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GEICO: THE DANGERS OF WIT, AND THE RE-INVENTION OF LONG COPY

James R. Rosenfield

October 1999

Wit and beauty usually depress direct mail response rates.

It's a chastening fact, and a hard lesson for young copywriters and art directors, all of whom consider themselves Miltons and Michelangelos. There are of course exceptions to the no-wit-and-beauty-rule, largely in upscale niche markets. But in most mass product categories, a straightforward, foursquare approach works the best: promise and offer, offer and promise. “XYZ will make you young, rich, and beautiful at a 25% discount if you act today” trumps more subtle articulations just about every time out.

This principle applies to other direct marketing media, but seems to require the greatest rigor in direct mail. It has to do with the verbal, instructional quality of the medium, so linear and left-hemisphere in its approach. Trickily, the right hemisphere of the brain has to be engaged, but then immediately disengaged. Too much right hemisphere and the left never kicks in – and both wit and beauty are right-hemisphere phenomena.

Maybe, too, it's the homely, mundane nature of direct mail, one of the least glamorous of media. Dressing it up with too much wit and beauty would be like walking into a sports bar wearing a tuxedo and monocle, quoting Noel Coward bon mots. No one will get it.

No glamour, no wit, no beauty. Try bragging about your great direct mail campaign at a New York cocktail party, and you'll be alone in a nanosecond! And if your direct mail campaign happens to sell insurance, someone will probably snatch your drink.

In spite of this, I would be tempted to brag at least a little bit if I worked for GEICO, the auto insurance company. They are one of today's consummate direct marketers, whose direct mail materials display discipline, wisdom, and experience. The differences between their approach to direct mail and to other print media provide an object lesson in the relationship between a medium and its message.

ADS AND INSERTS VS. DIRECT MAIL: DIFFERENT APPROACHES

GEICO's freestanding inserts and print ads are hardly side-splitters, but the ones I've collected recently all share a bit of wit. In fact, they lead off with a light touch:

· “GEICO Auto Insurance. Where ‘penny pincher' is a compliment.”

· “Dumb Thing: Arguing with someone whose neck is bigger than your head. Smart Thing: One 15-minute call to GEICO Direct could save you 15% or more on car insurance.”

· “Irritating other car insurance companies since 1936.”

· “GEICO Auto Insurance. Preferred by 9 out of 10 tightwads.”

Contrast this with a clutch of recent direct mail packages:

· “What your car insurance agent isn't telling you could cost you $200 a year.”

· “Take this simple quiz. A 15-minute phone call to GEICO could save you 15% on your car insurance.”

· “Open here for important information on how you could save $50, $100, even $200 on your car insurance.”

· “A 15-MINUTE CALL COULD SAVE YOU 15% OR MORE ON CAR INSURANCE.”

· “The top 10 reasons to shop for car insurance if…”

In its ads and freestanding inserts, GEICO follows the same pattern, leading off with a light touch and then following with benefit and/or offer. (“Dumb Thing: Arguing with someone whose neck is bigger than your head. Smart Thing: One 15-minute call to GEICO Direct could save you 15% or more on car insurance.”)

With one exception, in direct mail the pattern is the exact reverse, beginning with the benefit and/or offer, and then following with the light touch. (“Take this simple quiz. A 15-minute phone call to GEICO could save you 15% on your car insurance. Calling GEICO to save money is as easy as: a. falling off a log…b. one-two-three…c. pushing a button (Lift back flap for answer.”)

GEICO'S FREESTANDING INSERTS AND PRINT ADS: WHY THE AGGRESSIVE SUBTEXT?

GEICO's handling of the wit/benefit sequences shows media savvy. I question, though, the wisdom of the messages GEICO uses in its ads and inserts.

You perhaps noticed a trend in the headlines quoted above: All of the “wit” used in the inserts and ads is aggressive and negative, with a sort of hostile, pejorative subtext: “penny pincher,” “Dumb Thing,” “irritating,” “tightwads.”

What's going on here, psychologically and culturally? I have three theories:

Theory 1: It's hard to be witty without being hostile. Freud famously remarked that wit is “economy in the expenditure of emotion.” All the more reason to be cautious about wit in marketing communications. (Wit and humor are not the same, of course. Read Freud or Bergson for further clarification, if you care about such things.)

Theory 2: The hostile subtext is quite conscious, and links into today's culture of driving, where road rage prevails. Plus, people often enough feel hostile towards insurance companies, which can be a pain to deal with.

Theory 3: GEICO is in the hands of a superficially clever ad agency, and no one really has a clue as to what's happening re wit, subtext, or anything else.

Theories 1 and 3 are related, and posit a bit of cluelessness on GEICO's part. Theory 2, on the other hand, posits an acute degree of psychological awareness regarding wit and hostility. Based on my admiration for GEICO, my heart tells me Theory 2. Based on what I see in my real-life work with different companies, my head tells me Theories 1 and/or 3.

LAUGH CIRCUS VS. EFFECTIVENESS?

Certainly the most sustained “wit” workout strikes me as the most limiting, and therefore weakest piece. It's the “Dumb Thing/Smart Thing” insert, a four-page leaflet which maintains the “Dumb/Smart” message way past the headline. The “penny pincher” and “irritating” pieces are 8” x 11” single sheets, which play it completely straight on their reverse sides.

When you get inside “Dumb Thing/Smart Thing,” there's a list of “Dumb Things”: “Buying high and selling low…Starting a bee circus…Taking a 2-year-old to the movies…Telling your dentist, “Novocain ® is for wimps…Eating a worm…Dropping out of med school to play the spoons…Offering to wash the neighbor's cat…Giving yourself a haircut…Putting a crayon up your nose.”

The list of “Smart Things” is straightforward: “Saving of 15% or More…Complete 24-Hour Service…Fast, Fair Claims Handling…Convenient Payment Plans…Multiple Discounts and Rewards…” The “Smart Things” section is punctuated by a dour middle- aged face repeated three times, with the following copy: “Dumb thing: Discussing politics with your father-in-law…discussing religion with your father-in-law…discussing anything with your father-in-law.”

There are two problems here.

Problem 1: None of this stuff is really very funny. In fact, every “Dumb Thing” is sort of puerile and unamusing. Re-read them, and see if you agree.

Problem 2: Related to the puerile nature of this stuff, the tone of voice seems aimed at guys. The whole tonality of this piece, in fact, eliminates large chunks of the population: women, and non-puerile men. Interestingly, women and non-puerile men are better risk candidates for auto insurers than the kind of guys this piece seems aimed at.

GEICO'S DIRECT MAIL: TONAL PERFECTION, AND THE RE-INVENTION OF LONG COPY

I suspect that GEICO's ads and inserts are done by an outside agency (see Theory 3, above), and that the direct mail is done by another agency or perhaps by an in-house group.

Whatever the process is, the tonal problems we encounter in the inserts are replaced by a kind of tonal perfection in the direct mail.

Witness the package whose outer envelope proclaims “A 15 MINUTE CALL COULD SAVE YOU 15% OR MORE ON CAR INSURANCE.” I'd like to focus on the letter, which does two marvelous things: It re-invents the traditional direct mail long copy letter, and it uses humor, not wit

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