业务申请数量未能达到2010年的水平。不过,到第四季度,我们再次实现了新业务申请的正增长。

New policies are essential to maintaining a vibrant and growing book, but the flow through to renewal status is even more critical. For the year, we grew our renewal applications about 11%. The overall policies in force growth for Direct auto was an acceptable 6%, but somewhat slower than we hope many of our new product offerings would allow us to achieve.  
新保单对维持活跃且不断增长的业务簿至关重要,但转化为续保更为关键。全年我们续保申请增长约11%。直销汽车保单的总体在保增长为6%,虽然这是个可以接受的数字,但略低于我们期望新产品带来的增速。

Our market-leading special lines business, insuring motorcycles, recreational vehicles, boats, watercraft, and snowmobiles, finished another very successful year. We exceeded $1.2 billion in written premiums with underwriting margins considerably better than our targets. We look forward to an economy where new sales of these vehicles return to prior levels.  
我们在摩托车、休闲车、船只、水上交通工具和雪地摩托等专线业务中处于行业领先地位,今年同样取得了巨大成功。账面保费超过12亿美元,承保利润率远超目标。我们期待一个这些车辆新销售量恢复至以往水平的经济环境。

Our special lines offerings, along with our continued growth in our Progressive Home Advantage® program, continued to drive our important multi-product household measures to new highs for the year.  
我们的专线产品,加上Progressive Home Advantage®计划的持续增长,推动了我们多产品家庭业务指标今年创下新高。

After several years of really tough sledding, reflecting the economy at-large, our Commercial Auto product found new energy as the year progressed. Declining trends in premium and policies were arrested and reversed during the year, and Commercial Auto finished out the year with close to 6% written premium growth, mostly driven by double-digit growth in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  
经过几年的艰难经营,整体经济形势的反映使我们的商业汽车产品在年中找回了新活力。年内保费和保单数的下降趋势得以遏制并逆转,商业汽车产品以接近6%的账面保费增长结束了今年,主要得益于第三和第四季度的两位数增长。

This growth reflects our implementation of needed pricing increases, often before our competitors, returning unit growth through new applications, and some expansion of product offerings. With significant growth comes the added concern of balanced profitability; for now, we are very satisfied that we’re finding a balance that meets our objectives, but remain vigilant.  
这一增长反映了我们实施必要的提价措施(往往领先竞争对手)、通过新申请带来的单位增长以及产品线的适度扩展。显著增长同时也带来了平衡盈利能力的挑战;目前,我们对找到满足目标的平衡感到非常满意,但仍保持高度警觉。

Investment Headwinds – We target no specific mix of income from underwriting and investments. It’s fair to suggest, however, that while underwriting income is very much in-line with long-held performance objectives, total return from our investments, a hugely important contribution to our economic model, has been both highly variable and at times, including this year, below the contribution we might desire in our more global outlook for shareholder return.  
投资逆风——我们并不针对承保收入和投资收益设定特定比例。然而,可以公平地说,虽然承保收入完全符合我们长期以来的业绩目标,但来自投资的总回报——这一对我们经济模式极为重要的部分——波动很大,有时(包括今年在内)低于我们在更全球视角下期望的回报水平。

With that clear recognition, and the appreciation that managing our portfolio to a very short duration for some time has left opportunity on the table, I continue to feel strongly, given the climate and uncertainty, that we have taken and will continue to take a position that will not inhibit our ability to underwrite all the business we can at an appropriately aggressive premiums-to-surplus ratio.  
基于这一明确认识,并考虑到我们将投资组合管理为短久期一段时间所留下的机会,我依然坚信,在当前的气候和不确定性下,我们已经并将继续采取一种不会妨碍我们以适当激进的保费与盈余比例承保所有业务的策略。

Our fully taxable equivalent total return for the year was 3.2%, less than half the equivalent number for 2010 and the reduction was apportioned across both the fixed-income and common stock portions of the portfolio.  
我们全年的完全应税等效总回报率为3.2%,不到2010年水平的一半,这一下降分布在固定收益和普通股部分。

Our preference is to avoid the price volatility of longer-duration assets at the prevailing low yields, favoring shorter duration bonds at unquestionably very low yields, but with the opportunity for faster future reinvestment. With perfect prospective information, we would all make the right choice. Without it we are guided by ensuring our underwriting franchise is a protected asset with no constraints to do what it does best.  
我们的偏好是避免在当前低收益环境下长期资产的价格波动,倾向于选择久期较短的债券,尽管这些债券的收益率极低,但未来可实现更快的再投资机会。在拥有完美前瞻信息的情况下,我们都能做出正确选择;在没有前瞻信息的情况下,我们的指导原则是确保我们的承保业务成为一种不受限制、能够充分发挥其优势的受保护资产。

While low yields and highly volatile equity markets made for challenging times for investment income, it provided an attractive opportunity to reassess the composition of our capital structure. We issued $500 million of 10-year senior debt to strong market acceptance and a coupon interest rate of 3.75%.  
尽管低收益和高度波动的股票市场使得投资收入面临挑战,但这也为我们重新评估资本结构提供了有吸引力的机会。我们发行了5亿美元的10年期高级债券,该债券受到市场高度认可,票面利率为3.75%。

With a strong capital position, well-structured portfolio, solid operations, and what to us appeared to be depressed equity valuations, including ours, we repurchased our stock after the capital raise at an accelerated rate.  
凭借强劲的资本状况、结构合理的投资组合、稳健的运营,以及包括我们在内的被认为处于低估状态的股票估值,我们在资本募集后加速回购了股票。

Consistent with our long-standing policy to repurchase shares when our capital balance, view of the future, and the company’s stock price make it attractive to do so, we repurchased 51.3 million shares, for close to $1 billion, or about 7.7% of our outstanding shares at year end 2010.  
根据我们长期以来的政策——在资本余额、未来展望和公司股价合适时回购股票,我们在2010年末回购了5130万股,总金额近10亿美元,占流通股的约7.7%。

With those transactions, our debt-to-total capital ended the year at 29.6%, inside our 30% guidance, but was further reduced upon retirement at maturity of a $350 million tranche of our outstanding debt in early 2012.  
通过这些交易,我们的债务占总资本比率在年末达到29.6%,低于我们30%的指导值,并且在2012年初一笔3.5亿美元债务到期偿还后进一步降低。

Our best net expression of underwriting performance against our goals for the year is our Gainshare score. For 2011 the score was 1.1, mid-range on the 0 to 2 scale.  
我们衡量年度承保表现最好的净指标是我们的收益共享分数。2011年的分数为1.1,在0到2的评分区间中属于中等水平。

Combining the Gainshare score with after-tax underwriting income and the board-established dividend target factor of 33 1/3%, our variable dividend payment for 2011 was approximately $250 million or just short of 41 cents per share.  
将收益共享分数与税后承保利润以及董事会设定的33又1/3%分红目标相结合,2011年的可变股息支付约为2.5亿美元,每股接近41美分。

We spend significant time and effort modeling our capital requirements and sizing what we call “layers of capital” to satisfy regulatory requirements and any manner of contingencies we could envision for our business.  
我们花费大量时间和精力对资本需求进行建模,并确定我们所称的“资本层级”,以满足监管要求以及我们能预见到的各类业务应急需求。

Capital in excess of these two layers is available for share repurchases, acquisitions, and shareholder dividends.  
超过这两层要求的资本可用于股票回购、收购以及股东分红。

Our variable dividend has become an effective, appropriate, and now reasonably meaningful part of our capital management practices. The board has determined the parameters for 2012 will remain the same as in 2011.  
我们的可变股息已成为资本管理实践中一个有效、恰当且具有相当意义的部分。董事会已确定2012年的参数将与2011年保持一致。

With a strong and well-structured investment portfolio and capital position, we enter 2012 certainly hopeful for an improved investment environment and returns that more comfortably match the underwriting contribution, but not dependent on it.  
凭借强劲且结构合理的投资组合和资本状况,我们进入2012年,对改善的投资环境和更贴合承保贡献的回报充满信心,但不会完全依赖于此。

Product Potential – Product design differences between auto insurance offerings are understandably obscure and certainly less obvious than those of many consumer products.  
产品潜力——汽车保险产品之间的产品设计差异本质上较为隐晦,且肯定不如许多消费品那样明显。

While subtle for some, their importance and contribution are the very essence of success in our business.  
尽管对某些人来说差异细微,但它们的重要性和贡献正是我们业务成功的本质所在。

Progressive, with some justification, is well recognized in our industry as a leader in product design and price segmentation.  
有充分理由认为,Progressive在业内被公认为产品设计和价格分层的领导者。

