Review the GEICO case study that opens this chapter. Then go to GECIOS Facebook page and Twitter feed. Suggest three different posts for each siteone each aiming primarily to inform, persuade, and remind. the story: ack in the 1930s, during the depths of the Great Depres-sion, Leo and Lillian Goodwin started the Government Em-ployees Insurance CompanyGEICO. GEICO kept operating costs low by selling auto insurance to only two low-risk target markets: federal employees and military personnel. GEICO passed on the savings in the form of lower premiumsand sales steadily grew for decades. After becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in 1996, GEICOs management sought to acceler-ate earnings growth by targeting new markets. However, achieving growth in the mature auto insurance market meant that GEICO would need to take customers away from better-known competitors such as Allstate and State Farm. As if that wasnt difficult enough, many prospects didnt even know about GEICO. Ted Ward, GEICOs vice president of marketing, discussed this situation with the firms ad agency, the Martin Agency of Richmond, Virginia. Together they de-cided that an aggressive advertising campaign could achieve the objectives of increasing awareness of GEICO and bring-ing in new customers. The GEICO campaign that emerged used an animated, talking lizard to help get attention and communicate the firms message. In the first commercial, the charming reptile with the British accent stated, I am a gecko, not to be con-fused with GEICO, which could save you hundreds on car insurance. So stop calling me! The humorous ads quickly achieved GEICOs objectives: generating awareness and in-terest among target customers. The original plan was for the Gecko campaign to run for a short time, but research showed that customers loved the Gecko, and the company saw a bump in its sales. The Gecko continues to be an important part of GEICOs image and promotions. GEICO wants customers to know it offers good valuegreat car insurance at low prices. But to prove this, custom-ers must reach out for a price quote. Its quick and easy to get a quote at GEICOs website, so to spur the target audi-ence to action, GEICO ads remind them that 15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance. GEICO likes to have a variety of adsand has had all kinds of animals and inanimate objects talking in its ads; pigs, camels, bumper stickers, and dinner plates star in its humorous television spots. In addition, GEICOs promotion objectives include every-one driving safer. So its Smartdogs campaign featured dogs that were trained to stop people from using their smart-phones while driving (no selfies behind the wheel!). A micro-site (www.geico.com/distracted/) shows funny videos of the Smartdogs and demonstrates how to enable the Do Not Disturb While Driving mode on a smartphone. This cam-paign raises awareness for GEICO and makes the world a better place by discouraging distracted driving (#M4BW). Although GEICO aims to reach its target market with ad-vertising, it knows that many customers interested in insur-ance start the information gathering process on their own. GEICO knows when people type auto insurance into Google, they are probably looking to buy car insurance. GEICO uses various techniques to make sure GEICO ap-pears near the top of the organic search results. Just in case customers dont see that, it also pays for a sponsored link (advertisement) ensuring that GEICO will join other ads at the top of the search results. GEICO can pay more than $75 each time a customer clicks on one of these ads, so keeping customers interested is important; the page customers land on after clicking one of these ads asks for their ZIP Code, the first step toward getting a price quote from GEICO. All this promotion helped make GEICO a familiar name, but many insurance buyers still want to talk to a real person before deciding what to do. These customers visit with a GEICO salesperson at one of its local offices, or they call GEICOs national call center and talk with an inside sales rep. GEICO selects capable salespeople who are licensed insurance agents and trains them to develop an understand-ing of each customers needs and concerns so that the agents can then persuasively explain GEICOs benefits to the customer. Of course, GEICO seeks to build ongoing customer rela-tionships after they sign up for a policy. Regular contacts and updates are handled with promotional e-mails. Later, if a cus-tomer who purchases a policy has a problem, GEICOs highly rated customer service team quickly works to resolve it. Cus-tomers can also turn to their GEICO Mobile App for road-side assistance or to talk to its artificial intelligencepowered virtual assistant Kate. Kate answers questions about policy coverage, billing information, and more. GEICOs website also fosters that relationship with current customers. The website is a type of owned mediaGEICO owns and manages itunlike television and radio advertising that GEICO pays to access. Many current customers use GEICOs website to manage and update their policy or make an insurance claim. They can also learn more about GEICOs other insurance products, various discounts, local gas prices, and more. The site also links to GEICOs social media pages. GEICOs social media, including a blog, Facebook and Instagram pages, a YouTube channel, and a Twitter feed, also build relationships with its current customers and con-nect it with potential new customers. By following GEICOs Facebook page (or the Geckos own page), customers can see the latest television ads and photos of the Gecko. Cus-tomers can also Like or Share an ad or other post with their own Facebook friends. Potential customers are more likely to consider GEICO when they have seen a friend Like the brand. GEICOs promotion brings together advertising, personal selling, and online media; in combination, they help GEICO acquire and retain customers. That recipealong with a great producthas moved GEICOs market share from 3 percent to 13 percent in just over 20 years. GEICOs successful adver-tising campaigns have inspired similar efforts from competi-tors, including Progressive (Hi Flo!) and Allstate (Yikes! Its Mayhem.).1