GEICO Gecko & Disney Frog – strange bedfellows or marketing geniuses?
I’ll admit it. I have been conditioned to love GEICO. Not only is it my insurance company with reasonable rates, but I also love their ads. From the loveable Cavemen to the silent but wise googly-eyed wad of cash the hapless TV commercial actor could be saving on GEICO, I am a fan of them all.
Being home more than usual the past couple of days, I’ve had the guilty pleasure to catch a little more TV than usual.
Here’s a new GEICO ad that caught me off guard. The endearing GEICO Gecko is now costarring in some ads with characters from Disney’s latest animated hit “The Princess and the Frog.” In one ad, the frog prince is on a Skype call (internet conference call…even small animals are using emerging media!) with the GEICO Gecko. Instead of advising the frog how to change the spell that was cast upon him, the Gecko provides the frog with the GEICO tagline on how he can save hundreds by switching his insurance.
I don’t really see any connection here other than two cute green spokes“people” for their respective companies. At first I thought the GEICO was being used to help Disney sell tickets. With a number one figure of sales in the box office (over 27 million on December 14th) The Princess and the Frog may instead open up awareness about GEICO to a group of new consumers – parents with young children. Ted Ward, GEICO’s vice president of advertising released a statement that the tie –in with Disney is “a great fit at the start of the holiday season with Disney looking to entertain families and GEICO trying to save them money.” My guess? Consumers are so conditioned to pay attention to GEICO’s wonderful ads, that both Disney and GEICO got a run for their advertising dollars.
Either way, this is a pretty clever symbiotic way for GEICO and Disney to promote each other.
Just don’t take away my Caveman ads.
