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More than 27 million people have watched this a now famous viral video titled ‘Numa Numa’:
Today when folks go see that video, they just may be offered this one too:
Numa Numa Guy with Gecko
GEICO’s creative team at The Martin Agency were surfing some of the ‘most viewed’ videos when they came up with a series of viral video parodies to “blend videos loved my millions with GEICO icons, also loved by millions?” GEICO’s media agency, Horizon Media in New York, worked with the video sharing sites to create the ‘first ever of it’s kind’ media plan to figure out how to make them show up alongside their ‘superstar’ video counterparts.
“This is an exciting experiment for GEICO and a radical departure from our traditional media placements and strong ‘call to action’ messages,” said Ted Ward, VP of Marketing for GEICO. “The gecko and some of our other icons have a passionate fan base and we think people will appreciate the ‘surprise’ of seeing them pop up in unexpected places. No call to action, no website address or 1-800 number, just a bit of entertainment courtesy of GEICO.”
“The aim was to launch a video campaign in the most organic of ways and deliver on both efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, we have implemented a campaign that incorporates online grassroots outreach, search engine & site optimization, creator relationships, and extremely natural first-to-market paid inclusions & integrations.” - Taylor Valentine; Director, Strategic Services; Horizon Media.
STATS
As of March 23, 2009
Uploaded March 23, 209
Views: 158
I am always so excited to see companies pushing the limits of technology and creativity. Some positively GENIUS campaigns have used viral video inspiration with great success. Remember First Round Capital? GEICO plans to unveil several new video parodies during the next month. Let’s see how they do.
Tony (3 comments.)
March 24th, 2009 at 8:32 am
wait, so have they agreed with the video provers to overlay their message onto existign videos, or have they uploaded new versions as new uploads?
the idea of overlaying the video with something extra is very exciting (like the wii video where the whole of the youtube paeg is affected by the video - http://www.youtube.com/experiencewii - very very exciting stuff!!)
Tony´s last blog post..Knowing your outcome is NOT all there is to it!
Adam F (1 comments.)
March 24th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Great post! Thanks for the insight.
Adam F´s last blog post..Maher Vs. Coulter, All Out Bloodshed
Angel (6 comments.)
March 24th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Tony, unfortunately it isn’t quite like the Nintendo Wii video campaign (which is one of THE most awesome things EVER!) This overlay comes in the form of a Youtube annotation on the original NUMA video. (Which is now tagged with “This is a video response to Numa Numa Guy with Gecko”)
The annotation leads to “New Numa - The Return of Gary Brolsma!” (Which is now also tagged with “This is a video response to Numa Numa Guy with Gecko”)
The whole campaign is designed around having you surf Youtube; more like the Samsung “Follow Your Instinct” videos…
Viral Marketing Agency (1 comments.)
March 29th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
GEICO!!! I Love their commercials…gecko…caveman..lol!!!
Tony Finbarr-Smith (3 comments.)
April 7th, 2009 at 7:39 am
ah right… now I get you
Tony Finbarr-Smith´s last blog post..Knowing your outcome is NOT all there is to it!