Seriously Funny How Two Companies’ Use of Humor Changed an Industry
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Seriously Funny How two companies’ use of humor changed an industry 4 // ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS By Todd Wilkinson Illustration by Alex Nabaum ANA.NET // 5 Oh, to hear chief marketing ofcer Ted Ward Charles Churchill once quipped, and in- and Michael Linton, chief marketing of- rif wryly. The 63-year-old veteran of deed, comedy has enabled GEICO to cer at Farmers Insurance. many a campaign struggles to keep a cata pult its way from also-ran to second straight face as he describes the cast of largest auto insurer in the U.S. hree decades ago GEICO went characters that have graced the stage of Market research is loaded with data rogue in terms of defying con- GEICO insurance commercials over the showing that advertising with levity pro- T vention, and Ward doesn’t deny past two decades — the cavemen with in- vides cathartic relief for audience mem- it. For much of the 20th century, insur- feriority complexes, driven by a heartfelt bers and thus is a means for engendering ance advertising was dominated by reas- yearning to be understood; the faky guest brand appeal, trust, and ultimately better- suring visions of changelessness — think star turns by the likes of Little Richard, ing the bottom line. Nowhere is the humor The Hartford’s regal stag and Prudential’s Burt Bacharach, and Joan Rivers; Max- arms race in advertising more visible “Own a Piece of the Rock.” Market re- well the Pig; and, of course, the unlikeliest than in the highly competitive market- search indicated that opportunities in the of mascots selected to put the brand on place of home, auto, and casualty insur- humor genre were wide open. When the map, the GEICO Gecko. ance. A dozen companies are duking it Martin made its initial pitch to GEICO, GEICO has bet the bank and grown out — part of an estimated $6 billion Ward says the agency had done its home- its franchise fve-fold on ofbeat humor. annual ad spend industrywide in 2014, work, presenting a compelling case for Together with longtime collaborator The why humor could quickly Martin Agency, based in Richmond, Va., diferentiate the company it has amassed a bullpen of court jesters. from its competitors. “From “Quirky humor has been the core of the moment of that meet- our creative humor and it continues to ing until the frst piece hit work,” Ward says. “We try to press the the air was just six weeks,” envelope without stepping out too far. Ward says. “And we’ve Some of the stuf we’ve done has even been on a roll ever since.” been a little bit groundbreaking.” GEICO’s messaging, More than groundbreaking, GEICO meant to establish the continues to break many of the rules that company as a leader in govern engagement in marketing. Some- according to Kantar Media. Many are marketplace disruption, told customers times GEICO ads make no mention of its vying to win over customers by employing they were overpaying for premiums and products and appear to be only about de- sketch pieces that would ft in well on could keep money in their pockets — liv er ing shtick (for example, the company’s Saturday Night Live. To get inside the mind- “15 minutes could save you 15 percent or recent pre-roll freeze-frame ads). “A joke’s space of how two such companies court more” — by bypassing agents and get- a very serious thing,” the British poet humor, we reached out to GEICO’s Ward ting discounted rate quotes directly from ANA: When you think gener- first need to understand what For Dieste’s Ciro Sarmiento, ally about humor, why do you drives their emotions and Good Humor Connects on Emotion think it works in advertising? behavior. Ciro Sarmiento: I consider Over the years, Dieste’s creative teams have earned distinc- humor as a way of catharsis. It ANA: Some say there can tion for their mastery of employing humor to effectively drive is such a simple thing and yet be a fine line between making their clients’ multicultural marketing, particularly with His- so hard to write or express. In people laugh and making panic audiences throughout the Americas. advertising, you either are a them mad. How does humor They have also helped to craft campaigns capable of natural at creating content need to be fine-tuned and that is funny and relatable, or nuanced? finding success in general market executions, but it’s not you are trying too hard. And C.S.: In advertising we pull always an easy task. As the Dallas-based firm’s Executive people can tell the difference. sensitive strings and dial in to Creative Dir ector Ciro Sarmiento can