Geico runs so many advertising campaigns at the same time, it is hard to remember them all. If you turn on your television, chances are pretty good you will find a Geico ad featuring a Cockney-accented gecko, created for the insurance company by The Martin Agency. Tune in later, and you might find a commercial that shows people being pursued by little bundles of the money they could be saving if they switched to Geico. That same evening, you could see a Geico ad that shows its cavemen spokespeople, or one of Geico’s “bait and switch” ads that starts out looking like an ad for something else, but morphs into a Geico ad after fooling you.
What is going on here? One thing for certain is that Geico is breaking one of the fundamental rules of advertising, which holds that a company should pick one theme and use it consistently through every point of contact with its customers. That is part of brand-building, right? Well, maybe. Yet the fact remains that Geico’s unorthodox advertising philosophy has made it one of the fastest growing insurance companies in the world.
And when you stop to think about it, there might be some pretty sound reasons why you should consider varying your ads the way that Geico does.
- You lower the risk of alienating your customers. I am willing to bet that there are people out there who moan whenever the Gecko appears. (I also bet that plenty of people love him.) But when you run multiple campaigns, you reduce the risk of alienating potential customers with a campaign they don’t like.
- You build flexibility. Geico launched its newest campaign, which shows people pursued by cash, at the very time that people are especially worried about their household budgets. Yet at the same time, Geico still runs its other ads. So its brand foundation remains consistent, despite the appearance and disappearance of shorter-running campaigns. This is the kind of flexibility could allow you to adapt to temporary market conditions without throwing your primary campaigns away.
- You can target your message to different consumer bases and geographic areas. When economic conditions strengthen in certain areas of the country, for example, Geico might cut back on the “customers pursued by cash” ad campaign and fall back on its caveman or talking lizard. This “tool box” approach could help you target your messages strategically.
You might have noticed that Geico’s cavemen actually became a television show last year, when ABC created a sitcom that starred them. It was short-lived, with only seven episodes. But can you think of another television commercial that became a television show?
Make no mistake about it – today’s smartest marketers are thinking in new, adaptable ways that maximize market impact and minimize cost outlays. BizUnite is ready to help you do that too, with our cooperative marketing tools. Call (866) 623-5784 and let us explain how.
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