The Gecko's Chicago Accent

Have you seen the Geico commercial set in Chicago?  I mention it in this blog because it is a perfect example of target marketing - a message designed for a specific group of people.

In case you haven't seen it (click to view on YouTube), the Geico gecko is walking along a downtown Chicago street with the El overheard. He feels Chicagoans will pay more attention to his message if he speaks with a Chicago accent.  The balance of the commercial, except for the tag line at the end, is delivered in flawless south side Chicago. (If you don't believe the accent is authentic, search out some old video of Mayor Daley and you'll be convinced.) The closing has the gecko commenting that Chicagoans have a funny accent.

I love a good ad and this is one.  It entertains, it delivers its message clearly, it is memorable, and people around here sure are talking about it. 

The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia is responsible for the gecko ads and, IMHO, the series is brilliant. It has won awards for its work, but importantly, it wins customers for Geico.

Perhaps the Chicago ad can only be appreciated by those of us who live here or originate from here. Considering the local buzz, I have no doubt that Geico picked up enough new customers off that ad to pay for its airing.  And that's the whole point of good communication. Getting people to listen to the message and act on it.

The gecko made its first appearance during the 2000 television season. Unlike another long-running ad campaign that lost site of its original premise growing stale and contrived (think battery-operated toy bunny), the Martin Agency writers stay focused on why the gecko is out and about. Their ads work because they are fresh and new while delivering the on-going message about affordable insurance.

It's all about communication. The gecko ads do that and we are listening - when we're not laughing.

Good-bye Post Office

Have you noticed there are fewer ads on television for the US postal service? I think the only one running currently is for flat rate boxes.  It's a good thing the Post Office isn't wasting money on advertising.  They might want to spend it training some of their workers on basic customer service things like courtesy and maybe even how to properly up-sell.

There is a window clerk at our local post office who always asks me if I want to rent a PO box, have need of extra boxes, or want to ship my parcel via express mail. Every time I am there, I get the same, tired, monotone spiel. I'm sure she has no interest in whether or not I actually want or need those services. Her manager said she has to offer them so that is what she does, sour face and bored attitude all the way.

Not long ago, I had to mail about twenty certified-mail envelopes. In case you haven't used certified mail recently, it's expensive. I don't object to the expense. The extra dollars cover the special handling. I do object to the reaction I get whenever I have a large mailing.  On this occasion, I was refused service by two window clerks, twice on the same day.  They were "too busy." Wait a minute!  The US Postal Service was complaining about being too busy?  

So much about where we decide to do business is influenced by the folks who perform the service. The jolly young man in the flat rate box ad seems happy to assist his customers. He is helpful and pleasant. All the good will created by that ad is squandered if the consumer doesn't encounter the same attitude when they walk into their local post office.The flat rate ad might get me in the door of the post office but finding out the clerks are "too busy" to wait on me makes sure that I avoid it as much as I can.

Businesses get into trouble because they offer bad product and/or lousy service. At my local post office, I know where the problem lies and it isn't with the product.
 

Campaigns: Lots of Loot, Rarely Reality

Family matters kept me away from my writing for several months and now I return to what should be normalcy but find myself in the midst of a reelection campaign. Every evening I return home to find an answering machine loaded with robo-calls and a mailbox stuffed with materials from candidates and their PACs.  

All this communication is saying absolutely nothing. No one can hear a clear message in the din. I have to vote today and, frankly, I wish there were a "D - None of the above" option on the ballot.  Practically every candidate running, whether for a national or a local position, has irritated the heck out of me by constantly badgering me.

I am not the only one who feels this way. Plenty of polls indicate that the American people feel our campaigns are too long, too nasty, and too expensive.  In 2008, Americans spent over $5 BILLION on getting elected.  What an indictment of our system.  We complain about the national debt and yet we allow candidates to spend like crazy to get to a place where they can spend even more. What do we communicate to them by letting them spend so much to get a job that is supposedly public service?

Getting back to what the candidates are telling us - I made myself listen to a couple of the speeches and watch some of the commercials.  I heard of lot of empty promises.  The candidates are betting that the American people are so uneducated that they don't realize the president or governor cannot do most of what the candidates are promising. Only the legislative branches can pass laws to accomplish those things. On a local level, I heard similar things from candidates: lots of promises they cannot legally or logistically fulfill. 

For example, a candidate for a local board position is campaigning on solving the national debt.  By making that her platform, she is telling me she has no plan at all for solving our local problems. Using the emotions tied to the national campaign and copying those promises, she is using political sleight-of-hand to distract me from her lack of attention to our local issues. No communication can be as powerful as too much. This same candidate, in saying nothing about the local situation and her plans to resolve it, is telling me that the problems of a town of 20,000 aren't exciting enough for her. She wants to be on the national stage.

If we can stand to wade through the nonsense of this election campaign, we would all do well to listen to what is not being said.  Candidates are spending whatever is necessary and saying whatever it takes to get themselves a job. In doing so, they tell their electorate that money is no object and the truth is irrelevant.

I wonder if the people have figured all this out yet?  I certainly hope so.