In March of 2015 GEICO came up with a non-irritating way to advertise with a YouTube preroll. Using a sense of humor that only would work for this outlet, not something that makes sense on TV, they were able to make the ad preroll entertaining to the viewer. GEICO has one of the biggest audiences a brand could have being an insurance company – something everyone needs. The problem it solves is it’s making something that most YouTube users hate somewhat enjoyable to watch. They know that the viewer doesn’t want to watch an ad before the video they are actually trying to watch so as they say “You can’t skip this GEICO ad because it’s already over” they are relating to their audience. GEICO has always taken the comedic route for their advertising so that’s why it makes sense for them to use this tactic. This would be paid media, because they paid for the ability to have their ad play before videos on YouTube. I think their message is one of advertising-led integration.
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