HOW THE ADS RATED HOW THE ADS RATED Ad Track: A weekly look at how much consumers like a major advertising campaign compared with other ads rated by this poll - and how effective they think the ads are in helping to sell the product. Today's ad: Geico Like the ads a lot All respondents 24% Ad Track survey average 21% Among key target groups Male respondents 24% Female respondents 25% Dislike the ads All respondents 16% Ad Track survey average 13% Think they are very effective All respondents 18% Ad Track survey average 20% Based on a nationwide poll of 1,640 adults who had seen the ads. Poll conducted June 7-13; margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Overall average based on 506 ads. To subscribe to Harris Ad Research Service, contact David Krane of Harris Interactive at 212-539-9648 or at dkrane@harrisinteractive.com .

Click here for previous Ad Tracks . Gecko wasn't first choice for Geico NEW YORK  Geico's marketing guru will be the first to tell you that ads with a talking gecko lizard weren't his top choice for the fast-growing auto insurance company. Ted Ward, vice president for marketing, has had many different campaign themes to choose from in the 12 years that Berkshire Hathaway-owned Geico has worked at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va. In that time, they've created more than 100 TV commercials. Recent ones include "Tiny House," a reality TV spoof about a couple forced to live in cramped quarters. A second campaign has featured cavemen offended by an ad that says calling Geico for a quote is so simple that even a caveman can do it. Ads in a third campaign appear to be ads for other products — such as exercise equipment or hair-growth remedies — until a character announces that he or she just saved a bundle on car insurance by calling Geico. But since 2000 — when the computer-generated talking gecko first appeared in Geico ads during the Screen Actors Guild strike that ruled out live actors — the charming reptile with an English accent has won over Ward with sales. "It was not my favorite campaign, personally," says Ward. "I quickly became much more fond of him as we sold more policies. I'm a big fan of anything that makes our phone ring or website click. He really has helped us brandwise." Since 2002, Geico has added about 2 million policies, bringing its total at the end of the first quarter to about 7 million. That makes Geico one of the fastest-growing auto insurance brands, according to insurance ranker A.M. Best. In the gecko's first TV ad appearance, he pleaded at a press conference for consumers to stop calling him — because he's a gecko, not Geico. Two years later, the lizard auditioned for a role as the company spokesman by competing against actors — and the former Taco Bell Chihuahua. Now that the gecko has taken the lead in Geico advertising, however, he's had a subtle makeover. At the start of this year, The Martin Agency gave him bigger, more-expressive eyes, more humanlike movements, a shorter body and a slight heft to his shoulders. His voice is now provided by one announcer who speaks with a more common English accent vs. a rotation of three actors who spoke using more upper-class English. "As (computer animation) got better and as we got to know the character better, we did a few things," says Steve Bassett, creative director at The Martin Agency. "We wanted to make him a little more guy-next-door. And he looks a lot more real than he's looked before." In new ads, he appears as a guest on a talk show and an interview program, and he talks with a fellow gecko in a tree. In each ad, he chats about being the spokesman and saving people money. The new-and-improved gecko is a success with consumers surveyed by Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly poll. Of those familiar with the ads 24% like the ads "a lot" vs. the average of 21%. What Bassett likes best about the character is his strong tie to the brand name. "I guess what I like most is that gecko equals Geico," he says. "It ... allows you to connect better than saying, 'Hey, this is a commercial for insurance.' You're already 70% there when he's on the screen." Enlarge Geico?s gecko tells a talk show host that people trust advertising icons.