(Reuters) – GEICO, billionaire investor Warren Buffett's auto insurer, spent far more than property insurance peers on advertising in 2011, both on an absolute basis and as a percentage of the business the company wrote, according to a new study released on Friday.
Data provider SNL Financial found GEICO had spent about $994 million on advertising in 2011. That was fully 22 percent more than next-largest spender State Farm, even though State Farm's ad spending grew at nearly three times the rate GEICO's did.
Anyone who has watched television in the United States even briefly knows the GEICO brand — talking British geckos, erudite cavemen, greasy-haired announcers with mock baritones, all of them essentially running gags used to get the company's name to stick in peoples' heads.
Buffett likes to say the Berkshire Hathaway unit can spend so aggressively because it keeps expenses low and can therefore advertise more to increase market share. The data showed, though, just how much more aggressive GEICO is willing to be.
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