Doing it Right: Three Great Marketing Moves From GEICO

In the past few weeks I have found myself very impressed with GEICO’s marketing group, seeing excellent ads in a variety of places I didn’t expect. It’s a great example of using multiple channels in different, appropriate ways.

1. The Fantasy Focus Podcast: While many brands lament the slow demise of radio, GEICO has inserted itself into the podcasting world and changed the way advertising has been done (at least that I have seen.) I am a fantasy sports guy and listen daily to ESPN’s Fantasy Focus Podcast. In addition to sponsoring the podcasts’ listener only league (usually called the Man’s League, now called the GEICO Cave Man’s League) they have developed an interruption strategy that is short, but effective.

Part way through the podcast a car horn sounds three times with a short sponsor message. The horn grabs my attention and the message is short and sweet (at the 14:30 minute mark). “You’ve been listening to the Fantasy Focus Podcast, visit Geico.com today see how much you can save on your car insurance” followed be a triple horn to close the segment. Good work. Noticeable interruption without painful intrusion.

2. NHL 2K11 Lite Version: Earlier this week I downloaded the free version of 2K Sports’ NHL game for my iPhone to see if I liked it before plopping down the 6.99 for the entire game. In any free version there are banner ads at the bottom of the screen but this one was different. Before heading into the game itself there was a short, appropriate GEICO ad. The Geico Gecko appears on a blank sheet of ice with the logo in the background, fires two slapshots, stickhandles a bit and the ad ends. No words, very short, impactful.

3. The Little Piggy Commercial: This one just makes me laugh. But it’s also been passed around Facebook widely and is getting the brand mentioned in places it never would otherwise. Proving the point that people don’t care if content is branded, they’ll share anything funny on Facebook and turn an Insurance ad into a conversation piece.


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