The Snap That Saves Money - GEICO

Marvel fans are going crazy (but maybe not as much as Game of Thrones fans…) End Game, the continuation of Infinity War, premieres in theatres on April 26. The advertisements I have seen so far are billboards, Instagram posts about who lived after “the snap,” and hyped Instagram posts from the cast. But I stumbled upon one End Game video advertisement that caught me off guard due to an unlikely pairing of brands. GEICO, the insurance company, featured its famous gecko approaching the theater and imagined himself with the infinity gauntlet. Now that he has all the power in the universe…what will he do? Do what GEICO does best – save everyone tons of money! The 30 second clip ends with the end of the End Game trailer announcing the date of the film’s release.

The pairing works because there is an overlap of broad target markets. GEICO’s target market includes men and women above the age of 25. Everyone needs insurance, but most young people are covered by their parents usually up through college. A couple years later is when they may be considering their first nice car, house, and more that will need to be insured, and this goes on throughout all of adulthood. As for Marvel, their target market starts at a younger age of 15. The love of superhero stories is timeless. The movies are not too graphic in violence and language so younger teenagers can become immersed in the Marvel universe, while older generations love to see their favorite heroes fight in a new story. The objective of the video is to build excitement about End Game’s upcoming premiere, while reminding consumers GEICO wants to help its customers save money.

The insight of the piece was that people feel like superheroes when they can insure their beloved assets while saving money. People like to have control over their money and of their assets that they insure, so they are excited when they can save money. This power makes them feel like a superhero. Therefore, connecting the upcoming superhero movie to the excitement so saving money while having control is positive for both GEICO and End Game.

There are many insurance companies out there such as GEICO, Allstate, Progressive, and Farmers. Like telecommunication companies like Verizon and AT&T, consumers just don’t know the small differences between companies, and won’t remember off their marketing alone. It’s too much detail for them to remember. So in response, GEICO does something completely different than its competitors. They don’t even focus their marketing content on its services. Allstate focuses on unbelievable accidents that they insure, so you know your fender bender accident will be too. Progressive has Flo who is unique and funny, but she also talks about their insurance services. GEICO stands out by making humorous content with a gecko. The choice of the animal reminds consumers of the company name and shows him in random situations from dealing with a caveman to selling his miniature things at a yard sale. They have had many of their videos go viral, and those positive feelings become a positive association with the brand.

One strength of the video ties into the objective. When the gecko had all the power in the world, he still chose to help people reminding consumers of its positive mission. They are here to help you save. It also does a great job of capturing its broad target market by showing a variety of people surprised that they saved money with GEICO. These people may already be GEICO customers, or pleased by the random surprise. The gecko changed all of reality, so he probably made all people save money with GEICO. A potential weakness could be that consumers do not know what an infinity gauntlet is if they have not seen Infinity War. However, the next line is “I can bend reality to my will” so they have at least a general understanding to help move the story along.