geico &
avril lavigne
mtv video music awards
About the pARTNERSHIP
Long-time partners MTV and GEICO collaborated on a custom cobranded program around the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
With pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne (“Complicated”, “Sk8er Boi”) at the helm, we tapped into the idea of “new”stalgia to humorously drive home GEICO’s “What Are You Waiting For?” messaging.
With content rolling out across all screens, we reached fans everywhere they consume content: on-air, on-site, and online.
Then, ahead of the big show, GEICO took over the VMA red carpet with an exclusive branded area that gave lucky fans a once-in-a-lifetime peek inside the festivities. Fans were thrilled to see their favorite stars from the front row, especially when Avril stopped by to announce that MTV and GEICO had upgraded them with main show tickets, plus a cobranded swag bag!
CAMPAIGN PILLARS
→ 2x branded lead-up :30 promos running across Paramount linear/social/digital platforms
→ 1x live pre-show integration featuring Avril Lavigne interview
→ Social support from Avril, MTV, and VMAs handles
→ Branded fan pit on the MTV VMAs red carpet
The Results
Fans across social media loved the return of this Sk8er Girl to the MTV Video Music Awards:
→ 10.49M total impressions
→ 3.16M total video views
→ 116K total engagements
The campaign was honored with a Bronze award from The Telly Awards for its use of humor.
The mix of nostalgic and new paid off, with Paramount's research team finding:
→ 91% of survey respondents said Avril Lavigne is a great representative for GEICO at an event like the VMAs
→ 89% said they enjoyed the custom MTV Video Music Awards x Avril Lavigne x GEICO content
→ 75% have an increased interest in GEICO because of this content
