Geico's chief marketing officer doesn't need anyone to learn who the gecko is. She needs them to think of Geico when they insure a house, a boat or a small business.

"Everybody loves the gecko," Arianna Orpello told Fortune. "It doesn't matter if they're 10 or 80." She compared the character's recognition and likability to Mickey Mouse's and called the advertising intellectual property an asset "most marketers would kill to have."

The Gecko Has Household Fame. Geico’s CMO Needs Him Selling Homes, Boats and More

Auto insurance remains the foundation and vast majority of Geico's business, and lines like "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance" are embedded in American culture. "We definitely don't have an auto insurance awareness problem," said Orpello, who joined Geico in January and was most recently chief brand officer at Goldman Sachs. "We do have an additional product line awareness problem."

Her plan is to keep the gecko's broad reach while using data to spot when a customer may be about to shop and what else they might need. Orpello said nearly 60% of consumers shop for auto insurance within 12 months, so Geico is watching signals such as visits to product and cancellation pages, customer calls and poor service experiences. It is also matching products to customers' life stage, location and assets.