The campaign centres on Aleksandr Orlov, a wealthy Russian meerkat who runs a successful meerkat comparison website, comparethemeerkat.com. However, recently his site has been plagued by people mistaking it for insurance comparison site, comparethemarket.com.Aleksandr launched a multi-faceted advertising campaign aimed at clearing up the confusion between the two sites. TV, radio, digital and social media were all used to give an insight into Aleksandr’s business problem and world, deepening engagement with the character and ultimately driving people to comparethemarket.com.

The campaign launched with TV and radio executions which explained Aleksandr’s business problem and provided people with a glimpse into his world. Both TV and radio drove consumers to Aleksandr’s website, comparethemeerkat.com, where they could actually compare meerkats. People who were looking for cheap car insurance were helpfully redirected to comparethemarket.com. As Aleksandr’s fame and popularity grew, the site was updated to included downloadable ringtones, wallpapers, a news feed and character background.

Beyond this, consumers could engage with the Aleksandr through his Twitter feed and Facebook page. Social media gave Aleksandr the chance to respond directly to questions about his life, family and business.

Website traffic:•Over 9.7 million visits to comparethemeerkat.com •Average time spent on site 2.48 minutes •Videos have been viewed over 3 million times •comparethemarket.com has seen a 100% uplift in visits since the campaign launch ROI:•Market share tripled •Quote figures have increased by 80% •Cost per quotes have reduced by 73% •comparethemarket.com is now the most recognized brand in the insurance price comparison sector (independent research May 09) Social Media results:•Aleksandr Orlov is the UK’s first Social Media Superstar.

•+710,000 fans on Facebook (the most popular UK branded fan site, 800k page views, thousands of wall posts, over 1000 UGC photos and hundreds of discussion topics) •More Fans than Cheryl Cole and Lilly Allen combined •+32,000 followers on Twitter (the most successful UK advertising campaign) •More influential on Twitter than Boris Johnson and Hillary Clinton (according to Marketing magazine)