In large part, this is the statistical matching of auto accident related costs incurred by an individual to the premium to be paid.  
很大程度上,这依赖于将个人发生的车祸相关成本与应支付的保费进行统计匹配。
Idea
朴素并且客观的描述。
But product design is much more than just price segmentation and for us involves the consumer and agent presentation and, increasingly so, their ability to interact with the product by selecting and packaging combinations of coverage that best meet their needs.  
但产品设计远不止于价格分层,对于我们来说,还包括消费者和代理人的呈现方式,及其通过选择和组合最能满足需求的保障方案与产品互动的能力。

I doubt any year in Progressive’s history has broadened the horizons of just what might be possible with future product design more than 2011.  
我怀疑在Progressive历史上,没有哪一年能像2011年那样拓宽未来产品设计可能性的视野。

The vast majority of the statistical matching in use today is based on observable and verifiable characteristics of the driver and vehicle.  
当今绝大多数的统计匹配都是基于驾驶员和车辆可观察且可验证的特征。

While admittedly, it’s the science of correlation and grouping, it has extraordinary power and marginal improvements with disproportionate gains are available to those truly committed to product research and development.  
虽然无可否认,这是一门关于相关性和分组的科学,但它具有非凡的力量,对于真正致力于产品研发的人来说,边际改善能带来不成比例的收益。

As good as the base science is, it lacked a meaningful direct relationship to actual driving behavior.  
尽管基础科学很好,但它缺乏与实际驾驶行为之间具有实质性直接关系的部分。

Our work with measuring driver behavior, over now many years, provided its share of challenges, but from the earliest days suggested that, if possible and practical, the data set would expand the known universe of rating segmentation.  
我们多年来在测量驾驶行为方面的工作也面临了不少挑战,但从最早期开始就暗示出,如果可行且实用,这个数据集将扩展已知的定价分层领域。

2011 was the year that possible and practical fully merged in our product offering of “Snapshot.”  
2011年,是可能与实用性在我们的“Snapshot”产品中完全融合的一年。

Snapshot, available in both our Agency and Direct channels, has been met with significant consumer appeal.  
Snapshot在我们的代理和直销渠道均有提供,并受到了消费者的广泛欢迎。

We’ve seen an increasing number of Direct customers choosing to improve their initial price estimate by installing our measurement device and reporting their driving behavior.  
我们观察到越来越多的直销客户选择通过安装我们的测量设备并上报其驾驶行为来改善初始价格估计。

We provide the policyholder a portal view into their trip management – when, how many, how far, and selected variables of interest, which for us are a proxy for defensive driving.  
我们为保单持有人提供一个门户,展示他们的行程管理——包括时间、次数、距离以及其他感兴趣的变量,对我们来说,这些都是防御性驾驶的代理指标。

After 30 days, we are able to make an initial estimate of a discount that reflects the individual’s driving characteristics and apply that for immediate use.  
经过30天后,我们能够对折扣做出初步估算,该折扣反映了个人的驾驶特征,并立即予以应用。

A final estimate is applied to the subsequent renewal and the measurement device is returned and available for reuse, although we maintain a right for future calibration.  
最终估算将在下一次续保时应用,同时测量设备被收回后可再次使用,尽管我们保留未来校准的权利。

Discounts range between 0% and 30% and the full range is effectively used.  
折扣范围在0%至30%之间,并且这一全范围均被有效利用。

Perhaps more importantly, and you’ll excuse me that certain specifics are best closely held, the expectation of getting a discount is far better than 50/50, suggesting, as I think we all intuitively know, that a smaller percentage of drivers are responsible for a disproportionate share of the costs.  
或许更重要的是,请见谅某些具体细节最好保密,但获得折扣的预期远高于50/50,这表明,正如我们直觉所知,较小比例的驾驶者承担了不成比例的成本。

Identifying just who they are is the challenge we’re exploring.  
找出他们到底是谁,是我们正在探索的难题。

Acceptance by agents on behalf of their customers is somewhat slower, and in many ways understandably so, but as the product feature matures, I fully expect increased consideration and use.  
代理人代表客户接受这一产品的速度略显缓慢,在很多方面这都是可以理解的,但随着产品功能的成熟,我完全预期会有更多的考虑和使用。

