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T0 WHAT EXTENT DOES MOULDING BRANDVALUES INTO A MEMORABLE CHARACTERHELP TOWARDS THE INCREASE OF A BRAND’SAWARENESS IN THE DIGITAL AGE; WITHCLOSE REFERENCE TO THE COMPARE THEMARKET CAMPAIGN AND OTHER BRITISHPRICE COMPARISON SITES.

By Frances O’Brien

Student number:

200419538

The School of Design,

University of Leeds,

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Art and Design

31/03/2011

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Contents:1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………...........……2

2. Literature Review………………………………………………………………………...4

2.1 Chapter 1: Branding…………………………………………………………….4

2.1.1 The History of Branding…………………………………………....4

2.1.2 What is the Role of a Brand?.............................................................5

2.1.3 The Changing Audience…………………………………………….7

2.1.4 The Changing Environment………………………………………...9

3. Chapter 2: Characters……………………………………………………………………13

3.1The History of Characters……………………………………………………....13

3.2 Characters in Price Comparison Sites……………………………………….…15

3.3 Celebrity Endorsements………………………………………………………..18

4. Chapter 3: Methodology…………………………………………………….......……....19

5. Chapter 4: Results and Discussion……………………………………………………....21

5.1 Brand Metrics…………………………………………………………………………..21

5.2 Brand Associations within the Name…………………………………………………..22

5.3 The Marketing Strategy of Compare the Market………………………………………25

5.4 The Competition………………………………………………………………………..27

5.5 The Human Characteristics……………………………………………………………..31

5.6 The Accent and Tone of voice……………………………………………………….....33

5.7 The Humour………………………………………………………………………….....36

6. Chapter 5: The Conclusion…………………………………………………………….....38

7. The Bibliography................................................................................................................41

8. The Appendix.....................................................................................................................47

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The Introduction

The use of characters in advertising have been around for decades, however new technology

and marketing trends have affected the way they are used to sell products and services.

Characters used to be quite limited and synonymous in approach where they lacked a proper

engagement with customers, appearing primarily in printed form. With the advancement of

technology, particularly in computer animation, characters are now able to form more of a

unique identity and personality. Traditionally, characters were used in above the line

advertising but in the digital age, there is now so much pressure to compete making it vital to

promote them through a wide variety of channels at more of a personal level in order to

survive (Costa, 2010).

The recession has led to a widespread societal change in terms of purchasing behaviour (DDB, 2009).

This has resulted in an increased desire for customers to seek “real” connections with brands and so

characters are proving to be successful brand ambassadors (Costa, 2010). Furthermore, the recent

revival of the animated film industry, which was once rooted on children’s entertainment, is

now targeted at all age groups and has thus created a great appreciation for characters

(Calcott, 1994). With the widespread respect for characters today and the vast improvements

in technology, they are now seen as incredibly powerful marketing tools as they have the

ability to create memorable brand associations and form strong relationships with customers.

Chapter one will access the changing environment, which has directly affected customer

needs and it will also look into the developments of branding throughout history up to its role

today.

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The creation of brand awareness is vital in the early stages of advertising in order to

differentiate itself from the competition. It can play a dominant role in purchasing decisions

as the more aware consumers are of your brand, the more likely they are to buy from you.

The changes in the environment and the audience as well as technological advancements

have resulted in a highly competitive environment. This has also changed the expectations of

people as to what brands should be offering and therefore the concept of the brand experience

has been introduced. This concept engages people more through the senses and helps

competing brands stand out from one another. In the digital age, differentiation seems to

come from the on-demand digital services they deliver to your customers rather than the

actual products they are selling. Products are now transforming into services just so that they

can stand out from the competition (Mathieson, 2010).

The greatest use of brand characters largely comes from highly commoditised sectors such as

insurance, food and utilities. The top four British price comparison sites, Compare the

Market, Go Compare, Money Supermarket and Confused, all contain characters. Such sites

used to promote their services in conventional ways where they stated how much money a

customer could save. The price comparison market is now extremely competitive and so

companies have realised that it is necessary to compete on more than just price and volume

where they must create something memorable in order to connect emotionally with

consumers (Dolak, 2005). Purchasing is an emotional decision making process so if a

character evoking an endearing quality is created, the brand will have an advantage over

rivals. Chapter two will deal with the history of characters so comparisons can be made

between the past and present. The focus will move onto characters in price comparison sites

where it will involve looking at what they have done in the past and then chapter four will

access what they must now do in order to compete.

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Branding

The History of Branding

The history of branding can be traced back many centuries ago during Greek and Roman

times, long before the term was actually established. Messages would be written informing

the public of the local trade (Murphy, 1987). However, this system of marking by hand, made

it difficult to attach meaning or add values to goods.

Modern branding and the use of individual brand names have its origin in the nineteenth

century. The Industrial revolution and the consequent development of advertising and

marketing techniques as well as innovations in production, printing and packaging made the

mass branding of goods possible and available for consumers to buy (Moor, 2007). However,

these products and services were produced on such a large scale that they catered for a

national market with a common use of iconic national imagery, rather than by targeting a

select few (Moor, 2007). They were also mainly targeted at women in general who tended to

stay at home whilst the husband worked and was therefore in charge of buying household

products (Dotz, 2003).

The dramatic transformation of brands came in 1967 when Corporate Identity was introduced

by Henrion and Parkin who published Design Coordination and Public image (Moor, 2007).

Corporate Identity consisted of creating a unique identity of an organisation so that its

strategy, structure and vision were all visible. As globalisation became more dominant there

was a rise in multinational corporations, which meant that the national corporations could no

longer function properly. Therefore the use of the corporate identity strategy was

implemented, which is now an important practice used today. It is becoming even more

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popular as products and services are becoming harder to differentiate, which means that

consumers make purchases on emotional rather than rational grounds (Olins, 1994). It used to

be possible to choose between competing products and services on the basis of price, quality

or service. Today this is not the case as there is no real difference between the products and

services of the leading organisations within the market, especially within the field of

insurance. Therefore emotional factors are playing important roles in achieving that

differentiation and that is why companies are increasingly investing in corporate branding

structures. All organisations have an identity but it is the management of it that sets apart

successful brands from one another.

What is the role of a brand?

Brands prevent products from simply becoming a commodity so that they can add value to

their products (Murphy, 1987). Their main function is to attract the customer’s attention and

then retain their loyalty thereafter. The challenge for all brands is that they have a distinct,

clear image that matters to customers and truly differentiates them from the rest (Aaker,

1996). In order to accomplish this, they must be memorable, communicate something about

the product and be linked to a visual image (Ries, 1995). They must also adapt to the

changing environment and needs of the audience as Davidson states,

‘A brand is a constantly changing mental inventory inside the customer’s mind.’ (Cocoran,

2007, p. 27)

In recent times, dramatic changes to branding have taken place where their role has

completely altered. Branding now plays a part in everyday life in Western societies and it

affects more sectors than ever before as the competition in the markets increase at such a

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dramatic rate. It has moved from the periphery to the centre of corporate concern where there

has been greater investment on it. (Olins, 2008) It no longer just applies to businesses alone;

it has evolved so much that it is now commonly used in non-commercial organizations as

well as individuals and places that want to ‘rebrand’ themselves. (Davis, 2009) Branding is

set to expand even further as globalisation continues to introduce western brands to

developing countries, resulting in new markets and therefore offering huge potential. With

the increase of new technologies being introduced all over the world, branding and brand

awareness is spreading like never before. Wally Olins has written several books on brands,

continuously highlighting their impact on society today:

‘The brand has become such a significant phenomenon of our time that it is almost

impossible to express any ideas, or even delineate personalities, without branding them.’

(Olins, 2003, p.23)

Brands clearly play such a dominant role in our lives where they represent more than just the

development of a memorable name, a logo and a slogan but instead must combine effectively

to create a differentiated personality. They now seem to show even more importance than the

products and services they sell. The digital age has made brands strive to contain all the latest

media channels and social networking sites without showing much relevance to what is

actually being sold and in some cases the quality of the product. Their main role today seems

to be more about being memorable and creating as much brand exposure possible.

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The changing audience

Consumers seem to have more control over brands than ever before so much so that they are

developing the brand more than the marketers themselves. According to a recent IPA Future

Foundation report, social networking has had such a huge impact that it is transforming

society. The report stated how it is turning the tables on convention and putting the consumer

in control (Mitchell, 2009). Customer demands have changed where their needs are no longer

part of a mass audience but are centred on a real empathy. Hoffman’s research involves

elevating a brand’s functionality to a more emotional one where she states,

‘Brands are inherently emotional things. A brand is not owned by the people whom

manufacture it, it’s owned by the people who think about it. The customers. It’s the

responsibility of brand managers to tap into some essential human need that a certain group

of consumers think about and share.’ (Adamson, 2009, p.62)

This statement is accurate as consumers are more likely to engage in a brand that offers a

personal element that they can relate to. The editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, Chris

Anderson, backs this up by suggesting that business growth comes from creating niches

rather than the mass market as he states:

“"They satisfy narrow interests better, and in one aspect of our life or another we all have

some narrow interest." (Duff, 2011)

Therefore, adding a personal element is clearly an important part of forging stronger

relationships with customers.

The theme of emotion in branding is examined throughout the book, Passion Branding where

Duffy talks about today’s society as ‘the passion economy.’ In her words, this consists of:

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‘An economy where brands on their own are no longer enough, where consumers demand

that they be treated like people and that marketers respond to both their customers’ emotional

and functional needs.’ (Duffy, 2003, p.6)

So she is saying that it is crucial to find out more about your consumers so that you can

discover their needs and from them on treat them with respect by engaging with them

regularly. Duffy brings up the point of how everyone is trying to build a brand and the way in

which to differentiate your products and services is to engage more with customers, creating

stronger connections. Ravi Naidoo, Managing director of Interactive Africa blames this

sudden popularity of brands on the digital age,

‘We seem to live in an age of super parity-similar products being overlaid by similar

marketing campaigns...With the pervasive reach of media, most marketers read the same

articles and start to sound alike...it needs to be more human, more visceral, more authentic.’

(Duffy, 2003, p.13)

In order to make it more personal, marketers need to think of more ways to engage with

customers. Peter Dene from Churchill believes a character can do just that;

“In such a crowded, competitive market a character can create pure brand salience.” (Costa,

2010).

However, Bryan Urbick, director of research consultancy the Consumer Knowledge Centre

(CKC) stresses the importance of the brand’s management,

“Any brand can create a character, but it depends on how it is executed.” (Costa, 2010)

Therefore the character’s management is of utmost importance as well as getting to know

your audience so that the character can engage to its full potential.

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Simultaneously, marketers have never had as much control over customers until now where

they are being invited into the public’s lives by making personal information available and

easily accessible online. Marketers have access to real time information such as buying habits

and other related personal information. They also have easy access to customers’ thoughts

and actions, whether they are posted on blogs, on corporate websites, review boards or on the

walls of social networking sites. Customers can also directly engage on a one to one level

such as where brands have the opportunity to communicate with consumers through tweets,

participate in review sites and comment on blogs (Adamson, 2008). The digital space is also

a way of keeping the conversation ongoing and so it is a useful way of keeping customers

engaged over a long period of time. This interactivity on the web has overall resulted in a

deeper understanding of consumers, their interests, needs and desires and therefore even

closer relationships can be formed. The better quality the insights are, the more chances there

are of meeting customer demands.

The changing environment

Technological advances have resulted in a change to human activities. Digital media

consumption has not yet overtaken television as the most effective way of reaching large

audiences in a short period of time, however it is certain that audiences are now spending

more time online in favour of conventional media than in the past (IAB Europe White paper,

2010). Research published in 2010 reveals that a third of television viewers now watch their

favourite programmes online (Hutchinson, 2010). The main reasons for this change has been

a rise in high speed internet connections combined with higher PC ownership, which has

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been made possible by lower prices of new PC hardware. Between 2004 and 2009, the

proportion of those claiming to have broadband at home increased by 48.3%, according to

BMRB. There has also been an increase in the amount of PCs within a single household and

so this allows numerous members to be logged in at the same time (Mintel, 2009). It is vital

for a brand to adapt to social change in order to retain its position in the market and so brands

must compete online whilst still delivering offline. This has dramatically changed the

relationship between a brand and its customer. It has opened up many opportunities for

brands with the most obvious being an easier format of targeting customers, as personal

information is easily accessible. This has also resulted in a change in customer demand where

they now expect more from a brand and seek deeper, more personal connections.

One of the largest societal shifts for brands has been the introduction of social networking

sites, which offer brands new ways of engaging with their audience. The most popular ways

in the UK include corporate Twitter accounts to allow one-to-one interaction with customers

and corporate brand pages on Facebook, allowing brands to share content and news, gather

feedback and build a fan base. With the increased access to high speed Internet, there has

been a direct increase in popularity of social Networking sites and it is now considered an

integral part of people’s everyday lives. These sites are graphically intensive, and would be

slow and difficult to manage without a Broadband connection. At the same time the

permanent online connection makes it possible for more frequent visits to such sites.

Facebook in particular has the highest penetration of UK Internet users, the highest daily rate

of visitors and the greatest number of average visits per user. It now has over 300 million

users globally, according to the company (Mintel, 2009). This system of using social

networking sites is personal, creating exceptional brand exposure and it ensures targeting

where brands only connect with their fans. This viral form of communication can be spread

further and wider than ever before and at a quicker rate online than offline. However online

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and offline brand exposure are just as important as each other as if the two do not connect

well, customers find it difficult to engage in the brand and soon lose interest. Cross media

campaigns dramatically improve branding metrics due to the fact that they are engaged more

intensively with the message. The inclusion of online advertising to compliment a television

advertisement is proven to increase the brand awareness, brand favourability and likelihood

to purchase by 18% more than a television campaign alone (IAB Europe White paper, 2010).

Many of today’s top marketers are already moving beyond the first wave of viral video,

social networking, user-generated content, and mobile marketing campaigns, and are now

thinking outside of the box. They have realised that products are more like services these

days where they are delivered digitally and on demand. In particular Anderson talks about the

younger generation who have grown up in an almost completely digital world and who live a

digital lifestyle, making them an on-demand economy (Adamson, 2009). Traditional media is

becoming less able to reach all audiences and specific target groups such as younger

consumers across the day. Placing more emphasis on digital within the media mix has shown

significant impact on brand metrics and sales (IAB White paper, 2010). However, marketers

need to remember that success is not about understanding technology but its more about

getting to know your customers and then capitalising on that insight across the digital

platforms to best suit your customers. Adamson talks about how it is the idea that drives the

branding rather than the technology stating,

‘When you have a clearly defined brand idea, a strong point of view, the branding

opportunities become intuitive.’ (Adamson, 2009, p.69)

So while it’s important to build a presence beyond what the brand sells and to have as many

relevant media channels as possible, branding today is not about the media; the idea should

be well thought out prior to the marketing channels.

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The recession has also had a major impact on the environment where there has been a

dramatic change in consumer saving and spending where people are more conscious of where

their money goes. Other than seeking good value for money, Datamonitor identified key

issues impacting consumer behaviour in relation to the recession, which included a record

decline in consumer confidence and a lack of trust in financial services institutions (DDB,

2009). Therefore marketers have realised the importance of building trust between their brand

and customer where there is an ever stronger desire to form a real relationship with their

brands. The brand experience will help to regain trust and loyalty, which can be executed

well in the form of a character whereby they can form real relationships, connecting on a

more personable level. Furthermore research from Dotz in the next chapter proves that

customers are more likely to trust the marketers if an endearing character and in particular, an

animal is used. Therefore characters have that ability to relate to customers in a unique way

where the brand is given more acceptance and appeal.

