Generali Success Story: +18.8% More Online Leads with Novel Attribution and AI-Driven Optimization

Short Overview of Generali Austria

Generali Austria is one of the country’s foremost insurers and a key pillar of the international Generali Group. Founded in Trieste in 1831, it combines deep historical roots with modern, forward-thinking service.

With a net revenue of €3.1 billion, Generali Austria holds a solid position as the third-largest insurance company in Austria. It serves over 1.7 million customers, with a strong presence across non-life, life, and health insurance lines. Today Generali Austria employs approximately 4,600 people throughout the country.

The Challenge: Conflicting Truths, Stalled Optimization

Generali Austria operates with a broad product portfolio and a strong digital presence, striving for scalable growth while maintaining strict compliance and data privacy standards.

Inspired by their Swiss colleagues at Generali Switzerland, who were already successfully leveraging Nexoya’s AI platform (achieving +72% conversions), the Austrian team decided to explore the solution themselves. However, during the setup, one fundamental issue surfaced: attribution data could not be trusted.

Generali Austria had been relying on a mix of platform attributions (Meta, Google Ads) and Google Analytics (GA4). Instead of clarity, this created friction:

• Competing truth sources (platform pixels vs. analytics) made it hard to agree on what truly drives leads in the CRM.
• Calibration headaches: assigning comparable value to a Meta lead vs. a Google lead required assumptions that rarely held up.
• Limited actionability: CRM outcomes weren’t visible to ad platforms, so budgets couldn’t be re-allocated confidently across channels. Last touch is not working for the brand awareness of an insurance.

The consequences were clear: cross-channel optimization stalled right when it mattered most. Without a reliable single source of truth, it was impossible to understand how channels contributed to CRM leads or how brand-building campaigns supported performance.

Recognizing the roadblock, Generali Austria understood that true optimization would only be possible once attribution was fixed. Without a trusted view of how each channel contributed to Online leads, optimization efforts would remain limited. 

They needed a solution that would:

• Deliver reliable attribution on what campaigns truly contribute to Online leads.
• Provide an actionable foundation for optimization across channels.
• Replace “last-touch” blind spots with a more holistic, future-ready approach.

The ultimate goal was clear: fix attribution to gain data clarity and increase the number of leads – by optimizing campaigns based on their actual impact.

Nexoya took this challenge as an opportunity to develop a new feature based on regression-based modeling, designed to bring clarity to attribution and make it directly actionable for optimization.

As one of the first clients in Nexoya’s Early Adopter Program for Attribution, Generali Austria tested this new approach and provided valuable feedback – helping validate its ability to finally deliver a single, trusted source of truth.

First Steps: A Unified, Outcome-First Setup

During onboarding, Nexoya’s team and Generali mapped a clear operating model:

• Primary objective (for the optimization): Online Leads 
• Channels in scope: Meta, Google Ads, DV360
• Cadence: bi-weekly learning cycles aligned to budget shifts and portfolio optimization.

This ensured that the predictive models and optimization engine were trained on business outcomes rather than proxy metrics.

The Breakthrough: Novel Approach of Attribution  with Weekly Mini-Experiments

Instead of relying on pixel-level tracking or static rule-sets, Nexoya introduced a novel Attribution Approach – the Regression-Based Attribution (RBA). This method turns weekly budget shifts into controlled experiments, producing robust and actionable insights without disruptive A/B testing.

Key elements of the solution:

• Bi-weekly budget changes as mini-experiments: controlled variations generate a clear signal on channel performance.
• Incrementality modeling linked to CRM outcomes: The model learns each channel’s marginal contribution to actual CRM leads.
• Tight optimization loop: Fresh attribution results feed directly into Nexoya’s prediction and budget allocation models continuously.

The outcome: a single, consistent measurement framework that both explains and improves performance. No more calibration or triangulation between black-box pixels, MTA, and platform reporting.

“Our goal was to establish one clear source of truth and move away from conflicting attributions across channels. Nexoya made this possible – delivering reliable, data-driven attribution without relying on pixels or cookies. That’s the future.”

Romina Knaus, Digital Marketing Manager at Generali Austria

The Results: +18.8% More Online Leads

With the new attribution and combined with the Nexoya budget changes, Generali Austria achieved a +18.8% uplift in Online leads. 

Beyond the headline number, the team experienced a step-change in how they run performance marketing:

• Higher efficiency in paid media driven by more confident, cross-channel budget shifts.
• From static to dynamic decision-making: faster reactions and bi-weekly adjustments powered by one attribution model tied directly to business outcomes.
• Operational clarity: a bi-weekly rhythm that compounds learnings instead of restarting debates.
• Data clarity through attribution: finally one trusted source of truth, resolving conflicting views across platforms.
• All-in-one approach: attribution and optimization in one platform, making it easy to model, track, and act on insights.

“With Nexoya, we achieved 18.8% more online leads with the new attribution method! No more guessing. Data-driven insights that actually drive performance.”

Romina Knaus, Digital Marketing Manager at Generali Austria

This work was presented jointly at DMEXCO (Cologne, September 2025), highlighting how Generali Austria connected regression-based attribution with weekly optimization to turn measurement clarity into tangible growth.

Why It Worked

• Outcome truth, not proxy truth: model trained on actual CRM leads, not clicks or pixel events.
• Built-in experimentation: bi-weekly portfolio shifts create a continuous causal signal.
• Closed loop: attribution → prediction → budget optimization → new data results → improved attribution.
• Privacy-resilient: CRM outcomes reduce dependency on fragile, user-level tracking.

“Nexoya’s attribution solution not only gave us clarity on our data, but also directly boosted our marketing performance – making a real impact on the bottom line.”

Heidemarie Petschnig, Head of Digital at Generali Austria

Key Benefits for Generali Austria

• +18.8% increase in Online leads (verified with A/B test)
• Cross-channel optimization guided by one attribution model
• Data clarity through attribution: overcome data gaps and missing interfaces
• All-in-one solution: attribution and optimization in a single platform, making it easy to model, track, and act
• Reduced decision friction across marketing, analytics, media teams and agency partners
• Future-proof approach that respects consent and platform changes

Future Outlook: Scaling the Playbook

Generali Austria could now be preparing to scale their approach and take optimization to the next level. The roadmap ahead could include:

• Expanding to more data sources: incorporating all digital touchpoints, including e.g. newsletter data and additional channels.
• Going more granular: grouping performance not just by campaign type or goal, but also by individual product lines.
• Leveraging scenario simulation: using Nexoya’s forecasting to guide quarterly budget planning and evaluate trade-offs in upper-funnel investments.

Generali Austria’s role as an early innovator was instrumental in shaping this direction. Their pain points became drivers of Nexoya’s product innovation, paving the way for a new attribution standard. 

Looking ahead, Generali views Nexoya not just as a platform, but as a strategic partner – enabling data clarity, optimization, and long-term growth across their digital portfolio.