Page 106 -

FREE AS A BUSINESS MODEL The Insurance Model:

Freemium Upside Down

100
REGA
PATTERNS In the freemium model a small base of customers KP KA VP CR CS
paying for a premium service subsidizes a large
base of non-paying customers. The insurance rescue patron
operations membership
model is actually the opposite—it’s the freemium
sponsoring
model turned on its head. In the insurance insurance rescue sponsoring
patronstrons
"insurance"
patrons
companies "insurance" pa
model, a large base of customers pay small regu-
sponsoring KR rescue CH other rescue ther rescue ther rescue
o o
rescue
other rescue
operationstions
opera
victimstimstims
vic
victims
lar fees to protect themselves from unlikely— patrons operations vic
but fi nancially devastating—events. In short, a fl eet of web
helicopters publications
large base of paying customers subsidizes a small and planes
group of people with actual claims—but any
one of the paying customers could at any time
sponsorship fee
become part of the benefi ciary group. C$ fl eet of helicopters & planes R$ R$ R$ sponsorship fee
sponsorship fee
sponsorship fee
sponsorship fee
sponsorship fee
sponsorship fee
fl eet of helicopters & planes
payments from insurance companies
payments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companiesyments from insurance companies
Let’s look at REGA as an example. REGA pa pa pa pa pa pa
rescuing
free re
free rescue operations
free re
free rescue operationsscue operationsscue operationsscue operationsscue operations
free re
is a Swiss non-profi t organization that uses free re
helicopters and airplanes to transport medical
staff to the scene of accidents, notably in the
mountainous areas of Switzerland. Over two
million so-called “patrons” fi nance the organiza- Many paying users
tion. In return, patrons are exempt from paying cover the costs of a
any costs arising from being rescued by REGA. few claims
Mountain rescue operations can be extremely
expensive, so REGA patrons fi nd the service
attractive in protecting them against the high
cost of accidents during skiing vacations, sum-
mer hikes, or mountain drives.
!"#$%&'(%)*+(%,,---133 /012013---2459-67