comparethemarket.com shortlisted in British Insurance Awards

comparethemarket.com has reached the finals of the British Insurance Awards 2009 with its unique Meerkat campaign.

The price comparison website, operated by the BGL Group, has been shortlisted in the Marketing Initiative of the Year category for its innovative campaign featuring Aleksandr the Russian Meerkat which has attracted unprecedented response from consumers and the media alike.

The TV campaign featuring Aleksandr, the aristocratic meerkat and founder of comparethemeerkat.com, launched in January 2009. The campaign centres on his frustration that people keep coming to his site looking for cheaper car insurance, not meerkats!

Today, Aleksandr has more than 400,000 fans on Facebook and 14,000 followers on Twitter. The comparethemeerkat website - which does indeed allow visitors to compare meerkats has had more than 3.6 million hits; comparethemarket.com is currently ranked as the 7th most visited insurance website in the UK - up from 16th in January 2008; and overall sales have more than doubled year on year.

Aleksandr and the team at comparethemarket.com are now anxiously awaiting the outcome of the finals of the British Insurance Awards to be held in London in July 2009.