Geico SMS Marketing?

I just received one of those text message forwards from a good friend of mine that said the following:

“i just found out someone you used to mess around with has an STD [I proceed to freak out – I then continue reading] buts its ok because i just saved a bunch on my insurance w geico- LOL pass it on”

Haha, very funny [sigh of relief]. I send on to a few friends.

I doubt this was started by Geico (if it was then props to them), but I think this is a great example of how grass-roots, viral marketing can be used (inexpensively!). With all the talk of Web 2.0 and new media we forget that word of mouth is what drives any marketing effort.

If you have not seen their various tv advertising campaigns then I recommend you check them out below. Some of my favorites:

Geico w/ Gecko – Pie n’ Chips

Geico w/ Caveman – News Interview

Geico w/ Celebs – Little Richard

Published 31 October 2006 20:54 by James Gregson

Comments

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  Darren Leroux said:

  Nice to see you joining the conversation James!
  
  The Geico lizard scares me...
  November 1, 2006 14:01
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  Ian Barr said:

  Hmmm...the mobile version of email frwds. The only difference is you pay to send and receive in some markets. I wonder how this would play in those markets that have to pay to receive SMS. I would suspect there would be some backlash. Thanks for sharing James.
  November 2, 2006 16:49
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  Lisa Meltz said:

  I really wish that companies would take more risks and use the same principles we used to apply to advertising (the shock value) to content across internet and wireless platforms. If this was really true, Geico is a genius and my dream client.
  November 10, 2006 00:12

About James Gregson