GEICO
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Government Employees Insurance Company, or GEICO, is an auto insurance company based in the United States. Despite the name, it was never a government agency but rather a private firm originally founded by Leo and Lillian Goodwin to market auto insurance directly to federal government employees and their families. GEICO was based on the assumption that such persons would constitute a more financially stable and less risky pool of potential insureds than the general public. After real-time access to computerized driving records became available in the 1970s throughout the United States, GEICO gradually began to insure the general public as well.
GEICO generally prefers to deal directly with consumers via the telephone and the Internet, freeing up capital that would otherwise be spent on employing insurance agents in the field. GEICO does, however, market their products through a small number of field agents, most of which are based near military bases. These agents are known as GFRs (GEICO Field Representatives).
GEICO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway and currently provides coverage for 10 million vehicles owned by 7 million policyholders.
Commercials
GEICO's advertising strategy incorporates a saturation-level amount of print (primarily mail circulars) and television parody advertisements, as well as radio advertisements.
Th ads sometimes focus on the company's mascot, the GEICO gecko, created by The Martin Agency and most recently a CGI creature generated by Rhythm and Hues Studios. The gecko first appeared in 2000 during the Screen Actors Guild strike that ruled out live actors.[link] In the first commercial, where people kept calling the gecko as a wrong number for GEICO, the gecko was given a high-class British accent because it would be unexpected, according to The Martin Agency's Steve Bassett. In current commercials the gecko's accent is more working-class, to further "humanize" him. "As (computer animation) got better and as we got to know the character better, we did a few things," says Steve Bassett, creative director at The Martin Agency. "We wanted to make him a little more guy-next-door. And he looks a lot more real than he's looked before."[link]
Another common theme is misdirection, in which the commercial appears to be about something unrelated, or not even be a commercial, and a person comes to say "I've got great news", but then unexpectedly says "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO!". The commercials use a variety of fictional characters such as Speed Racer and professional wrestlers as well as real people such as Tony Little spoofing themselves. An additional theme is where fictional products are promoted, but the plugs end with "But it won't save you any money on car insurance." After the GEICO slogan is heard, the commercials end with "Why haven't you called Geico?" This type of reality-bending in commercials is reminiscent of the Energizer Bunny campaign for batteries which began in the late 80's.
In 2005, GEICO began an advertising campaign featuring "cavemen" in a modern setting. In these commercials, a GEICO spokesman tells how signing up for insurance is so easy that a caveman can do it and ends up offending the cavemen who are still around, either as part of the commercial's production crew or in erudite society.
Also during this time they also featured commercials that told you that in the time it takes to do a certain task, one could save money on car insurance. The tasks mentioned were related to the scene being played out, such as a man telling his significant other "You Betcha" without any known remorse for it when she asks him if the dress that she's wearing makes her look fat (saying "In the time it takes to pull out the sleeper sofa..."), or a guy joking and mocking a high-profile businessman ranked above him at a high priority and serious business meeting (saying "In the time it takes to clean out your desk...").
GEICO also began more parody advertisements such as Japanese idol fan clubs, upcoming fictional Saturday morning cartoons, a cereal commercial with a green extreme panther, and senator election campaign ads. But the plugs end with "But it won't save you any money on car insurance." After the GEICO slogan is heard, the commercials end with "Why haven't you called Geico?"
The current ad's being shown feature the GEICO gecko being interviewed by an unseen man, but is voiced by James Urbaniak.
A common tagline used by GEICO is that fifteen minutes can save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.
References
- Revenue: premiums written (2004), from [Berkshire Hathaway 10-K]
- Little Lizard Says 'Ello To A New Inflection, The Hartford Courant, 22 February 2006
External links
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