Ad of the Day: Geico

Geico is the master of the mini-campaign. The insurance company still leans fairly heavily on the gecko and the cavemen, but sprinkles in loads of other ad characters and setups along the way, all from The Martin Agency—the rhetorical question guy, the random celebrities, the googly-eyed wad of money known as Kash. They've even done an Xtranormal spot. The latest mini-campaign is the "Easier Way to Save" spots, in which people concoct ludicrous cost-cutting schemes, when they should really just switch insurance carriers and get a better rate. The oddball characters in the series include a woman who stops downloading music and instead teaches her animals to sing A-ha's "Take on Me"; a couple who devour their daughter's pet fish instead of ordering sushi; and another couple who teach their 5-year-old son how to dunk. But probably the best ad of the bunch is "Guinea Pigs," featuring a guy whose electrical bill was getting out of hand—so he trained three guinea pigs to row a tiny boat in a little tank of water in his office, thus generating a bit of electricity to power his computer. "Guinea Pigs" has all the ingredients of a winning comedy spot: the absurd premise; the cute animals (alas, CGI and not actual trained rodents); the weary but committed consumer; the weird details of the "chubby" guinea pig who has had trouble learning the word "row." Figuring they would be a hit (hey, the spot even got a fawning review in Guinea Pig Today), Martin whipped up some additional materials, too—an extended version of the spot on YouTube, giving additional back story, and an iPhone game, available at Geico.com, called the Guinea Pig Getaway App, in which they try to escape from their crazy owner. ("Help them navigate the murky waters filled with obstacles that threaten their speedy escape—alligators, bones, tires, and more. Yuck!") They may not be a threat to the gecko, who has his own new spot out, but these are some of the quirkiest critters to come along in a commercial in some time—probably since DirecTV's miniature giraffe. Perhaps we'll get a sequel. CREDITS: Client: Geico Spot: "Guinea Pigs" Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. Chief Creative Officer: John Norman SVP/Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett VP/Associate Creative Director (Copywriter): Wade Alger Senior Art Director: Justin Harris Strategic Planners: Rad Tollett, Melissa Cabral SVP/Group Account Director: Chris Mumford Account Director: Liz Toms Senior Account Executive: Parker Collins Project Manager: Susan Karns VP/Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter Agency Junior Producer: Nicole Hollis-Vitale Group Talent Director: Suzanne Wieringo Senior Integrated Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz Production Company: @radical.media Director: Steve Miller Director of Photography: Eric Schmidt Executive Producers: Frank Scherma, Gregg Carlesimo Line Producer: Barbara Benson Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler Editor: Ian Mackenzie Assistant Editor: Nick Divers Producer: Tatiana Vasquez Visual Effects Company: Click 3X VFX Creative Director: Mark Szumski VFX Artist: Liz Berndt Executive Producer: Chris Kiser VFX Producer: Will Mok

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Geico

The Martin Agency builds a little world around three rowing guinea pigs

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd