Unbeatable Customer Delight: How Geico Makes You Laugh, And Buy

A standout case of customer delight has earned April’s Microinteraction of the Month!

Last Saturday at 9pm, I announced dinner time to my cats using my Geico Hump Day Camel impression, just like I do every night.

“Guess what time it is! Guess. What. Time. It. Is!”

I momentarily forgot about the three people on our couch, so their laughter surprised and embarrassed me. Apparently, my camel impression was spot-on and my guests were big fans of the commercial, too. One of us wasn’t feeling very original and decided to quote the “MikeMikeMikeMikeMike” sequence several times, in a row, which was a little annoying. The point is – the ad wasn’t annoying – it was this person’s impression. The camel ad was the most awesome commercial of last year, in my opinion.

Customer delight at its finest

The Geico Hump Day commercial is almost a year old. It made the rounds, but managed to fade away just before it became annoying. That’s why, when my wife received the direct mail ad below, I started to feel warm and fuzzy. I love that camel and everything he represents.

Here are just a few of the ways Geico NAILS IT with this callback advertisement:

• Instant brand recognition – I know that camel


• Reinforcing brand loyalty – I LOVE that camel


• Word of mouth – I shared a picture of the camel’s ad on Facebook (and here)


• Marketing personalization – That camel knew my wife’s name


• Top of mind awareness – That camel will be my first thought when I need to buy insurance

Geico and I have an inside joke

Advertising across platforms is ridiculously common, but truly nailing it is unique. The technique Geico uses here, the callback, is a fundamental comedic tool with value that translates perfectly into advertising and customer delight. According to Wikipedia:

“The main principle behind the callback is to make the audience feel a sense of familiarity with the subject matter, as well as with the comedian. It helps to create audience rapport. When the second joke is told, it induces a feeling similar to that of being told a personal or in-joke.”

It’s remarkable that a company can successfully create such a strong emotional rapport with potential insurance customers. In my extreme case, they’ve been so successful that I feel genuine affection for the Geico brand.

Happy Hump Day!

Source: B2C_Business

Unbeatable Customer Delight: How Geico Makes You Laugh, And Buy