Teenagers know good advertising when they hear it. I was reminded of this fact as I sat on my couch Monday night with the television on.
My youngest daughter is quieter than her older sister who has gone off to college. She is not very talkative (sort of like her father). Sitting beside me last night, she broke the silence by saying in a matter-of-fact way: “That’s a good slogan.”
There was a commercial break on TV. Something resonated with her, even while her attention was focused elsewhere.
“What?” I asked. “Do you mean the ’15 minutes could you save you 15% or more on car insurance'”?
“Yeah,” she replied.
GEICO.
The “15 minutes” line has been GEICO’S tagline for, well, forever. The gecko is funny. The hump-day camel is funny. The man made of money riding the motorcycle is funny. But it’s the tagline (which is also an offer) that’s been enduring. It’s a good one.
We had a short chat on marketing. I mentioned how too many companies change their slogans, ads and marketing too often.
“Imagine if you changed your name every six months,” I said. “That would be confusing.”
“Yeah, it would,” she said.
Then she turned back to her iPod, and I resumed watching the World Series.
Neil Sagebiel 