Large Brands vs. Small Brands

Quick! Think of the Geico mascot. Jot your answer down.

Acceptable responses would have been the gecko, the cavemen, the pig, and more recently, the scapegoat.

How is this possible? Everything we've learned about branding says that consisentcy is key. Keep your colors, your logo and your message as standard is possible. If a rebrand is in order, a massive campaign with lots of exposition is required. Geico has essentially thrown that model out the window, and still manages to be one of the most successful brands out there. How?

In a word - money. How often do you see a Geico ad? Once a week? Twice? Did you maybe see them at the superbowl? Or on Hulu? Do you have that annoying "boots and pants" song the pig sings at the pool stuck in your head? Geico ads are pervasive, and buying that amount of ad space costs money. Lots of it.

I currently work as the marketing director at a small corporation, one that is desperately trying to get their name on the map. There is no lack of creativity on my team. At least once a week someone approaches me with a clever idea for our brand - a new tagline, a new pun, a new mascot. There is no lack of brilliant ideas, but there is a lack of funding. When you're working on shoestrings you have to prioritize efficiency over creativity - that's just a fact of marketing.

Geico can afford to change their creative approach with wild abandon because they know that most people will still see their ad 3 times a week. With my brand, we struggle to get someone's eyes on us once, let alone once every few days. For smaller companies with less capital, consistency is key. When you have limited real estate and limited time - you don't get the luxury of creativity. You have to hit hard and fast - ask the audience please remember your name, your URL, and what separates you from the competition. 

Hopefully, as the brand I work for develops and our market share grows, we will be able to implement some our surplus creativity. My guess - that's maybe a decade down the road. For now our message stays the same, our mascot never waivers and we play the repetition game. Maybe, someday, with a little luck, we'll be Geico.