Absurd Automobile Insurance TV Ads:
Spewing Silly, Smarty-pants Gibberish
Continually, I am dumbfounded by the daily and nightly TV assault of cutesy-poo, smart-ass buffoonery in a feeble attempt to focus on the very serious business of auto insurance.
A Sampling of the Craziness
We All Must Endure on TV
Liberty Mutual: "Get your wet teddy bears! One hundred percent guaranteed."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44YYT0mmjSo
Liberty Mutual: "LIMU EMU!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgEJyRk45vo
Nationwide: "What did I just get into?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAcRwxWmSX4
State Farm: "Hey, Drake. Stand-ins don't have lines."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvpq2OjmJvg&list=PLZdmq0GV_dGD6pLlUE8ZMJcuf89i1yY_q
Progressive: "Shouldn't something, y'know wacky, be happening right now?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5H_a2nYOxs
Geico: "I'm a gecko. Not Geico. So stop calling me!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkxjzWLjFLE
Allstate: "C'mon. I saw you eating poop earlier."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhXzBsHAEPk
Why Buy Auto Insurance?
Three reasons—and three reasons only:
1. It's the law.
2. If your car is damaged, you want it fixed.
3. If you get sued, you want to come out whole.
The Obvious Message to Drivers and Car Owners
It was Rosser Reeves (1910-1984), senior copywriter for Ted Bates & Co. In 1961 Rosser wrote "Reality in Advertising." It details the basic six points for successful ads and his famous USP concept—Unique Selling Proposition.
1. The USP is the one reason 'why' the product is needed to be bought or was better than is competitors. (Not one of the above wackadoodle TV commercials mentions this.)
3. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising. (Not one of the above wackadoodle TV commercials mentions this.)
4. The proposition simply states, 'Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.' (Not one of the above wackadoodle TV commercials mentions this.)
5. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions. (Not one of the above wackadoodle TV commercials mentions this.)
6. Reeves believes that the consumer tends to remember just one thing from advertising—one strong claim, or one strong comment. (Not one of the above wackadoodle TV
commercials mentions this.)
—Posted by May-Ann, http://cskills.blogspot.com
Amazingly, one of the 16 greatest USPs—Unique Selling Propositions—is owned by Allstate:
"You're in good hands with Allstate."
—David W. Ellis, General Sales Manager, 1950
Alas, in the Allstate commercial—where Tiny Fey accuses her companion of eating poop—flashes the world famous "good hands" USP for 1/4th of a second at the very end.
A Fascinating Aside is the huge heaps of
money spent in 2019 on these appalling ads:
Geico $1.618 billion
Progressive. $1.067
billion
State Farm
$ 802
million
Allstate
$ 437 million
Liberty Mutual. $ 435
million
USAA $ 264
million
USAA: A Serious Player in Insurance
USAA—United Services Automobile Associations—has positioned itself as the all-purpose insurer and friend of active, former and retired members of the American military establishment.
I was drafted into the U.S. Army for two years' service in 1958-1960. The country was at piece between two wars—Korea and Vietnam. I came away with a deep love and reverence for the American military. I reported for duty as a yardbird/buck private in a polo shirt, khaki pants and sneakers. Five days later we were summoned to the quartermaster warehouse and outfitted from top to bottom, inside and out, summer and winter uniforms, two pair each of dress shoes and combat boots. Never in my life—before or since—have I received so much stuff in the course of two hours. I was dazzled!
From the start I was mentored—told what to do, shown how to do it and came away with a lot of skills and knowhow that were useful throughout my entire career. Working in the Army Public Information Office, I was taught how to write press releases and wrote a ton of them. I was assigned to write, direct and narrate a documentary film on a National Guard training camp. I programmed and wrote the script for a radio series of recordings by the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in Germany that ran on WQXR in New York. Oh, yeah, did my share of KP and oversaw prisoners from the brig doing their menial jobs. And, of course, marched in a slew of parades (which I loved, especially when the band played Sousa). And served on the Armed Forces Day committee. For me the Army was a life changing experience.
Protecting the country is serious—life-and-death stuff—to our military branches. And protecting our military men and women during and after their service is equally serious business to USAA. That said, compare these two thoroughly professional, classic TV commercials to the fatuous crap above.
USAA Auto Insurance
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Z7CD/usaa-made-for-martin
USAA Membership
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tJoK/usaa-i-switched-free-tumbler
Takeaways to Consider
• "People do not buy from clowns." —David Ogilvy
• "Your job is to sell, not entertain." —Jack Maxson
• "Every time we get creative, we lose money."
—Ed McCabe, President, RCA Record Club
• "Learn the current rules so you'll know when you are violating them. All real breakthroughs have been made by people who went outside the so-called rules of their time. In retrospect, these breakthroughs seem logical—because they have now become the new rules."
—John J. Flieder
• Three Rules for Braking the Rules
— Play by the rules until you have solid controls; you have a higher chance of success and less risk
— Break the rules after you have solid controls, because in breaking rules, the risk—and sometimes the cost—is much higher.
— There are two ways to find a breakthrough: Play the rules better than anybody else. Break the rules better than anybody else. —Bob Hacker
• Note: USAA is a membership organization. Circulation consultant Dick Benson said if you can turn a magazine into membership organization, you'll raise response 15%. Plus it's a reason to expand and offer members great deals on add-on goods and services. This may be testing in the insurance business à la USAA.
