44. Is Geico Losing Its Nerve?
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\\n\\t\\t\\t\\t\\t\\t\\tOnce upon a time, back in an era where beer commercials were all the talk and insurance ads tried to bully you into buying a policy, Geico took a stand.They broke the mold.Zigged when everyone else zagged.And upended every other clich\\xe9 you can think of.Geico took on fear when fear was the category.Are You in Good Hands?Like a Good Neighbor.The insurance industrial complex depicted a world where,\\xa0if you didn\\u2019t buy insurance, you\\u2019d immediately have a fatal heart attack\\xa0and your kids would end up as indentured servants, while your wife would now spending her evenings wearing a mini-skirt under a streetlamp.Every spot seemed like a paternalistic nightmare.But then Geico said, hold my beer.They knew that no one wants to be scared into buying anything.Especially a product you legally have to have.That costs a lot of money.And you never want to use.Hell, if that was the case, no one would use soap.Except it\\u2019s cheap.But insurance isn\\u2019t.That\\u2019s what\\u2019s key.And it\\u2019s certainly no way to start a relationship.Nor develop long-term loyalty.Geico and the Martin Agency decided to trust people.To trust that they\\u2019re smart.That they understand what insurance does.And that they want their insurance company to taketheir jobs seriously, but not themselves.And look where they are now.Geico is a marketing juggernaut.With ads that people actually look forward to seeing.Campaigns every creative wishes they were working on.It\\u2019s been an amazing run.But lately, things seem to have shifted a bit.Geico doesn\\u2019t seem so adventurous.Even hesitant.Leading me to wonder, Is Geico is finally succumbing to the\\xa0same fear that it once subdued? And seemed to have vanquished.That\\u2019s the question here to answer today on Episode 44 of Navigating the Fustercluck\\u2014a podcast full of snackable insights to help you navigate the curious world of creativity & marketing.My name is Wegs, like eggs with a W, joining you from Deaf Mule Studios in Dallas, where we have the gall to question advertising\\u2019s golden child, Geico.The Gecko.Hump Day.Maxwell the Pig.Caveman Airport.And the Grand Prix winning Unskippable pre-roll ads.Who hasn\\u2019t seen and laughed at these smart, witty pieces of work?Hit after hit. Staying ahead.\\xa0And not by outspending. But by being relevant.How? The human truth.It seemed like every ad found a new and unexpected way to drive home its point.Keeping people excited to see what would come next.Then it happened.The most forward-looking advertiser in the business stopped dead in its tracks and decided to take a look back.The Best of Geico campaign was announced.Now I\\u2019ll be the first to admit that I was excited to see some of these classic chestnuts.That is until two things began to register with me:Maybe I loved seeing these old spots so much because I merely liked the new ones. Some of which seemed to try to push the envelope by inserting\\xa0Skittles-like randomness into the work. Weirdness over wit.For the first time I got the sneaking feeling that maybe, just maybe Geico had started to run out of ideas.Check yourself, I said. Give them a chance. They certainly have earned it.And then some.So, I waited for their next thing. Deeply hoping that I was wrong.Unfortunately, it happened again.Geico Sequels was released.Taking 5 popular characters from the past, Geico has created new scenarios for them.Yet somehow, they don\\u2019t feel the same.They seem\\u2026UnGeico. (If that\\u2019s a term.)They seem like funny for funny sake.And contrary to popular belief, that\\u2019s not what Geico does.Geico at its best tells a simple human truth.Even when expressed through a raccoon\\u2026Someone trying to get you to nibble on something that they\\u2019ve\\xa0already declared to taste awful is a truth we\\u2019ve all experienced.The sequel on the other hand is just a silly spoof of food truck foodies.And while none of the sequels are bad, they\\u2019re just not as good as their originals.Not to mention that the notion of sequels standing for ...'