Compare the Market Australia

Compare the Market Australia
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinance & Insurance
Founded2012
HeadquartersBrisbane, Australia
ProductsHealth Insurance, Car Insurance, Travel Insurance
Websitehttps://www.comparethemarket.com.au/

Comparethemarket.com.au is an Australian price comparison website operated by Compare the Market Pty Ltd, part of Innovation Holdings Australia Pty Ltd and BHL Holdings Limited. It offers a service for customers to compare a range of general insurance, health insurance, life insurance, energy and personal finance products.[1]

The company is well known for its ‘Compare the Meerkat’ marketing campaign[2] created by communications agency VCCP[3] and starring CGI Russian billionaire meerkat Aleksandr Orlov, voiced by Simon Greenall.[4]

History in Australia

Comparethemarket.com.au was launched in Australia in 2012, six years after the launch of comparethemarket.com in the United Kingdom.[5] Using the comparethemarket.com.au service, Australian customers can compare a number of products based on price, features, and more. These products include health insurance,[6] car insurance,[7] and energy.[8]

In 2015, the company signed a deal to secure Bupa, one of Australia's largest health insurers, as a participating health fund. The deal ensured that Bupa products could be compared on comparethemarket.com.au, alongside products from health funds like ahm (owned by Medibank) and HBF Health Fund.[9]

Comparethemarket.com.au was the first commercial comparison website in Australia to disclose the amount of commission it receives from participating health funds. As of 2016, the standardised flat fee equated to a net present value of 27.75 percent of the first-year premium of the health insurance product sold by the company.[10]

Comparethemarket.com.au continues to compete against other comparison services in Australia, like iSelect and Choosi.[11]

Meerkat campaign

Compare the Market is perhaps best known for its marketing campaigns featuring meerkat characters Aleksandr Orlov and his Head of IT, Sergei.[12] The meerkat advertisements started with Aleksandr Orlov's mission to clear the confusion up for Australians who mistook his website comparethemeerkat.com.au for comparethemarket.com.au.[13]

The same marketing campaign was launched years earlier in the United Kingdom for comparethemarket.com, which ended up topping a Nielsen consumer poll to be dubbed “UK’s most loved ad”.[14] As of 2017, the UK business continues to use these characters in their own marketing.[15]

Another meerkat character, Baby Oleg, was introduced in August 2015.[16] The storyline continued with Aleksandr Orlov buying the Compare the Market business, and introduced a human character named Tom.[17] In 2017, the company launched a limited run of meerkat toys for their health insurance customers.[18][19]

Aleksandr's catchphrase, “simples”, is so well known that it can be found in both the Macmillan English dictionary,[20] as well as the Oxford English Dictionary.[21]

References

  1. ^ Bird, Jodi (19 August 2014). "Insurance comparison sites". Choice. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  2. ^ Canning, Simon (9 December 2015). "Pitch Watch: Foxtel's new roster; Compare the Market; Menulog; Procter & Gamble". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. ^ "VCCP". advertising.nsw.gov.au. NSW Strategic Communications, Department of Premier and Cabinet. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  4. ^ Burrowes, Tim (1 July 2013). "Compare The Market introduces the meerkat". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  5. ^ "BGL eyes London float for Compare The Market". insurancenews.com.au. McMullan Conway Communications Pty Ltd. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  6. ^ Ice, Ben (9 February 2017). "After huge UK sales, Compare The Market meerkat toys come to Australia". Marketingmag.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  7. ^ Rolfe, John (1 November 2016). "Compare the Market mainly compares insurance offered by its parent company". News.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  8. ^ Han, Esther (20 September 2016). "IPART says NSW electricity market 'working well' as it urges customers to switch". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  9. ^ Liew, Ruth; Binsted, Tim (1 October 2015). "Compare The Market signs Bupa deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  10. ^ Liew, Ruth; Binsted, Tim (1 October 2015). "Compare The Market signs Bupa deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  11. ^ Bird, Jodi (19 August 2014). "Insurance comparison sites". Choice. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  12. ^ Hayes, Alex (17 February 2015). "Compare the Market creates first local meerkat campaign with 'Mission Impawsible'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  13. ^ Ward, Miranda (11 August 2014). "Compare the Market tells the story of how Aleksandr Olrov's ancestors came to Russia in new cinema campaign". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Comparison site launching meerkat assault on Sunday". B&T Magazine. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  15. ^ Hickman, Martin (4 April 2012). "The 'Simples!' idea that became a £10m empire". The Independent. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  16. ^ Ward, Miranda (8 December 2015). "Ad wrap: Compare the Market does Christmas; plus ING Direct, Nimble, Bulla and Woolworths". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Case Report, Number 0119/16". Advertising Standards Board. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  18. ^ McGuire, Neneh (13 February 2017). "Meerkat Celebrities Aleksandr And Sergei Make Their Way Down Under". B&T Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  19. ^ Samios, Zoe (10 February 2017). "Compare the Market's Aleksandr the Meerkat and Sergei arrive as toys in Australia". Mumbrella. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  20. ^ Biddiscombe, Ross (20 February 2010). "Meerkat mission: campaign that broke the online ad barrier". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  21. ^ McGuire, Neneh (13 February 2017). "Meerkat Celebrities Aleksandr And Sergei Make Their Way Down Under". B&T Magazine. Retrieved 6 March 2017.