Data Spawns a Mascot, Customer Is King, Elmo Goes Viral

The Strategist picks the day’s most interesting stories for the content aficionados who love the backstory and reading between the lines. Here are the gems you need to kickstart your Monday.

How Big Data Spawned the Geico Gecko (Ad Age)
It’s hard to believe that the Geico Gecko is 10 years old. Little known fact — he was never supposed to be the insurance company’s big mascot.

Geico had run a couple of TV spots with its iconic gecko — absolutely zero research went into the process. After running a couple of TV ads, Geico crunched some numbers and liked what they saw.

Ever since, the company has been employing rigorous market research techniques to measure response towards their little green mascot. He’s still one of the most loved icons in advertising today.

Whatever You Do, Make the Customer King (Inc)
Eric Ries explains that customers are the heart of your business. Sure, you are well-aware of this fact, but what are you doing to ensure that your customers the focal points of your brand?

The fact is that you need to give people the opportunity to give feedback at every stage of your marketing and product design — especially at the very beginning. Empower your audience to develop your brand.

How Sesame Street Counted All the Way to 1 Billion YouTube Views (Time)
Sesame Street may be a show for kids, but it will forever remain in the hearts of almost every American adult.

That’s why it’s so important for the show’s business team to get their content on a broad, adult-facing platform like YouTube. Here’s the story of how one campaign went viral.

Marketing to Kids Is an Obstacle Course (Ad Week)
The kids marketplace is worth well over $1 billion, but it’s not that easy to just jump in.

There’s limited ad inventory out there, and as a result, media buyers are witnessing stiff competition and high rates. When marketing to kids, you need to be on your A-game. Perhaps there’s a place for content to alleviate the crunch.