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Case Study: GEICO Makes Its Case for Savings and Service

GEICO is the number-four U.S. car insurance firm, behind State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive, yet its $500 million annual budget for marketing communications is by farther industry’s largest. GEICO uses this budget to great advantage with a wide variety of messages in a variety of media to influence consumers’ attitudes toward its insurance offerings, which include coverage for cars, motorcycles, homes, and recreational vehicles. In a product category in which consumers do not switch from one brand to another without considerable thought, GEICO’s communications give drivers something to think about and steer them toward positive brand attitudes.

The company’s messages use strong arguments focusing on savings and service to get consumers thinking about the cost of car insurance. Some of its comparative messages show exactly how much money a particular consumer saved by switching from a competing insurance company to GEICO, information that enhances the product’s believably. In a variation on this theme, many of its comparative ads say that “fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent.” This message encourages consumers to calculate how much less they could be paying for car insurance if they were GEICO customers. It also reassures consumers by telling them that making the switch to GEICO will be quick and easy.

Every ad not only mentions the brand name but also gives GEICO’s toll-free phone number or its website (or both)—a call to action for consumers to take the next step and get a free quote, read more about specific types of policies, or contact customer service with just a click or a call, day or night. Messages about GEICO’s high levels of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty have more credibility because they are based on expert sources named on the website:

The University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index and the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. To support its aggressive expansion into motorcycle insurance, GEICO recently set up MyGreatRides.com as a social networking website for motorcycle enthusiasts. The idea is to provide an online forum for motorcycle owners to post upcoming events, exchange views about favorite bike brands and show off their tricked-out rides. Although the GEICO brand is nowhere to be found on the website, the company sees it as an investment in learning how consumers think and feel about everything related to their bikes, including insurance. “If we can learn more about the needs of motorcycle riders and what kind of service they expect, we think it will help us with our current customers and potential ones,” says GEICO’s director of motorcycle products. GEICO’s Corporate Community Citizens program fosters positive consumer attitudes through the company’s involvement with local causes and organizations. Not only does GEICO donate money to non-profit groups all around the United States; its employees also volunteer their time for causes such as Habitat for Humanity home-building projects, Bikers for Tykes motorcycle rally fundraisers, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters activities. One of GEICO’s many auto safety initiatives is the Safety Belt Poster Contest, in which school-age children submit artwork for posters that remind drivers about the importance of buckling up for safety. Local efforts such as these link the GEICO name with worthwhile causes that touch an emotional chord with consumers.

Despite increased competition from its larger rivals, GEICO’s approach to marketing car and motorcycle insurance has been extremely effective. The company currently serves more than 7 million customers and, according to J.D. Power & Associates studies, enjoys high brand awareness as well as the highest new-customer acquisition rate among the major insurers. Watch for GEICO to keep driving toward higher market share by reaching out to car and motorcycle drivers all over the United States.

Q: Does GEICO appear to be using marketing communications to change consumers’ beliefs, change their evaluations, add a new belief, encourage attitude formation based on imagined experience, or target normative beliefs? Explain your answer.

Yes Geico is using marketing communication to change consumers beliefs, change their evaluations, add a new belief, encourage attitude formation based on imagined Experience. For example, you can see their campaigns in which they are telling that it is important to get insurance from them because of few minutes they will be able to save 15% and this quite convincing to re think about the insurance plan they are currently taking. Their campaigns are quite convincing they are even telling that its quite quick and easy to switch or become a new member of our insurance as compare to others. The level of customer service they are convincing through their messages is quite good. They are providing their website address and phone number which will solve customer each and every problem 24/7 which a quite impressive in customer service department. They are quite successful in changing customers believe, change their evaluations, add new belief and this confirmed by the research that currently firm is serving 7 million consumers and along with that high brand awareness as well as the highest new-customer acquisition rate among the major insurers, so this prominent success of Geico marketing communications. Their communication is quite informative and helpful for the consumers, those who are not easily to shift the communication is quite convincing that they make them think about their insurance plan whether they are having right insurance plan or they should change it, when they putt consumer in this state its quite easy for firm to give more exciting info like Geico marketing team do through their communication and ad change their believe and new belief in their mind and in the end they are convinced to switch to them. The info which is shared give imagine experience to the consumer which make people think about their decisions and they convince them to look on other and learn from others experiences that how they took benefit by taking Geico insurance or shift from their competitor’s insurance plan to theirs. This is all happens because of their services and marketing team communication that customer believe in them and believe in their credibility. Their credibility is high because most credible resources have positive view about them like The University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index and the Brand Keys so ultimately there is high chance of great brand loyalty. As they take part in charity works and do different good activities in name of CSR so it is also impacting their brand image and increasing loyalty for their brand.

Q : Do you agree with GEICO’s decision not to show its brand on the MyGreatRides.com website? How do you think this decision is likely to affect the website’s visitors’ attitudes toward GEICO?

) I think the decision made by firm to not show its brand on the mygreatrides.com is right and will be effective in long run. According to my view if they list their brand on that website or do promotional activities so main agenda which was to provide an online forum for motorcycle owners to post upcoming events, exchange views about favorite bike brands and show off their tricked-out rides won’t be fulfilled or effective. People think it’s a good platform to share their experience and when there is involvement of any business so people don’t feel good and don’t share their view in most open and friendly manner. By this step firm is getting unbiased reviews and views along with suggestion which can be analyses and be cash out to improving business. As we read in the case study that they are taking notes that what consumer wants, what is lacking and what sort of things are not up to satisfactory level so this is a win-win situation for both, their popularity is increasing and they are getting access of insights which would be difficult if they show their prominent involvement on the site. One more thing I noticed is in favor of firm is that if they show too much content and promotional stuff and overload consumers with their promotional stuff so people will get bored and annoyed and try to avoid them which is negative point for them. Because of no or low brand involvement people free and relax and act like they are in their free space where they can share anything which relate to their ride and problems they are facing. So, this it is a good thing for website visitors. For those who want to communicate with firm they can call them at any time so I don’t think if they don’t play active role in this website so their will be any negative impact.

Timeliness Ads

If we talk about timeliness ads so I will talk about the limited discount for short period of time ads or sometimes limited additions are being launched by automaker which are sold in limited time because of high demand and brand loyalty. So, in this there are high chances that people will react impulsive, it is quite persuasive means communication people are easily convinced to take action because time is too limited to think and take longer time like usually do. They are quite effective and highly according to demand of consumers. For example, Toyota launch a limited edition like 100 cars or you can say that first 50 buyers will get 1-year extra warranty on purchase of car or free insurance. So, this will be an effective campaign and everyone will be persuaded to take action. Like in above this is timely offer valid for 500 units and people are crazy here on corolla so it will generate positive impact.

Humor Advertisement

If we talk about humor print ads so this is one example of hair product. The benefit of this humor print ad so it will bring attention to brand, product, specially to ad, humor ad might improve the brand image, there is a chance of increase in brand awareness because of this print ad, there is chance of high recall rate because it contains the humor impact, because of humor mood might get better of consumer or you can say target audience and there is high chance of positive response because when consumer is in good mood it brings positivity in their actions. Because of humor in this ad engagement is expected to be positive and high. The ads show how messed up hairs turned to be silky and smooth, but there is a draw back of humor too sometimes people just focus on the graphics and humor and main message is not conveyed and interpreted properly. This add might turn out be effective and persuasive.

Fear Advertisement

If we talk about the fear ad fear ad one example is above in which we can see that we are ask to save the climate and play our positive role in saving the earth. Basically, climate change will not only effect humans but it will affect all sort of living thing. In this print ad we asked to stop climate change before it it changes you, in short, they are trying to say if climate change is not stop so it will change everything. The ad seems to give fear impact to persuade us. According to my view this add has an impact on our thinking as man face looking like fish basically, they are trying to persuade that if things change so things will not look good at all so stop before things get ugly. Graphic effect has more effect in this print add, if the same message is written common pic so that would have not persuaded people to think about climate change. It has emotional impact too that’s why it seems like persuasive advertisement.

Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Human Needs

Nike shoes:

So Nike shoes will come under esteem level of Maslow’s hierarchy. In this stage person looks for respect, self-esteem, status, recognition etc. If it was a simple shoe so we think about physiological stage but when a brand name is associated with shoes so now in my opinion, we are looking for status and recognition. So, our target market for Nike shoe will be the people who are looking for good quality of shoe and they can be status or brand conscious too. To promote our Nike shoe, we will talk about the quality of the shoe along with we will focus on brand name will try to cash and convince the consumers to show interest in our product. Our target market will be upper middle class, upper class and all the way to elite class. We will do social media marketing so that people see ads multiple times and think about our products. Our basic promoting points will be the one which will make our consumer believe that our products will satisfy your need of shoe, it has good quality, it is own by a renowned brand that is Nike and it will give you recognition and support your life style because of brand name.

Shan Masala:

Shaan Masala will come under physiological needs. In this stage a person looks for air, water, food, shelter in short words you can say the basic and necessity things which is required by a person. This product comes under basic necessity so our target market will be mass market. It is cheap product and is required for making delicious food for daily routine. These will be our major pointers to promote our product and convince our consumers to show interest. We will use social media ads to promote our product and place in convenient store so that it is easily available by everyone. The main pointers which will be promoted are that easily available, affordable, good taste for traditional foods, good quality etc. our target market will be people from middle class to upwards because it is easily affordable by the and it is basic need because food is basic need for everyone. We will target both individuals and firms like restaurants.

Characteristics Of Pakistan Media

Pakistan media is considered to be the most challenging media in this region by their attitude, behavior and actions. Pakistani media has different types of characteristics like they are highly inquisitive. They are curious about almost everything, they just want to know everything and want to make news on it. Sometimes they don’t even verify the sources and just write the article and later on they got to know they were on the wrong path or there is some wrong information. They are quite manipulative too. Few days back when Palestine Israel issue was going on so a newspaper wrote an article against a famous you-tuber Irfan junejo that he is against the protest which are being hold in Pakistan and other part of the world but they were proved wrong he himself clarify the issue and how news misinterpreted his statements and showed to people. They are quite unpredictable. They will act as your friend but they might take actions against you. They are quite powerful; they have quite power. For example, if they start talking about any topic you can see that actions are being taken on that topic. For example, if the media starts criticizing PCB for selecting or retaining any player in the national team, there are high chances that player will be dropped from the team or will not play if criticism is too strong. They show whatever they have in their hands. They can quite easily put you in trouble if try to be over smart with them. They are quite clever and cunning. They are quite dangerous, they can blackmail you, they can destroy individuals or firms’ reputation quite easily. They can manipulate any news. If you want to compare Pakistani media with any animal, it would be bear because both of them have similar characteristics as you can see above. They are not good in English; they will use term off the record but There is no as such thing in real. They are behind every controversial news because from boring news they don’t get any TRP. You have to be focused if you deviate, they will put you in trouble by asking difficult question. If you try to avoid them, they will catch you so you should be ready to face them every time.