Snapshot is built on top of our existing product and, as such, it is an additional level of segmentation rather than a product in and of itself.  
Snapshot建立在我们现有产品之上,因此它更多是一种额外的分层工具,而非独立的产品。

The segmentation provided, however, is able to be isolated and fully analyzed and tuned.  
然而,这种分层可以被单独隔离、充分分析并进行调优。

Historically, data quantity, management, and mining have been the keys to effective segmentation and real-time usage data will be no different, but the amplification of each is not for the faint of heart.  
历史上,数据数量、管理和挖掘一直是实现有效分层的关键,即时使用数据也不例外,但每一项的放大都不是胆小者能承受的。

The data sets are huge, requiring storage, access, and mining techniques that challenge those that only months ago seemed state-of-the-art.  
这些数据集巨大,需要的存储、访问和挖掘技术挑战着那些几个月前还被认为是最先进的技术。

Without data, only dangerous inferences can be drawn.  
没有数据,只能得出危险的推论。

Our commitment to building an initial data set has been a disciplined undertaking over several years and now, with a viable product in-market, our reward of ever expanding data is tremendous.  
我们致力于建立初始数据集,这是一项多年来严谨执行的工作;如今,随着市场上有了可行的产品,我们获得的数据不断扩展,其价值巨大。

We now measure data in miles of behavioral observation and at last count we have the equivalent of multiple round trips to Mars.  
如今,我们以“驾驶行为观测的英里数”来衡量数据,据最新统计,我们的数据相当于多次往返火星的距离。

Snapshot and usage-based data in auto insurance rating has been well accepted by regulators who have allowed us to protect our proprietary algorithm in 39 states and the District of Columbia, for which we are very appreciative.  
Snapshot和基于使用数据的汽车保险定价已经被监管机构广泛接受,他们允许我们在39个州及哥伦比亚特区保护我们的专有算法,我们对此深表感激。

The U.S. patent office has equally affirmed our existing intellectual property, and has now approved one additional patent.  
美国专利局同样确认了我们现有的知识产权,并已批准一项额外专利。

Consumers and those who speak for them have, with few exceptions, been enthusiastic about the product, and privacy concerns, so very prominent in the early years, have been mitigated by the design and discrete monitoring periods.  
除少数例外,消费者及其代表对这一产品表现出极大热情,而早期非常突出的隐私担忧也因产品设计和分段监控周期而得到缓解。

Much remains to be done before the full power of usage-based segmentation will be tapped.  
在充分发挥基于使用数据的分层能力之前,还有许多工作需要完成。

I sense that as good as we feel today we will look back with some humility, in future years, when we realize just what has been possible.  
我预感,尽管我们今天感觉良好,未来回望时我们会怀着谦卑之心,认识到原来还有如此多的可能性。

Product features and packaging, like Name Your Price®, provide consumers wishing to shop online a very real opportunity to leverage technology to their advantage and explore a range of options available to them.  
像“自定价格”(Name Your Price®)这样的产品功能和包装,为希望在线购物的消费者提供了一个切实利用技术优势并探索各种可选方案的机会。

Agents have always provided the ability for customers to reach smart decisions on price and coverage.  
代理人一直为客户提供了作出明智价格和保障决策的能力。

Now Name Your Price in combination with Snapshot provides for a powerful and compelling quote process quite unlike our competitors.  
如今,“自定价格”与Snapshot相结合,为客户提供了一个强大且引人注目的报价流程,与我们的竞争对手截然不同。

Ever increasing product complexity must be presented to consumers and agents with great, easy-to-use technology interfaces.  
日益增长的产品复杂性必须通过优秀、易用的技术界面呈现给消费者和代理人。

We’re fanatics about the presentation layer of our products.  
我们对产品的展示层充满热情。

We receive consistent recognition in agent surveys as their leading company and equally consistent recognition as the leading insurance website by Keynote.  
在代理人调查中,我们始终被公认为行业领先企业,同时在Keynote的评选中也屡获领先保险网站的认可。

However, the range of presentation formats has expanded greatly with tablets and smart phones and that has our full attention.  
然而,随着平板电脑和智能手机的普及,展示格式种类大幅增加,这引起了我们的高度关注。

