The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2009–2013
Compare the Meerkat: a cartoon Russian meerkat lifts an insurance site into the top three
VCCP invented Aleksandr Orlov for a price-comparison site; visits rose from 50,000 to 2 million monthly, profits up 16%.
comparethemarket.com (BGL Group) · VCCP
What it had to solve
UK comparison sites competed on price and little else; comparethemarket.com was a mid-pack insurance site in 2008, with nothing people remembered or shared.
How it works
In 2008 UK insurance comparison was a commodity: sites offered the same quote engines, and comparethemarket.com was a mid-pack insurance comparison site with little to make people choose it or remember it. Agency VCCP was asked to make the brand itself — not the price — something people chose.
Its answer, launched in TV spots in January 2009, was Aleksandr Orlov: a CGI Russian meerkat, voiced by Simon Greenall, whose fake site comparethemeerkat.com keeps being confused with the real one. Orlov's fury at the mix-up — climaxing in his catchphrase 'simples' — made the real brand's name the joke, and the character the reason to watch.
The results were measurable, reported by The Independent in October 2010: monthly visits had risen from about 50,000 three years earlier to more than 2 million, the site was among the top three comparison sites with a 25% market share, and a 16% profit jump (up £9.92m) was 'largely driven' by Compare the Market's growth. Even Orlov's £9.99 memoir outsold Tony Blair's on Amazon pre-orders.
Why it lands
- The joke was structural: the fictional meerkat's outrage over name confusion made the real site's name the punchline, so the advertising itself did the remembering.
- Comedy gave an insurance utility repeat-viewing value — people watched for the character, not the offer, which is exactly what a commodity category cannot buy.
- The franchise (companion site, book, merchandise, apps) stretched one idea across media, turning campaign spend into an owned brand universe instead of a one-off film.
- The results were tangible in traffic, share and profit, proving humor could carry even the dullest category when the character carried the brand.
What it did
By October 2010 visits had climbed from about 50,000 a month in 2007 to more than 2 million, lifting comparethemarket.com into the top three comparison sites with a 25% market share; in June 2010 the group announced a 16% profit rise (up £9.92m) that it said was 'largely driven' by Compare the Market's growth. The meerkat's £9.99 memoir earned more Amazon pre-orders than Tony Blair's 'A Journey'.
What you can take
Make the character the difference in a commodity category; a fictional personality drives likeness and repeat visits beyond price promotions.
Since then
Aleksandr became one of the UK's most famous advertising characters of the 2010s and the campaign ran for years as Compare the Market's signature device, with new films and family members joining the meerkats. The fictional name still lives on: comparethemeerkat.com today redirects to the brand's meerkat page at comparethemarket.com, keeping the joke working more than a decade after the first spot.
Sources
- The 'Simples!' idea that became a £10m empire
- Compare the memoir: insurance meerkat's life story on sale
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