CAA North & East Ontario - 5% YOY GROWTH: THE QUIET POWER BEHIND CAA NEO’S INNOVATION-DRIVEN EXPANSION

David Coffey, VP, Enterprise Solutions, CAA NEO

CAA North & East Ontario (CAA NEO) is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to keeping people safe, on the road and beyond. Serving members across Ontario, CAA NEO offers trusted roadside assistance, travel services, insurance, and exclusive rewards and discounts. Behind their long-standing reputation for reliability is a story of quiet digital transformation and bold innovation.

Over the past decade, they have evolved from a traditional auto club into a nimble, data-powered member experience engine. This transformation has delivered real results, and over the past five years, CAA NEO has achieved:

  • 5% year-over-year growth across every business line.
  • A 50% increase in rewards engagement.
  • A complete rebound in their travel business, surpassing pre-COVID levels.
  • More intelligent, more strategic marketing automation, driven by member behaviour.

David Coffey, VP of Enterprise Solutions, has been at the forefront of this evolution. His tireless efforts have been instrumental in modernizing how CAA NEO connects with its members, launches new products, and scales sustainably. We sat down with him to explore the operational foundation behind the club’s growth and pin down the factors helping the organization quietly power through.

 

A misstep that sparked momentum

Five years ago, CAA NEO made what looked like a strategic leap. They replaced their long-standing platform, AXIS, with a well-known enterprise CRM to expand flexibility and tap into more powerful data tools. However, reality didn’t match the promise, and this turned out to be a misstep.

“The biggest cost was the time and the head sink,” Coffey recalled.

With the switch, rebuilding even the most basic workflows took months. Teams slowed down and innovation stalled. Costs ballooned, not just in terms of budget, but also in lost momentum.

“We spent so much time just trying to rebuild what already worked,” Coffey shared. “Instead of focusing on growth, we were left focusing on regaining basic functionality”, he explained.

Eventually, they made another bold move. This time, they returned to the AXIS platform, which had been quietly and reliably supporting them for years.

 

Transitioning back to focus and growth

The return to AXIS was swift and decisive. Within a mere six months, CAA NEO could fully re-migrate all business lines. At this time, the Campana team, like a true partner, handled the heavy lifting, moving data, and restoring integrations.

Operational stability returned, and so did clarity. “Getting back on a system that understood our business gave us back our time,” recalled Coffey.

With the tech foundation reset, their team could turn their attention away from system issues toward value creation, and CAA NEO wasted no time.

 

Building the business, not just the system

The auto club didn’t just settle for stability; they focused on accelerating innovation. With their operations streamlined and teams refocused, they set out to reimagine what membership could mean in a modern world. The result was a wave of new offerings designed to bring more value, relevance, and reach to their member base. Here’s how that looked in action:

  • Everyday membership

Recognizing that not all members needed or wanted roadside assistance, CAA NEO introduced a new membership tier focused entirely on perks and everyday savings. This offering opened the door to a broader demographic, including younger audiences and urban dwellers who may not drive frequently but still valued access to travel deals, insurance discounts, and retail rewards.

  • Pit Crew Services

Looking to go beyond reactive roadside service, CAA NEO developed a proactive, convenience-first approach to meeting members where they were. Named Pit Crew, this program brought services like tire swaps, oil changes, detailing, and even e-bike tune-ups directly to members’ driveways. With a member-first mindset and a flexible operational backbone, the Pit Crew service scaled quickly.

  • Fleet Services & Business Memberships

CAA NEO also saw an opportunity to support small business owners and fleet managers who needed reliable service at scale. They designed tailored B2B membership packages offering customized benefits, streamlined account management, and specialized service access for vehicles under commercial use. The idea was to open up a whole new growth channel.

Each of these new developments reflected the broader shift in how CAA NEO approached membership: not as a one-size-fits-all package but as an evolving portfolio of services shaped by the needs of real people and businesses. At every point of innovation, their vision came to life quickly with AXIS’s reliable operational support. They didn’t need custom development or long timelines to get their new offerings to live. “We could test, launch, learn, and keep moving,” Coffey explained.

Here is a closer look into how AXIS quietly empowered them by simplifying and strengthening their operational core:

  • Business intelligence tools gave the team clear insights into what worked and where to double down. Campaign reporting, dashboards, and trend analysis fueled smarter decisions in marketing and operations alike.
  • Reliable, accessible data allowed for real-time personalization, whether surfacing timely offers, identifying at-risk members, or driving more innovative retention efforts.
  • Workflow automation eliminated tedious manual tasks, enabling the team to push the right message or offer to the right member at the right time, with minimal effort.
  • Flexible APIs made it easy to enhance or replace system parts without risk, ensuring agility never came at the cost of stability.
  • Responsive, hands-on support meant ideas could move from concept to execution without getting bogged down in technical delays.
  • Cost efficiency remained a constant priority, ensuring member dues focused on value, not software overhead.

 

Hitting bumps; moving past them

No growth journey is without its downs. In the post AXIS phase, CAA NEO discovered a troubling drop in automatic membership renewals at one point. Something was off, and members were slipping through the cracks.

By studying the data in the system, they could diagnose the issue as an outdated, faulty payment integration. With support from the Campana team, they quickly rebuilt the payment stack and switched vendors.

The result? Approval rates restored to 87–89% within months. And the real win: The technical hiccup didn’t derail the business.

This moment was a reminder that simply having the right technology isn’t enough. What was equally important was a true partner that understood the industry and could support when things get tough. That’s what Campana became for them.

 

Looking ahead with bold moves, on solid ground.

“We’re not resting on our laurels,” says Coffey.

CAA NEO’s pace isn’t slowing down. The team is focused on building a future where value is delivered daily, not just when a member breaks down. They have ambitions to scale the business membership offering, expand Pit Crew services, and deepen engagement across channels.

The plan of action remains the same: Stay focused on finding the right rhythm, following the drill of test, refine, grow, repeat. This will be a given when depending on their trusted platform. In Coffey’s words, “Campana will be key” in this journey.