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Characters

The History of characters

Characters have been used in advertising for hundreds of years with the unified aim of

enticing customers into buying their products whilst personifying the brands they represent.

Many brands began small but some managed to create such huge success with the use of

characters that they managed to dominate in their field where the characters have become

famous icons. The first characters to come about were at the start of the twentieth century

when manufacturing inventions and innovations led to efficient mass production and

packaging of consumer products. Significant changes also occurred in the media at the same

time where magazines were introduced and therefore brands began to spread. One of the first

brands to be adopted by a company was in 1920 by Quaker Oats. (Dotz, 2003) The

company’s initial trademark in 1877 was seen as too serious and did not appeal to consumers.

Therefore the character, featuring amiable, plump, and rosy-cheeked man was introduced. It

transformed the brand and has been so successful that the character is still in use today.

As early modern-day advertising became more sophisticated, characters developed even

further where they emphasised their unique selling point in order to compete within the

market. The Michelin man is a particularly good example of highlighting the appeal of

advertising characters in general. The Michelin Brothers introduced it in 1898 where it

contained an anthropomorphic design where a stack of car tires contained human limbs. This

character proved the point that if you give object human features, it instantly becomes more

appealing and it has the ability to acquire a personality, which can enhance that emotional

connection to customers. (Dotz, 2003)

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The advent of radio and television developed characters even more, developing more rounded

personalities and character traits as well as story lines. It was also realised that well known

cartoon characters that were already in use were also a good source of characters to enhance

brands and gained a major marketing advantage over its competitors. This use of already

known characters is still in use today such as the recent Wallace and Grommit campaign,

which promotes npower and the characters demonstrate ways of saving energy in the house in

a humorous way, which people can relate to and in a more enjoyable way.

The Art of the Advertising Character delves into the history of characters used in advertising

and focuses on examples to highlight their success. One in particular was relevant as it

connected to my featured case study of the use of an animal in character branding. In 1941, a

cow was used to promote Borden milk-bottle caps. The cow was further developed so that it

contained human qualities such as a voice, a personality and it stood on two legs instead of

four. The selection of a cow was an obvious association with milk but it contained so much

more in terms of its symbolism. This human quality helped in relating it to motherhood and

fertility as well as the nurturing relationship between humans and animals. Throughout the

book, Dotz backs up his case studies with research. This popular use of animal advertising

characters can be explained by studies that show that the mere presence of animals makes

humans seem more trustworthy. Therefore this theory would also apply to advertising where

customers are more likely to trust the marketers if an animal is used. Dotz’s reaction to this is

also relevant:

‘Perhaps advertising characters appeal to us because they don’t connote the materialism that,

in out cynicism, we often associate with their corporate owners.’ (Dotz, 2003, p.24)

This statement is understandable as people would much rather be entertained than have to

endure a boring advertisement stating the companies values. This use of entertainment as a

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way of enticing customers was seen in the past when characters were commonly to promote

products aimed at children. Particular focus was placed on food advertising with breakfast

cereals, crisps and sweets being some of the most frequent products with branded cartoon

characters. These characters were used to communicate the 'fun' elements of their products to

children without giving information on the taste or nutritional content. UK cartoon characters

have now been banned in television advertisements, which are high in salt, sugar and fat due

to the fact that they brainwash children into buying products. This is similar to the use of

characters in price comparison sites, which are primarily for entertainment reasons and brand

awareness rather than placing emphasis on the services available.

Characters in Price Comparison sites

Price comparison sites were first introduced over ten years ago and they have progressively

become more popular where they are now entering one of the UK’s fastest emerging internet

markets and therefore are now worth more than a billion pounds a year (David, 2008). They

have dramatically increased their traffic in recent times, particularly during the recession

where people are consciously trying to cut back. According to Mintel, more than 24 million

people use one price comparison site each month (Sweney, 2010). Most comparison sites

earn money by charging suppliers a commission for each customer lead and as a result many

of these sites have invested lots of money towards major marketing campaigns in order to

increase brand awareness in the competitive marketplace. This is particularly important due

to the fact that competitors in the price comparison market all offer very similar services with

no presence on the high street. According to Mintel, in 2006, about £35 million was spent on

advertising by price comparison websites with that figure now rising to £85 million (Sweney,

2010). However, price comparison sites rely on visitors coming in from a search engine and

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so in order to survive, they need to focus on the delivery and therefore need to differentiate

themselves from the competition.

Price comparison sites are an example of where brands must go beyond the rational benefits

and think of new ways to engage customers, which is why the use of characters is becoming

more frequent in this market. With little perceived difference, consumers shop for

commodities primarily on a low price basis and so characters are a useful way of creating that

unique selling point. Guy Kemplay, brand strategy director at market research firm TNS

states,

“Increasingly, when there’s very little to choose from between products on the rational side,

emotion simplifies choice and gives that connection to the consumer.” (Roberts, 2010)

For that reason, brands are now seeking more of an emotional connection, which was a

common trait, used in the past. Many top insurance brands used to be structured around a

memorable character with an affectionate personality. An example is the computer-animated

nodding bulldog, Churchill, which was founded in 1989. His famous catchphrase, in response

to those who ask if he can save them money on insurance, is a cheerful "Oh yes," which is

said in a soft northern accent. The comparison site category then developed where its focus

changed to paying more attention to the revolutionary product than creating brand awareness,

as the generic benefit was revolutionary at the time. The advertisements were generally

perceived to be the same with computer screens, cars with stars and price saving claims.

Today price comparison sites have moved far beyond these services where more emphasis is

put on entertaining the public in order to increase its brand awareness. A prime example is

Compare the Market, which was launched in 2006 as a motor insurance price comparison

site, however its success was only made apparent in 2009 when Aleksandr Orlov, the

meerkat, was introduced. The first series of advertisements for Compare the Market were

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introduced in 2007 where they involved displaying a low-cost car insurance with vehicles

falling from the sky and flashing prices. This type of advertising shared around 1,500

television spots a day and so as a result, it became hugely unpopular and none of the

companies stood out. Mark Vile believed in order to differentiate from the competition, it was

essential to introduce a lovable character. The creatives at VVCP developed the meerkat

character for the company, which has become even more important than what it sells. Before

this character was introduced, the company was not well known at all but now it is

considered the fourth most popular UK price comparison site. It ranks behind leader, Money

Supermarket with Confused second and GoCompare third. (Sweney, 2010) The character

consists of an anthropomorphic Russian meerkat where the advertisements focus on his

frustration as people keep on mistaking his website for car insurance because ‘market’ sounds

similar to ‘meerkat’ when spoken in a Russian accent. This character has become so

successful that it has transformed the price comparison market. Adamson states

‘If the character of the brand is so well defined that it becomes real to people, it brings the

branding to life. (Adamson, 2009, P.125)

That is exactly what the meerkat has achieved and is the reason for its success.

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Celebrity Endorsements

Endorser brands provide credibility to brands in the top of their market to help them expand

out into new markets. Endorsements also come in the form of celebrities who become the

face of a particular brand to gain more popularity over customers who want to own the same

product as someone famous.

Today there is a growing reluctance to use celebrities in advertising as their private lives can

affect the brand. George Prest, the executive creative director of Delaney Lund Knox Warren,

warns of the perpetual danger of celebrities becoming the brand. Hamish Pringle, on the other

hand talks about the importance of the selection process where it is crucial to choose a

celebrity that shares the same brand values. Many celebrities have been dropped in recent

years and several brands are now opting for fictional characters or unknown people such as

Morrison’s, the supermarket chain, which has recently opted for ‘real people’ over the use of

celebrities (Tylee, 2010). The use of generic characters over well known people reflects a

new trend in advertising toward using someone unknown or creating a character (Faulhaber,

2009).

