Seriously funny: How GEICO and Farmers Insurance used humor to change the insurance industry

This article explains how two American insurance brands, GEICO and Farmers Insurance, have used humour to engage people and increase market share.

Seriously funny: How GEICO and Farmers Insurance used humor to change the insurance industry

Todd Wilkinson

Oh,to hear chief marketing officer Ted Ward riff wryly. The 63-year-old veteran of many a campaign struggles to keep a straight face as he describes the cast of characters that have graced the stage of GEICO insurance commercials over the past two decades — the cavemen with inferiority complexes, driven by a heartfelt yearning to be understood; the flaky guest star turns by the likes of Little Richard, Burt Bacharach, and Joan Rivers; Maxwell the Pig; and, of course, the unlikeliest of mascots...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands