The marketers at Geico have a big challenge trying to sell something that many consumers view as a necessary evil: car insurance.
They have a bigger challenge trying to sell their ad campaign ideas to Geico's ultimate customer: billionaire Wall Street investor Warren Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha" for his stock-picking skills.
Geico ads show just how fast customers can save money on car insurance.
Buffett didn't get to be one of the world's richest people without knowing a little something about marketing.
And Berkshire Hathaway shares didn't rise to their current price of $90,000 without the company knowing a thing or two about how to promote itself and its holdings.
Berkshire Hathaway's Web site is known for its modest, bare-bones approach.
But prominent on the home page is an ad link to Geico, along with the auto insurer's toll-free, 24-hour number.
Company executives say that during his biannual meetings with the Geico team, Buffett always asks the most important question when it comes to the advertising: Does it work?
A spur-of-the-moment creation by Geico's longtime ad shop, The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., the lizard has been a mainstay of the company's advertising since 1999.
But Martin has been shaking things up lately by alternating the gecko with a mini-campaign showing things that can be done within 15 minutes --- the time it takes for a consumer to get a rate quote from Geico.
That means consumers see two of these spots back-to-back, rather than a single 30-second commercial.
Only 14% of consumers in Ad Track think the ads are "very effective," well below the 21% survey average.