tell you, when navigat- It works when we understand consumers’ emotions, so of ing different idioms of language and culture, sometimes the what makes people laugh, course humor needs to be mean ing in comedy can get lost in translation. and in order to get that, we nuanced. Most of the time, 6 // ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS Get an additional Q&A with Old Navy's CMO Ivan Wicksteed at ana.net/aprmag15. the company. In short 15- and 30-second “We typically don’t pre-test. We test The biggest spender in its category at TV and radio spots (this was before the in market,” Ward says. “Sure, we’ve more than $1 billion annually, GEICO Internet age), GEICO posted an 800 made some miscalculations and there believes in volume rather than investing in number and phones rang of the hook. are probably some pieces worthy of in- fewer expensive productions. In an analy- Instantaneous hits, the ads were so clusion in the hall of shame.” But the sis, SNL Financial reported that GEICO efective in generating calls that the airing lessons have proved invaluable. “The in 2013 spent 6.3 percent of its premiums frequency had to, at one point, take a ones that failed tended to be overly com- on advertising. Amid the comic madness, breather until its call centers could catch plex and it made us realize we were there is dead seriousness when it comes to up to demand. working too hard,” he says. “Far more achieving results, the kind that has made In the mid-1990s, GEICO’s strategy reliably efective are sight gags and little GEICO the fastest growing car insurance had rocket fuel poured onto it when the nuggets of fun as opposed to spots where provider during the past 10 years. Every Oracle of Omaha Warren Bufett and you, as the viewer, have to watch closely piece is measured across channels and re- his lieutenants at Berkshire Hathaway to fgure it out.” cent years have brought a lot of insights acquired full ownership of the company. There’s a question that Ward likes to derived from social monitoring. Bufett is a vaunted genius in recogniz- ask his in-house colleagues and associates Listening to Ward describe the ori- ing the growth potential of solid under- at Martin before a piece appears, and it gins of content is itself hilarious, though valued companies. Sometimes, he has serves as a bellwether: If the advertising shrewdly it all ties together with an un- said, all it takes is some PR leavening to were watched without sound, would it wavering strategy of broadening the bolster name recognition and visibility still be any good? presence of the brand in ways that tran- to enable underdogs to better compete Humor, when it works, is a force that scend generations. He takes pride in the for market share. unites people rather than divides them, body of work that’s been compiled over Founded in 1936, GEICO still wasn’t and it never insults the consumer. “You his 31 years with the company, watching on the tip of anyone’s tongue when want to have viewers laughing along with market share grow from 2 to 10 percent. Berkshire Hathaway took full owner- you,” Ward says. GEICO’s caveman According to the trade publication Insur- ship. Bufett told Ward: “The one thing campaign, for instance, was devised to ance Journal, GEICO has never reported I don’t want you to have stand in your tell consumers it’s not difcult to bypass a negative year-over-year growth rate in way is money. That’s what I’ve got.” agents to get quotes. any quarter in the past 10 years. For marketers like Ward, it was a With the web today being native space dreamy license to be diferent. GEICO for Millennials, those caveman ads caused armers Insurance, meanwhile, and Martin launched a blitzkrieg of business in the 25–49 target demographic may be less adventurous than mass media, growing sales as ads seared to soar. Double-digit increases in Internet F GEICO, but Linton, who previ- the brand deeper into the consumer inquires were recorded and policies- in- ously held down the chief marketing of- consciousness. force jumped nearly 11 percent. cer posts at eBay and Best Buy, is taking comedy that is intended for a market, we always encounter C.S.: I think the key to being C.S.: Data, analytics, and re- specific audience won’t come the challenge of selling our funny is finding your own search help. But when creating across for other audiences. point of view for what Latino voice. humor you are tapping into the humor means and how it is uncertainty of what makes us ANA: Would you elaborate a bit so different sometimes from a ANA: How can humor be used human. Beyond that, it’s about on that? “general market” humor.