Compare the Market Australia

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]

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

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 States & UK.[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.
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