Geico Ads Show the Way Radio Ads Can Go Contextual
I’m one of those guys that still listens to regular old radio. Usually the sports variety. Lately, I’ve noticed that the ads from Geico about NY and CT (I can get stations from both states) are very different… and could even be considered local ads. I’m assuming that they used a templated system to make the ads easy to replicate from market to market. So is this one of the first examples of contextual/local advertising for a national advertiser?
Geico ads are engaging and funny. They talk to me as a resident of NY and share a little bit of inside knowledge — they tell me the state slogan, the state bird, and talk about local points of interest. And because they’re on a local radio station – you can make the argument that they’re actually locally targeted ads. This, in and of itself isn’t interesting. National advertisers make small local pushes all the time. But since I’ve heard a CT version of the same NY ad, I’m thinking that Geico made the jump to recording local versions of the ad for each market they operate in… in essence, a local national campaign. This is one of the first times I’ve been aware of this, though folks that have satellite radio have probably seen this before.
It’s interesting for a few reasons.
One, I noticed the ads were targeted and I liked it… and I actually listened to them. I listened to the ads for different states and even compared them. This should mean that they’re more effective on the recall studies that ad folks do to gauge effectiveness in breaking through the clutter.
Two, since I listened more closely, (but I’m not in the market for car insurance) did it make a measurable difference in conversions? Only the folks at Geico know… anyone out there want to talk about it on the record?
Three (and most important for us online geeks), doesn’t this make your mouths water at what Google can do with dMarc Communications? If they’ve got a switch that can target you as a consumer through your radio (currently just your XM or Sirius, but soon the radio market catches up to targeting, doesn’t that mean radio ads will be getting a lot more interesting?
It sounds like a traditional Google campaign to me. They tailor the creative to include local keywords and repeat certain phrases so that it catches your (ear?) eye more. Taken to another level, they can start to look at whether you’re traveling fast or stuck in traffic or even tie in to particular radio show themes… and then riff radio creative off that. Very cool indeed.
What do you think about the way radio could be? I’d love to hear.