More than 15% of search activity for Progressive, or other auto insurance terms, is now mobile-device based and quoting and sales attributed to mobile devices have grown at rates that make days and weeks approximate early Internet months.  
现在,超过15%的关于Progressive或其他汽车保险术语的搜索活动来自移动设备,而移动设备的报价和销售增长率之快,已使得天和周的增幅可与互联网早期的月增率相媲美。

As noted last year, the potential for devices that are on your person often with a camera and location software, is a new and really exciting dimension for all aspects of our business and I suggested to expect more in 2011.  
正如去年所指出的,随身携带、配备摄像头和定位软件的设备具有巨大的潜力,这是我们业务各个方面全新而令人振奋的维度,我曾建议在2011年期待更多突破。

I had the pleasure of being directly involved with the team leading our mobile strategy and their progress in 2011 has been nothing short of impressive.  
我有幸直接参与领导我们的移动战略团队,而他们在2011年的进展令人印象深刻。

We talk in terms of “mobilize” not “miniaturize,” which simply means using the capabilities versus adapting the old product and presentation to new devices and formats.  
我们讨论的是“移动化”而非“微型化”,这意味着充分利用设备的能力,而不是将旧有产品和展示方式简单地适应新设备和格式。

Selecting just one initiative to build on the concept of product design and presentation is our prototype application that allows a consumer to use the camera in their device to send a photo of a driver’s license and similarly their current insurance card with vehicle identification number, and in return get an insurance quote returned instantaneously.  
以产品设计和展示概念为基础的其中一项举措,是我们的原型应用,允许消费者使用设备摄像头拍摄驾驶执照照片以及当前保险卡和车辆识别号码,随后能立即获得保险报价。

A quote that then may well be further personalized by Name Your Price and Snapshot.  
该报价随后还可通过“自定价格”和Snapshot进一步个性化。

Expect more - I think that’s more . . . and better.  
期待更多——我认为将会有更多……而且会更好。

Old industries do reinvent themselves and this feels like it’s going to be quite a ride.  
老行业会自我革新,而这一切看起来将会是一段相当精彩的旅程。

Brand and Distribution Momentum – An open question existed over the last decade or so - could we market and retail our product with the same success we enjoyed, more as a wholesaler, with our agents representing our consumer face?  
品牌与分销动能——在过去十年左右,曾经存在一个悬而未决的问题——我们是否能像作为批发商那样,以我们的代理人作为消费者形象代表,成功地营销和零售我们的产品?

Perhaps an even more interesting question, and for me the correct one, “Could we do so while enhancing both our Agent and Direct distribution options?” - our very clear and consistently stated objective.  
也许更有趣的问题,也是我认为正确的问题是,“我们是否可以在增强代理和直销两种分销渠道的同时实现这一目标?”——这是我们明确且一贯的目标。

Today, I believe we have an answer.  
今天,我相信我们已经找到了答案。

Progressive is a business generating brand.  
Progressive是一个具有品牌效应的企业。

One that is more important than any means of distribution or product feature but in fact a clear consumer mindset about who we are as a company and what they should expect as a customer.  
这一品牌比任何分销手段或产品特性都更为重要,它体现了消费者对我们企业身份及其作为客户应有期待的清晰认知。

Our Personal Lines business today is a very balanced book, between distribution options, with agent-produced auto business slightly larger at 55% of policies.  
我们的个人保险业务如今在分销渠道上十分均衡,其中代理经办的汽车业务略占优势,占保单的55%。

Our single brand multi-distribution company is a unique and valuable positioning in our space.  
我们作为单一品牌、多渠道分销的公司,在市场中占据了独特且宝贵的定位。

The road was not always straight, but the result is extremely rewarding and powerful.  
道路并非一直平坦,但结果极其有成效且充满力量。

Research on consumer’s reactions to brands, preferences, and advertising is extensive and often constructive, but rarely definitive.  
关于消费者对品牌反应、偏好及广告的研究十分广泛且常常具有建设性,但很少能得出定论。

We are, however, encouraged that consumer awareness of our brand is both positive and closely associated with key characteristics such as ease of doing business, distinctive product features, and exceptional service, all consistent with our intentions.  
然而,我们感到鼓舞的是,消费者对我们品牌的认知既积极又与“业务便捷”、“独特产品特性”及“卓越服务”等关键特征紧密相关,这都符合我们的初衷。

Ensuring congruity between internal and external brands with actions matching expectations has been central to our global brand development.  
确保内部与外部品牌的一致性,并使实际行动符合预期,一直是我们全球品牌发展的核心。

