It Began With a Gecko. Mayhem (and Flo and Peyton) Ensued.
- 7 years ago
It Began With a Gecko. Mayhem (and Flo and Peyton) Ensued.
Does a 10-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit?”
“Insurance doesn’t make you happy very often, so we thought
that the advertising should have a smile to it,” said Joe Alexander, the chief creative officer of the Martin Agency, which has had the Geico account for 23 years.
“Geico came out and said that people don’t care that much about insurance; insurance is a burden category, so let’s lighten the burden,” said Britt Nolan, the chief creative officer at Leo Burnett U. S.A.
and a member of the team that created the Mayhem character for Allstate.
“‘Good neighbors.’ ‘We’re on your side.’ That’s how insurance companies used to communicate,
but it was for an older consumer,” said Mr. Alexander of the Martin Agency.
“Today, we’re trying to reach a much younger, more cynical audience.”
Whatever the target audience, the humor has to be handled with care, said David Fowler,
the executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, whose accounts include Nationwide
Before Geico signed on with Martin, it had a 2 percent market share
and was the eighth-largest car insurance company in the United States, according to Dean Jarrett, the agency’s chief communications officer.
“And now all these other brands are trying to find their own unique voice in comedy.”
Humor is also a way for insurance companies to connect with younger people.
Does a 10-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit?”
“Insurance doesn’t make you happy very often, so we thought
that the advertising should have a smile to it,” said Joe Alexander, the chief creative officer of the Martin Agency, which has had the Geico account for 23 years.
“Geico came out and said that people don’t care that much about insurance; insurance is a burden category, so let’s lighten the burden,” said Britt Nolan, the chief creative officer at Leo Burnett U. S.A.
and a member of the team that created the Mayhem character for Allstate.
“‘Good neighbors.’ ‘We’re on your side.’ That’s how insurance companies used to communicate,
but it was for an older consumer,” said Mr. Alexander of the Martin Agency.
“Today, we’re trying to reach a much younger, more cynical audience.”
Whatever the target audience, the humor has to be handled with care, said David Fowler,
the executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, whose accounts include Nationwide
Before Geico signed on with Martin, it had a 2 percent market share
and was the eighth-largest car insurance company in the United States, according to Dean Jarrett, the agency’s chief communications officer.
“And now all these other brands are trying to find their own unique voice in comedy.”
Humor is also a way for insurance companies to connect with younger people.