No one can ever really say for certain what's going to be a huge hit. For example, I watched the Packers/Falcons game last night... Football fans will recall how Aaron Rogers, a rumored top 5 NFL draft pick in 2005, ended up being selected 24th that year... and look where he is today.
Geico produces a lot of marketing material. Sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't. They make lots of "small bets" until something gets a lot of traction. Burger King did this the last several years and Taco Bell found a long running character among a collection of random TV spots produced in the mid 90s.
These successes are surrounded by things that were not successes. But no one really dwells on those very long. We enjoy the hits. We see this mentality with many tech companies, too. They release lots of stuff, seeing what takes. And when something doesn't work they don't seem too bothered.
I think it's important to note that many companies don't have this luxury. Either financially or logistically. That's important to keep in mind when studying the portfolio and work style of mass production brands.
Anyway, I think we'll be seeing more of these characters from Martin and Geico.