Compare the Market's New Adverts

I like Robert Webb. He's not David Mitchell, which is an unfortunate shame, but then it's an unfortunate shame that more people aren't David Mitchell. Arguably, I'd be a lot happier if most people were David Mitchell, because I like him. But this isn't about David Mitchell, it's about Robert Webb (although one can't help but think of David Mitchell when discussing Robert Webb, even though it isn't the case vice versa), and the new Compare the Market adverts, which are interestingly deviating away from their hugely successful meerkat hijinks.

Compare the Market has had phenomenal success with their Compare the Meerkat adverts- a campaign which pushed the challenger brand from the 16th most visited insurance website in 2008 to the 4th most visited by the end of the year, and turned sucking your gums to make a squeak noise nearly entirely socially acceptable (nearly). By 2010 the site had increased their market share by 76% and Aleksandr Orlov, the meerkat brand ambassador, achieved celebrity status himself with 700,000 fans on Facebook and 22,000 followers on twitter. Indeed, Aleksandr's incredible popularity was such that his 'autobiography' sold more than Tony Blair's memoirs and his cuddly toy range was one of the most desirable toys of 2011. Tony Blair, of course, didn't release a cuddly toy of himself, although initial polls revealed a 'Care Blair' may have done quite well as a novelty item.

Don't even try and look at him without thinking of that 'squeak'...

What this all means is that the meerkat campaign- Compare the Meerkat- became almost inseparable from the Compare the Market name and brand. This was the springboard for the company to achieve and consolidate a considerable nationwide mindshare in insurance; such was the strength of the brand that even London Zoo found its meerkat adoption programme increase in popularity. It wouldn't be hard to argue that meerkats, for the UK consumer, have become almost inseparable from Aleksandr and the Compare the Meerkat adverts. Boom; a fantastic place to be for a challenger brand! So- why stop now with the new Robert Webb advert?

In my opinion this could be to do with the pet outgrowing the master: is Compare the Meerkat so big now that its relationship with Compare the Market has lost its synergy? Is Compare the Market benefitting anymore from the strength of Aleksandr's own brand? Bringing the brand back to Compare the Market's core business objectives and away from the Compare the Meerkat gimmick seems to be the focus of the current strategy- outlined by Webb in their first advert "They're different words. You see? They contain different letters, which are pronounced differently! Different words!" Having now consolidated their position as one of the big names, it's entirely fair to witness a gentle 'shrugging-off' of the former identity; importantly 'shrugging-off' as opposed to 'ditching' as Compare the Market is still largely supported by and associated with the meerkat brand- to sever all ties with the previous campaign too suddenly could well jeopardise the work done in propagating the mindshare. It's certainly not inappropriate to suggest that it's the meerkats that the consumer adore, not the company itself; is it therefore a case of weaning the consumer off their meerkat dependency?

Robert Webb [notably not David Mitchell] as Maurice Wigglethorpe-Throom

I for one welcome the new take on the format- restructuring Compare the Market's brand strategy into one more focused on the original brand is a sound long-term decision with short-term complications. I hope that Maurice Wigglethorpe-Throom's relationship with his dour butler Spencer will develop and grow and that Compare the Market's dependency on the meerkat gimmick will be gently decreased. Until they get David Mitchell, anyway.