Geico Nails Magic Metrics
Geico: The Best Insurance Advertiser or The Best Advertiser Overall
Success is in advertising comes down to your success in nailing the Five Magic Metrics®. Nobody does this better than Geico. Geico is usually running at least three different campaigns at one time. The reason they always succeed. Everyone remembers their ads. Their ads Breakthrough with relatable humor that sticks in your memory. Viewers always know what brand the ads are for so they score high on Product Recall.
Message recall is off the charts. Who does not remember the tagline: 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your insurance. They kill on Likability. People don’t just like Geico ads, they love them. These are the ads discussed around the proverbial watercooler. Because of all that, Purchase Intent is undoubtedly higher than any other insurance company.
Who hasn’t called the 800 number or checked the website to see how much they could save? Memorable characters, strategic use of humor, and an indelible tagline the cements their message in your head makes Geico the best insurance advertiser and likely the best overall advertiser in the industry.
Liberty Mutual: Always Looking Up
In a casual analysis of Liberty Mutuals advertising it’s easy to see what they do well but also where they fall short. The Five Magic Metrics® tell the whole story. Do Liberty Mutual ads Breakthrough. Many people do remember Doug and Limu Emu, and the Liberty Biberty guy, but they don’t quite reach the iconic status of the Geico characters. Do we remember what the brand is? For the most part. Liberty Biberty helps but how many people have made the connection that “Limu” is short for Liberty Mutual? Brand Recall scores for those ads are likely good but not great. However Message Recall is clearly where these ads fall short. “Only pay for what you need,” doesn’t really resonate and the meaning is unclear. Being able to customize your insurance doesn’t sound like a differentiating benefit and it’s hard to know if this would result in cost savings or better coverage. Now are the ads, Likable? Yes, but not enough to save a campaign without a compelling message. At the end of the day are you likely to consider switching to Liberty Mutual insurance? Based on the ads, probably not, so they fail on the most crucial measure, Purchase Intent.
Jon Sneider, raised in Boston, began his marketing career selling Wave Radios for Bose and later earned an MBA while managing a $20-million sales team. At Digitas, he oversaw digital accounts for major brands like GM and Microsoft, leading to a 25-year career in advertising. After revamping fidelity.com at Fidelity Investments and directing campaigns at L.L. Bean and Microsoft, he joined Redfin to launch their first broadcast campaign. In 2017, he founded Wild Gravity, a multi-million-dollar company delivering creative content for global brands more efficiently, inspiring his book Hacking Advertising.
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