• Check out one of my favorite blog posts: Your Toughest Copywriting Challenge: the USP
http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2018/10/26-your-toughest-copywriting-challenge.html
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You Are Invited to Join the Discussion
Denny, I am so happy that someone has reacted to this weak, insulting, adolescent attempt at entertainment. My wife and I just sit in wonder at the inanity of this industry-wide theme of advertising. I admit the wet teddy bears drove me over the edge.
ReplyDeleteI once worked for a direct mail life insurance company.While looking at a possible rebrand and rename(pending sale in the works)I recall the CEO making the strong points that the customer was looking for established, honest, financially sold firms to handle their very serious insurance business.
It certainly appears that the current crop of creative geniuses no longer believe that, not to mention the lack of USP mentions.
Even with the over-reliance on edgy, snarky humor, I cant imagine that any kind of research could ever link wet teddy bears, emus or poop with auto insurance. Maybe I am just too old to make that connection. For that I am thankful.
Richard,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to write. I find this entire area mystifying. I have to believe they are pissing away huge sums of money—billion$ and hundred$ of million$—in a giant “creative” circle jerk. Clearly these people are not expert in accountable advertising and, more important, have never been mentored by professionals who know the business—Direct Mail, Print Advertising, digital advertising and, above all, the arithmetic.
Do keep in touch.
Cheers.
I make this point from time to time and occasionally someone reminds me that GEICO has gone from nowheresville to being one of the top insurance companies in the country with these idiotic gecko ads. But you put your finger on the reason why. $1.6 BILLION DOLLARS per year in advertising expenditure. Frankly, if you're willing to spend that kind of money on advertising you could get similar (if not better) results by putting an all-type message on the television screen that says, "You'll save up to 15% on car insurance by calling Geico." No voiceover. No animation. No reptiles required. Car insurance has become a commodity. And all these companies are trying to do is become one of the three companies people call if they're comparison shopping for coverage. The ads suck, yes, but you can buy a lot of customers for$1.6 billion.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, Denny!
ReplyDeleteAmen, brother! Agencies blame it on commoditization. They're too lazy to look for a USP, so they differentiate their client from others by creative gimmicks. In a world where the only difference between your insurance offering and your competitor's is your ads, insurance becomes a beauty contest or a humor contest.
USPs are there. I heard a guy speak who sold chemically pure sulfuric acid for a living. By *definition*, his product was the same as everybody else's. And yet, he found a USP.
To Richard's point above: GEICO was "nowheresville" as long as it was positioned as an insurance company for Government Employees (GE ICO). When it became available to everyone, everyone liked the low prices and no-frills protection. USAA, I believe, is trying to make the same transition. Non-vets can now buy it. Look for it to take off soon!
TIAA-CREF once was for schoolteachers only. Now it's for everyone. And much bigger now.
USP is not passé. It never will be.
Best regards!
Tim Orr
Tim,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to comment. Got some flak from readers. The gist: if they are spending all this money, the ads must be working and they must be getting new insureds and making tons of money. Car insurance has been commoditized and price is everything. My response:
In my opinion, it’s not about price. The ultimate question is who’s gonna treat you good, better, best if the shit hits the fan belts?
USAA uses testimonials from happy customers. Case histories. No emus. No eating poop. If Geico dropped the smart-ass gecko and spent it’s billion$ getting the word out from deliriously happy customers, they’d bring in more business.
At least it’s worth a test. No?
As Richard pointed out, if you spend $1.6 billion, you're bound to get *some* result. Imagine if they spent $1.6 billion on GOOD ads!
DeleteMe again. What is the deal with the financial services banner ads that appear all over the internet lately? They feature a face, staring straight at me, with an absolutely blank stare (though recently, a smiling face that looks a bit like Kamala Harris is showing up). How is *that* supposed to motivate me to use their services?
ReplyDeleteAre these the heirs to the crazy ads that featured quirky faces of old people? I had a client who once used this technique many years ago. No evidence it ever brought them any sales. I think the concept is that this will stop the roving eye long enough that maybe, just maybe, the firm name will register or a perplexed viewer will click on the ad. I'll bet it doesn't work!
Tim Orr
Tim,
DeleteHaven’t noticed these. Maybe you do quirky searches and you’re on the weirdsville lists. I’ll watch for them.
Cheers.
Will send you some samples.
DeleteWhen I began in advertising in LA eons ago, the trend was "don't hire anyone over 30"! Now, I suspect, it's "don't hire anyone over 10". Poor execution on the agency side, poor decision making on the client side. I see it in advertising, and in direct response, every day. Just had a client tell us they decided not to include credit card information on their dm response device! No reason. No explanation. Just take it off...
ReplyDeleteDear Cindy Courtier,
DeleteMany thanks for taking the time to share and eye-opening comment. The tragedy here is so very few newbies who come into the business are mentored about a business (Direct Marketing) that is 800 years old.
https://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2018/07/13-800-year-history-of-direct-marketing.html
In this case, I think you’ll agree that the subject is the knowhow and arithmetic of TESTING. Do keep in touch. Cheers.
Truly a painful toss-up between drug and insurance ads on TV. What does Ozempic do that Liberty Mutual doesn't? USAA offers a real benefit. My father worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during the war. I'm tempted to call them to see if I can join.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your keen insight.
Hey, Jeffrey,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to comment.
My bet is you can join USAA. I would have. But I got out of the Army in 1960 when it was GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) and they weren’t pitching GI’s (or ex-Gi’s).
We gave up the car two years ago. (In Center City Philly buses are free to geezers, taxicabs are cheap and Uber is do-able. All of it much cheaper than garage fees, insurance, repairs and gas.
Do keep in touch.