Compare the Market
The pinnacle of insurance comparison advertising, they have amusing, well-produced adverts featuring a meerkat upset by people confusing the words "market" and "meerkat" and accidentally alighting on his dating site "compare the meerkat.com". These adverts are copied from American commercials for GEICO, an insurance company, which for 10 years have featured a gecko in a similar case of confusion. Despite this lack of originality, the quality of the meerkat adverts is striking, particularly a recent recreation of the "Battle of Fearlessness" in which the meerkats were driven out of their homeland. The animals have become cult favourites, with rumours of lead meerkat Aleksandr Orlov releasing a single and a range of merchandise on sale.
Ad quality 9/10 (gorgeous production values, humour, cute fake animals)
Ad memorability 9/10 (see above)
Useful information about product 2/10 (they compare something?)
Spin-off potential 9/10 (only docked a point for the failure of Orlov's pop career)
Total 29/40
Go Compare
One of the best ways to get a new business's name in the costomers' mind is to be as annoying as possible. This is certainly the case of the Go Compare jingle, which features Welsh tenor Wynne Evans playing faux-Italian opera singer Gio Compario, who pops up in strange situations with his enormous fake moustache to sing his "Go Compare" song extolling the virtues of the insurance company. In some way, this recalls woman-only insurance company Sheila's Wheels which hit the scene a few years ago with a memorable song performed by three 60s-style singers in pink dresses. It is uncertain whether Evans will follow the Sheilas into a failed pop career with Pete Waterman. He has played Alfredo in La Boheme for ENO and many other roles for different companies, while frequently singing before Welsh rugby games (much as Russell Watson has done for England), so unless there is a severe reaction against his ad appearances, his career seems assured.
Ad quality 5/10 (well-made, just intensely annoying)
Ad memorability 10/10 (Go compare! Go Compare!)
Useful information about product 3/10 (They do put the words of the song on-screen so you can read about the cheaper insurance)
Spin-off potential 4/10 (good for Evans, but unlikely to see the character go on)
Total 22/40
Money Supermarket
The other most striking advertiser in the past year is moneysupermarket.com. They have enlisted Anglo-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili, a rising star of British television, to give an ethnically stereotyped performance of a middle-easterner skilled at haggling. In the adverts he berates members of the public for accepting overpriced insurance quotes and tells them if they're not prepared to bargain the price down, they should get to his website. The ads are cheaper and less impressive than Compare the Market or Go Compare but have a more coherent message.
Ad quality 3/10 (a certain cheapness, dependence on stereotypes, Djalili confuses shouting a lot for being funny)
Ad memorability 4/10 (fat bloke shouting is not original and the product name isn't really integrated)
Useful information about product 3/10 (they save you money, right?)
Spin-off potential 7/10 (possibly some kind of consumer show for Omid?)
Total 17/40
Confused.com
The most established company in the insurance comparison market is also the one to promote itself on the quality of its product rather than its wackiness; its ads feature members of the public enthusing about the ease of use of its website, which apparently allows you to easily customise your search. Competitors offer similar products, but Confused.com is the only one to rely on a low-key explanation of its merits. On the other hand, its name is rather more memorable than the others.
Ad quality 3/10 (talking heads are the last refuge of the desperate "creative")
Ad memorability 5/10 (apparently lots of people like Confused.com - some might even look like your annoying colleague or neighbour)
Useful information about product 6/10 (it actually shows the webpage and explains how you can select things)
Spin-off potential 1/10 (maybe they'll find a future cult star, like that guy from the mobile phone advert who wanted to start a band)
Total 15/40
uSwitch
This brand initially started with comparisons of gas and electricity suppliers at a time when the energy market was becoming increasingly competitive and fragmented. As another old player, they also offer a less in-your-face experience. The latest round of commercials feature a man and a woman in smart-casual fashions stepping into a computer screen to see what is on offer; it may be inspired by the Matrix, but not in a sexy or violent way. It will be interesting to see whether uSwitch, as a long-time player, can hold on to their market share.
Ad quality 3/10 (bland)
Ad memorability 4/10 (bland)
Useful information about product 4/10 (you can compare prices apparently!)
Spin-off potential 2/10 (the couple could be trapped inside their PC in some kind of Tron/Matrix thing, with added romantic comedy potential, but it's unlikely)
Total 13/40
The winner, unsurprisingly, is the meerkat.
All these companies have a similar business model; they act like insurance brokers or financial advisors in a bygone age, pointing people towards a policy and taking commission. It's worth noting that some insurance companies are refusing to appear on price comparison websites. The reason is not clear; it may be that for a large brand it is cheaper to appeal directly rather than pay commission, or it may be because they don't want their prices compared (Ryanair took legal action to prevent their prices appearing on price comparison websites, not to save their commission but perhaps because once you add on their additional fees their product is far less competitive than the headline price they themselves quote).
Insurance companies Aviva and Direct Line each boast of cutting out the middle-man in their commercials. Aviva have amusing ads starring comic actor Paul Whitehouse (The Fast Show) in a variety of heavily disguised roles. Direct Line have loud and annoying commercials featuring the voices of Stephen Fry and Paul Merton. Fry in particular has appeared in a series of terrible commercials (previously for Twinings) but perhaps his pursuit of a quick buck is supposed to subliminally encourage the audience to pursue the best deal.
But which is the best comparison service? Consumer ratings site dooyou.co.uk gives Confused.com 5/5 on a large number of reviews. Based on a far smaller number of reviews, Go Compare.com and uSwitch get 5/5, Money Supermarket 4/5, and Compare the Market 3/5. With many of these sites there is bias due to people being more likely to report bad esperiences, and alternative site reviewcentre.com gives almost everyone poor reviews, with Go Compare coming out best.
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