Difference between Crises and Issues

There is a difference between issue and crisis. Issues are not crises, but if issues are not addressed on time it can be converted into crisis. In my view, the issue is like an alarm or warning that if things are not taken into consideration and controlled so you will face a situation called crisis. Crisis has an adverse impact on firm reputation and activities and you have very limited time to have control over it. When you are under the issue stage you have time to analyses the impact and have time to prepare and save yourself from big damage. You can consider the issue as an infant crisis. Issues are manageable and can be resolved into a win-win situation for both the parties involved. For example if we talk about the air blue crash accident. One of the senior pilots was not well and had some health issues. So at this point air blue got an issue and can be addressed and resolved to be safe but they did not address it properly and they gave go ahead for the scheduled flight and unfortunately we saw the plane crash news so now this accident turned out to be a crisis for the air blue. Another example could be of cartoon network when they were going to show a movie on Sunday and they have done a quite promotion of it but some how a rumor circulated that movie contains element which will hurt the sentiment of Muslim community although that movie was aired on ptv and no one objected on it. So now this situation can be understood as an issue. So the PR team of the cartoon network advised them not to show it now and change the schedule. Although the cartoon network has no bad intentions. They listened to their PR team and postponed that movie. If they would have launched that movie so they would definitely have gotten into trouble and crisis.

Word of Mouth Marketing

‘Word of Mouth’ is considered more important while taking a purchase decision in developing markets than in developed markets.

Before going into details we will understand what Word of Mouth marketing is. It is nothing more than tapping into people’s natural desire to share their experience with family, friends and their circle. For example, I tried a steak at a new restaurant and I loved it and I shared my experience with my family and friends.

There is difference in developed and developing countries people and their decision making is quite different from each other. Major reason is literacy rate difference. In developed countries people are more literate and educated but in developing countries people are not that much literate and educated. In developed countries when person plans to buy something he first search on internet and acquire good amount information regarding his need and what sort of product is best for his need fulfillment but on the other hand in developing countries people are more into word of mouth marketing like what people say in their space or circle and that is why W.O.M is considered more important while taking a purchase decision in developing markets. Basically, there are 3 stages, if we talk about first stage initial consideration stage in this advertising have 30% impact and WOM is only 18% impact in developed nation on the other hand in developing market WOM has 18% impact and previous usage is 15%. In second stage which is active evaluation in which customer evaluate what is the best possible solution for me in this internet information has 29% impact and WOM has only 19% impact in developed nation, on the other hand WOM has 28% impact in evaluation stage and previous usage has only 13% impact in developing market.

If we look into stats while making purchase decisions in developed countries internet has 65 percent impact on the decision and W.O.M has only 10 percent. On the other hand, in developing market where they are influenced by people what they say and recommend is correct and they will most likely buy it. In stats W.O.M has 46 percent impact on decision making more than any other factor which can impact the decision making.

Let me explain with a scenario if a person from USA wants to buy a phone, he will search for the phone on internet which can fulfill his or her demand and he will find the best option for himself. But if you are from developing nation like Pakistan so if you want to buy a phone you will ask your friends or relative which phone I should buy and there is high probability that you will buy that phone that they have recommended to you.

Communications Trends to watch out in 2021

Communication trends to watch out in 2021 are data and insights, Value driven communication, virtual is here to stay, employee engagement, leadership communication in a virtual world, create visually appealing stories, empathic messaging, effective communications, crises planning and employ advocacy. 4 most important are:

Data and insights: reason why it is important is that in today’s world most of the decisions are made on the basis of data and insights. If you have nothing but you have data you are the king. Data is the real asset in today’s world. Data and insights are being used in every big organizations like Facebook, amazon, apple etc. to make new developments.

Value driven communication: value addition to customers life is the most important thing in today’s world. Along with functional benefits you have to give emotional benefits to your consumer if you are unable to do so you are not going win the race. For example, airline upgrades its consumer seat from economy to business class so it added value to customer and it will be beneficial for airline in long run.

Crisis planning: it is one of the most important things in current situation, no one was expecting this corona but smart brands done their crisis planning and are able to survive in current situation on the other hand those who haven’t done crisis planning are closed or going to be closed soon because corona is still here and being the biggest crisis for everyone. If you don’t have contingency planning so you will never be able to survive in worst conditions.

Create visually appealing stories: creating visually appealing stories is very important trend to follow because virtual is here to stay. If we are not able to do so soon digital presence of our brands will vanish and someone else will take our place. Its best opportunity to make visually appealing content to keep our consumers engage with us and it also gives us the opportunity to build great PR.