I don’t envy anyone in the advertising world today. People are finding new ways to avoid ads and attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter.

So it’s even more impressive when advertisers successfully capture consumer attention.

The other night, I was watching some football with friends (no FSU jokes please! :). The GEICO commercial came on with Salt-N-Pepa doing their famous ‘Push It’ song from the 80s. Here it is if you haven’t seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8A0EGnhvfI

My friend Sara stopped her conversation and focused on the TV. In fact, all of us did. They got us. Why? Because they hit a sweet spot: Nostalgia. My parents were also in the room but completely uninterested. Clearly not nostalgic for them.

But I think that’s perfectly okay with GEICO. We are all mid 30s and I would wager the primary buyer’s market for GEICO.

Here are the lessons I took from this: 

1. Nostalgia is an excellent way to capture attention. Use it and use it creatively in your digital marketing!

2. Know who you’re targeting. Get as specific as you can. What is nostalgic to me is clearly NOT nostalgic to my dad.


Nostalgic to me


Nostalgic to dad

We see so many bad attempts at advertising today that it’s refreshing when a company gets creative enough to win our attention with the odds stacked against them. Kudos to GEICO and their advertising team.