• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 20, 2005

GEICO, the company known for its humorous commercials about people saving money on car insurance, Monday announced plans that may save it money on its marketing budget, launching what may be the first marketer generated effort to create a large-scale consumer generated media campaign promoting a brand. Working with agency CDG Solutions, GEICO has launched a website inviting amateur filmmakers to create 15-second spots based on its other funny, and well recognized TV ad campaign featuring the GEICO Gecko.

GEICO isn't calling entries in the competition ads. Instead, it's referring to the spots as "15-second conceptual movie trailers," but it does plan to run the spots on sites such as iFilm.com, various blogs and on the dedicated campaign site, GoldenGecko.com.

The initiative, one of the first where a marketer has reached out directly to consumers to create advertising content, is aimed at the 18- to 34-year-old crowd, and is as much an interactive, viral campaign as it is about creating new commercials. It also comes at a time when consumers have begun creating their own versions of commercials for major brands and posting them directly on the Internet.

This week, Adcandy.com, an online community based around users who create their own ads, slogans and jingles, announced a site-based competition to create ads to compete for Coca-Cola Co.'s worldwide advertising account.

Jack Johnson, a GEICO business analyst said the online initiative marks a new twist for GEICO, which traditionally relies on TV and radio buys. "We've never done anything like this before, but we were looking for new possibilities to reach a young demographic," he explained.

CDG--whose clients include Fannie Mae, America Online, and The New York Jets--is equally inexperienced when it comes to consumer generated media, according to CEO Scott Adams.

"We've been working with GEICO for two years, in which time we've totally redesigned their Web site--but we've never worked on anything this big or open-ended before," Adams said.

The "Golden Gecko" competition, which runs through October, offers participants the chance to win prizes in five different categories--drama, comedy, animation, action, and "other." Prizes include LCD TVs and trips to Waikiki. Winning video spots will be announced on November 15.

CDG is helping Geico conduct online media buys, which should run in the low six figures. The spots will appear across sites such as iFilm.com and various blogs. They have also made a significant Google AdWords buy, as well as an Overture buy, according to Adams.

And what exactly does filmmaking have to do with selling car insurance? "About as much as GEICO's TV commercials have to do with selling car insurance," Adams joked.

Johnson agreed. "We're big on the soft sell," he said. "We're not about just telling people to buy something."

Adams said he expected videos submitted to go up on GEICO's site--at www.goldengecko.com--once they have been vetted by a technical and a legal team to make sure each video is formatted correctly and does not contain copyrighted content.