The Geico commercial titled “Animals Sing `Take on Me,’” is paid for by the Geico company to advertise the low rates they have on car insurance. The company has a variety of commercials and billboard ads that play on the humorous side of advertising. They chose to make commercials humorous to appeal to all types of audiences, and create an unusual approach to a somewhat monotonous business of insurance. They wanted the company and its product to appeal to the common individual. The company started in the middle of the Great Depression by Leo and Lillian Goodwin, and has been going strong for 75yrs.
The target audience in this commercial is the working class with limited funds available to live life. The main focus is on a white woman, and her two pets. The simplistic nature of her wardrobe and the outdated appearance of her house gives us the opinion that she is either frugal with her spending or needs an extra nudge to do something for herself. She also appears to be young and judging by her comments concerning downloading music she enjoys spending time on her computer.
The scene opens with a young woman seated on the couch of her dated living room, with items that appear to be from the 70’s or 80’s. She has a short hair cut that falls at her chin as a straight cut around her head. She is wearing an outdated plaid patterned dress. She states, “Downloading music can be expensive. So to save money, I’ve trained my dog and his cockatoo to play all the hits of the 80’s.” The scene then pans outward so you can see the entire room; she looks over to her right and verbally cues her yellow Labrador retriever to play the piano and white cockatoo to sing. “Hit it Mr. Butter’s…””Take on me (take on me), Take me on (take on me) I’ll be gone.” A deep male voice interrupts the song and the scene we’ve been watching becomes a pop-out window on a computer screen. “There’s an easier way to save, get online, go to Geico.com, get a quote, 15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.” The commercial closes with a plain white screen and the word Geico written in large bold blue letters in the center of the screen with the website geico.com written in the same font directly beneath it.
The subtext of the commercial is that Geico is easy and available to everyone. The woman in the commercial appears to be somewhat introverted and perhaps slightly studious. Geico will be a perfect fit for her. Geico advertises silly situations to appeal to all types of audiences, this commercial asks us to believe that she trained her pets to sing songs from the 80’s. This also appeals to animal lovers and creative people. Animal lovers will enjoy the relationship and time that she spent with her pets to teach them a new trick, while creative people will like the different idea of animals singing and playing songs. Most of this commercial presents an introverted lifestyle but it also promotes an educated person. The woman looks as though she doesn’t get out much but she also appears to be well educated to have the ability to train her pets to perform the song.
The values presented are the conservation of financial resources. To save your money for other items you may need or want, rather than using all of your money on something that is required such as car insurance. The suggestion is that by switching to their company would further assist in their financial needs.
Items not made clear in the commercial are: comparable rates, qualifications for participation in the program and terms and conditions of sales. As far as where to find this information, as the commercial suggests go to Geico.com. They have a customer friendly website, with plenty of easy to follow icons to answer any and all questions. They also list an e-mail and phone number to help with questions still in quandary during your visit. The company relies on the humor and light heartedness of its commercials to persuade consumers to switch to their insurance regardless of any factual information presented.
I like that commercial! I think that you are correct, GEICO tries to entice customers by using humor and it is probably pretty effective. They are also very customer-friendly, with an easy-to-navigate website and good customer service.
ReplyDeleteHow good is their insurance though? Do they really cover what they say they cover? consider the following customer review.
ReplyDeleteGeico impressed me on other levels too. Their customer service is speedy and efficient, their representatives knowledgeable, courteous, and helpful. Their website is well-organized and allows you to make payment by pre-authorized withdrawal. You can even call them at 3 am and pay your bill by credit card if you choose. Bi-annual statements show you exactly what you are paying for each part of your service.
This is all well and good, and Geico had saved me money over the years, but in the final analysis I have been paying Geico for a service. The real proof of the pudding would come when I needed that service, and when I did, I found them lacking. My wife was involved in an auto accident, and our 2000 Saturn was struck in the rear quarter by another vehicle. The door was damaged, as was the quarter itself. Since both vehicles were blocking a busy road, my wife and the driver of the other vehicle moved their cars prior to the arrival of the police (big mistake).
This made it more difficult to prove who was at fault, so I asked Geico to send out an adjuster in the case we needed to use our collision. They did, and that's where my troubles began. After our $500 deductible, the adjuster (who was rather rude) wanted to give us about $300 for the damage, insisting we didn't need new parts. I begged to differ. By this time I had put about $5000 in Geico's coffers in premiums, and I wasn't too happy about their offer of $300 to fix my $17,000 less-than-a-year-old car. As it turned out, we ended up collecting from the other insurance company, which authorized considerably more for the repair of my car-$2000 to be exact. And I got the new parts.
My policy with Geico ran out the following September, and I seriously considered re-evaluating my policy with them as a result of this incident. It's easy for them to be nice to you when they're taking your money. What matters though is how they comport themselves when it's time to pay.
I actually see their commercials as cheap and tacky, just as I see the insurance. I have heard several people complain about the service after an accident. I would expect them to be slower, because they are cheaper. You usually get what you pay for.
ReplyDeleteThe commercial is pretty humorous, but I prefer to talk to real people in front of me and use State Farm. State Farms commercials are often humorous too. Think, "Like a good neighbor State Farm is there." and then an agent pops out at the end of the jingle. In the end, I'd rather be able to drive up to an office and talk to someone then to call an 800 number and be on hold all day.
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