Compare the Meerkat - Differentiating Price Comparison

Insurance and insurance price comparison websites are not the most exciting of things, and to the consumer seem much of a muchness. Something about markets, comparing, that'll do. Loyalty even when consumers search for specific brand terms goes out of the window once the plethora of search results, with various claims to 'save you this much' and 'compare this many prices' fighting for your attention.



Confused.com tried to play on this with their very name, but are stuck with it now and it's not ideal in this sort of fickle market, but how do Go Compare, Money Supermarket and CompareTheMarket differentiate themselves in real terms and show the ultimate value of the copious amounts they spend on TV advertising?

Go completely left field seems to be the answer, and CompareTheMarket have done just that. VCCP have created a superb idea, fleshed out across channels by the media planning and buying of Zed Media, based on confusion over the brand name that, to coin a phrase, really jumps the shark.

Here's Compare The Meerkat's Aleksandr Orlov, a meerkat, naturally, to explain.



Confused? Of course you aren't, it is, as the meerkat says, 'Simples'. It doesn't just stop at a clever idea, either. Comparethemeerkat.com carries the theme on, with the home page mirroring the comparethemarket.com homepage but, obviously, comparing meerkats rather than helping you save money on your car insurance.



The Compare the Meerkat site actually allows you to compare meerkats, obviously, which is as random as it sounds. I found a small helicopter enthusiast in London, of course.



It's all voiced over by the Borat-a-like Aleksandr, who seems, if social media sites are anything to go by, to have captured the imagination already.



Aleksandr, as a sociable meerkat, has put himself about. There's a Facebook profile, already over the 2,000 friend mark, a Facebook fan page, a Twitter profile and a You Tube channel. All the bases are covered and the presence seems pretty consistent to my eye.

Amelia Torode and Funkadelic Advertising were quick off the mark today, as was Tom Langdon's excellently-titled Awful Handwriting, and the majority of respondents have been overwhelmingly positive.

I suppose the ultimate success won't be in terms of favourable Facebook posts, but increased brand distinction and share of voice, but the indications are that it's making the right first impressions.