I just received junk mail entitled "The Reality Report: Quarterly Observations on the Latest Degradations," nominally published by a special interest group called Up With Cavemen.
Of course, it's part of the branding campaign from Geico Insurance. The two-sided piece reprints lots of its ads, only in the context of an activist group complaining about how unjust and unfair they are. You can just hear the agency riffing on the idea, telling its client that the faux screed will generate lots of additional ad views.
The problem is that it's fake in an era of real. And it's not very funny, either.
It's easy to rip on the caveman concept. I've done it before (here and here), as I think it's absolutely idiotic. Geico has done a marvelous job of making itself relevant to price-conscious auto insurance customers -- its "give us 15 minutes and we'll save you 15 percent or more on your car insurance" is one of those rare pitches that that is obvious, relevant, and actionable...and brilliant -- and the oodles of money it has spent on its Brit-afflicted lizard have driven that message home.
But the cavemen? The concept was a dubious connection to the business, at best, and the extensions to a TV show (and this direct mail piece) are, well, stupid.
So enough with the complaints. What could it have done differently?
First, how about really offending people? It could have skipped crafting the fake front for its commercial interests (which has been a standard marketing tactic since the days of Ed Bernays and his support for greasy breakfasts), and literally gotten about pissing people off. Talk about putting its guts where its brand is; why not run ads that generate a hostile response that could take on a life of its own? We're talking honesty, legitimacy, and true extensions of marketing dollars. This fake deal just pales in comparison.
Second, it could have actually meant something to me. The direct mail piece I received had absolutely no relevance, and no actionable message for me; its feigned anger was so tongue-in-cheek that I really found no reason to read all of it, let alone do something thereafter. The entire back page is some exercise in rewriting Geico marketing copy, and it makes absolutely no sense. Why not give me something that I actually want to read?
Third, Geico sells insurance. Duh. The caveman nonsense overall, and this direct mail piece in particular, as such a far reach for connecting back to Geico that it might as well be promoting baking recipes, or tickets to launch to the space station.
Branding is just not that cool, and there's no good argument for wasting consumers' time with entertainment unless you subscribe to the idea that attention equals affinity. It doesn't. And this dreck doesn't even deliver attention.
More like indulgence, at best. And in an era of real, it's noticeably -- and ignoreably -- fake.
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