The brand ambassador status bestowed on “Flo,” our most visible employee image, is no accident and serves as a clear behavioral model for all - the substance perhaps not the humor.  
赋予“Flo”作为品牌大使的地位绝非偶然,她是我们最具代表性的员工形象,为所有人树立了清晰的行为榜样——尽管她的内涵可能不以幽默取胜。

The importance of getting this right was highlighted in 2011 as “Flo” was voted America’s #1 advertising icon (as named by Entertainment Weekly).  
这一点在2011年得到了强调,当时“Flo”被《娱乐周刊》评为美国第一广告偶像。

I’m sure her over 3.3 million Facebook fans had something to do with that, but the point is the same.  
我相信她超过330万的Facebook粉丝在其中起了一定作用,但重点是一样的。

For 2011 we had clear objectives to advance our marketing and advertising efforts.  
2011年,我们有明确目标来推动我们的市场营销和广告工作。

We wanted the character of “Flo” to endure and, to do so, sought to make the character richer and extend her range of interactions and messages.  
我们希望“Flo”的形象能够持久,为此我们致力于使这一形象更丰富,并扩展她的互动和传递的信息范围。

The results are always subject to opinion, but for me the creative developed in 2011, for use in 2011 and 2012, was some of the best in this now long running campaign.  
结果总是因人而异,但在我看来,为2011及2012年所开发的创意,是这一长期广告活动中最好的一部分。

Results trump opinion, but I think consumers might agree.  
结果胜过观点,但我认为消费者可能也会同意这一点.

We had some clear ideas about a new campaign, its target audience, and message, and tested our “Messenger” campaign late in 2010.  
我们对一项新广告活动、其目标受众和信息有明确的构想,并在2010年末测试了我们的“信使”广告活动。

However, we found by observing the “Messenger’s” natural interaction style with all ranges of people that we had an opportunity to improve on the concept.  
然而,通过观察“信使”与各类人群的自然互动方式,我们发现有机会改进这一概念。

By mid-year, we were reworking the campaign structure.  
到了年中,我们开始重新调整广告活动的结构。

The “Messenger” is now carrying his message of Progressive’s savings and convenience, by interacting with prospective customers in real and unscripted settings.  
如今,“信使”通过在真实且非剧本化的场景中与潜在客户互动,传递出Progressive在节省成本和便利性上的信息。

Choosing settings like a gas station or baggage claim at the airport, the “Messenger” can empathize with the pain points of gas prices or baggage fees and, while not able to solve them, is willing to share his savings on auto insurance to help with the burden.  
例如,在加油站或机场行李领取处,“信使”可以共情油价或行李费的痛点,虽然不能解决这些问题,但愿意分享他在汽车保险上的节省,以减轻客户负担。

These true slice-of-life scenarios, where the “Messenger” can perform what we call random acts of savings, provide reactions and responses that simply could not be scripted.  
这些真实生活场景中,“信使”能够执行我们所谓的随机节省行动,带来的反应和效果根本无法预设剧本。

We’re encouraged by early results and the developing acceptance of the character from “Not quite sure,” to a guy who understands life and helps when he can by “saving it forward.”  
我们对早期的结果感到鼓舞,并看到这一角色的接受度不断提高,从“不太确定”到一个懂生活、并在力所能及时以“传递节省”帮助他人的人。

No campaign it would seem appeals to all and we are delighted to have additional assets for use across the range of audiences we wish to address and the media options available to us.  
看起来没有哪种广告活动能满足所有人,而我们很高兴拥有额外的资源,可以覆盖我们希望触及的各类受众及所有可用的媒体渠道。

The most enduring of our objectives is to ensure all our customer communication and messaging is integrated and presents a consistent Progressive brand, be it in print, social media, digital, or television.  
我们最持久的目标是确保所有客户沟通和信息传递都是整合一致的,并展示出统一的Progressive品牌形象,无论是在印刷媒体、社交媒体、数字平台还是电视上。

The media and advertising world is dynamic and expensive and we must be judicious in all we do.  
媒体和广告世界充满活力且费用昂贵,我们必须在所有工作中保持审慎。

2011 was a good year in which we took encouraging steps to ensure we have what’s necessary to continue the momentum we’ve been building in our brand and consumer appeal.  
2011年是一个好年头,我们采取了令人鼓舞的步骤,确保拥有继续推动我们品牌和消费者吸引力的必要条件。

The Progressive Journey  
Progressive之路

Progressive will celebrate 75 years in business this year and, while I only have visibility into the last third, it is a business story of some considerable note.  
Progressive今年将庆祝成立75周年,虽然我只能看到过去三分之一的历程,但这是一段相当值得铭记的商业故事。

However, in so many ways, it feels like the story is just beginning as we adapt to the ever changing needs of the consumer, technology, and available data.  
然而,在许多方面,这个故事仿佛才刚刚开始,因为我们正在适应不断变化的消费者需求、技术和可用数据。

Our efforts to retain customers must reach the competence we exhibit in acquiring new ones, something we estimate we now lead.  
我们在留住客户方面的努力必须达到我们在获取新客户时所展现的能力,我们估计这一点我们已处于领先地位。

More than just words, this guides our actions in every area of the company.  
这不仅仅是口号,而是指导我们公司各个领域行动的准则。

Isolating and highlighting any such action severely understates the efforts of so many, but accepting that risk, it seems appropriate to comment on the extraordinary response of our Claims organization to the multiple catastrophes of 2011.  
单独列举和强调任何一个行动都严重低估了众多人所付出的努力,但冒着这一风险,我认为有必要谈谈我们理赔部门对2011年多起灾害所作出的非凡反应。

Perhaps a strange compliment, but they made it look almost too easy.  
也许这听起来有些奇怪,但他们的表现几乎显得轻而易举。

The deployment logistics and the commitment of our people to leave their regular routine and go where our customers needed them most, continues to impress me no matter how familiar I am with the planning, preparation, and expectations that are in place for such occasions.  
无论我对这类情况的计划、准备和预期多么熟悉,他们在部署物流和放弃常规工作,奔赴客户最需要的地方时展现出的奉献精神总让我印象深刻。

Customers know and appreciate good service and our efforts are rewarded with their increased Net Promoter® scores and renewal behavior following a satisfying claims response.  
客户懂得并欣赏优质服务,我们的努力也通过客户满意的理赔响应后更高的净推荐值和续保行为得到了回报。

Our future won’t be without challenges, but the metaphorical mountains we have climbed are meaningful; there are bigger ones yet to climb, but, as I said at our 2011 investor conference, “not many get the view from here.”  
我们的未来不会没有挑战,但我们所攀登的象征性高山意义非凡;还有更大的山峰等待攀登,但正如我在2011年投资者大会上所说,“很少有人能看到这里的风景。”

I hope this review of the year leaves you as optimistic as it does me.  
我希望这一年的回顾能使大家像我一样保持乐观。

Our People and Culture  
我们的团队与文化

We are Progressive and we are progressive - yes, a pithy and perhaps simple statement, but for us it’s so much more.  
我们是Progressive,我们就是进步——这句话简洁而或许看似简单,但对我们而言,它代表了更多。

It’s the crystallization of our culture and what we aspire to contribute to our industry and consumers.  
它凝聚了我们的文化以及我们希望为行业和消费者做出贡献的愿景。

It’s an enduring impetus to continuously refine our work environment to one where we’re all motivated to do our best work, where we can grow constantly, and that others will want to join.  
这是一种持久的动力,促使我们不断完善工作环境,让每个人都能受到激励发挥最佳水平,实现持续成长,并吸引他人加入。

The blend of both practical and emotional energy in the statement, effectively communicates the responsibility and self-imposed aspirations that come from our quest to be “Consumers’ #1 choice for Auto Insurance.”  
这句话中实用与情感能量的融合,有效传达了我们追求成为“消费者首选汽车保险”的过程中所肩负的责任和自我设定的追求。

Our people, culture, and aspirations are what continue to make us special.  
我们的团队、文化和抱负正是让我们与众不同的根本所在。

Nothing we have achieved has been without the efforts of so many, and I thank the people of Progressive, our agents and brokers, customers, and shareholders for their support in making this all possible.  
我们所取得的一切成就都离不开无数人的努力,我感谢Progressive的每一位员工、我们的代理人和经纪人、客户以及股东,正是他们的支持让这一切成为可能。

To all the people who make Progressive, progressive – Thank You.  
致所有让Progressive不断进步的人——谢谢你们。

Glenn M. Renwick
President and Chief Executive Officer

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