Signing a celebrity is always a risk for advertisers whereas characters are much more reliable

where their personalities and story lines can be created in order to appeal to a mass audience.

According to CKC’s Urbick, he talks about how the use of a character can help to revitalise

the brand’s image and positioning. He also stresses the importance of its delivery where he

states “Any brand can create a character, but it depends on how it is executed.” (Costa, 2010).

So the use of a character can create that differentiation that brands are desperately aiming for

whilst retaining its brand values.

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The Methodology

An investigation into the top four UK price comparison sites with brand characters took place

to see how they created brand awareness and competed against the competition within the

market. This included looking into both online and offline ways of promoting their brands.

Therefore the media channels were analysed as well as the other varieties of ways brands

engaged with their customers. Furthermore the brand metrics were accessed to see whether

there was a connection with the brand awareness rankings. The importance of the brand as a

driver of business value and success is widely discussed however surprisingly few businesses

actually use a system to allow them to link up with business performance measures (Munoz,

2004). Therefore the survey enabled this analysis to be made particularly with the questions

asking who had joined a social networking site connected to the brand as well as who had

visited the website.

In order to measure the brand awareness of characters, a comparison chart of the fan base of

social networking sites was developed as well as a survey. A qualitative survey was used in

order to see exactly what characteristics people looked for in a character and its brand

identity. This approach was much more probing than would be the case with quantitative

research, and therefore the sample size was much smaller (Blythe, 2005). Finding the right

mix of respondents was also important in order to draw conclusions about the target market

as a whole. Therefore it was decided that the survey would contain a variety of age groups as

each is likely to have different habits such as the technology used and the frequency of

advertisements seen. Therefore ten people from each age category were interviewed, making

a total of forty people. The survey technique consisted of a personal structured interview as it

gave the researcher control over the process whereby the sample size and age categories were

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controlled as well as targeting individuals so that they were not influenced by others. This

process had a high refusal rate but it was the most reliable for this study and was a non biased

approach where people were confronted face-to-face and did not have the opportunity to look

up information online.

The survey was piloted once in order to see if there were problems with the questions. It is

useful to get as much information as possible from these interviews without the public losing

interest and so a total of ten questions were asked (please see the attached survey in the

appendix). The questions were structured around brand recognition to see just how successful

the brands have been at creating associations between the brand name and character used.

The use of "aided recall" was used to measure the extent to which a brand name is

remembered when the actual brand name is prompted so that it was possible to see how many

people could make the connection between the brand name and character. It was also

important to access whether people were more successful at connecting the brand name to the

character or whether it was easier to make that brand association when prompted with an

image of the character. In terms of brand exposure, companies want to look for high levels of

unaided recall in relation to their competitors and so before handing out the survey, the

following question was asked: ‘Can you name any price comparison sites.’ This question was

not included in the actual survey as some names were displayed on it and therefore they

would have had the ability to copy from it, however it will be useful for my findings.

Overall a full analysis of the top four UK Price Comparison sites were taken to see how each

one used its character in order to increase the brand’s awareness. The media channels and

brand metrics were also taken into account to see if that had a direct effect to the success of

the brand. The main focus was on the meerkat in Compare the market, which has gone far

beyond its initial services and in turn become a marketing phenomenon.

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Results and Discussion

Brand Metrics

Popular advertisements have the ability to go viral where the public can discuss the brand

both online and offline, spreading it across a wide variety of channels but the underlying

issue is whether the product or service actually shows an increase in sales. In order to see if

brand metrics link up to the brand awareness, here is a table rating the top four UK price

comparison sites in terms of their position in the market compared to the results undertaken

from the survey on brand awareness (please see Appendix for the survey):

Figure 1 (BGL, 2009)

Price Comparison sites Position within the market Position in terms of brand

awareness

Compare the Market 4 1

Go Compare 3 2

Confused 2 3

Money Supermarket 1 4

As you can see these results are very surprising as they appear to be positioned in the

opposite order confirming that whilst the use of a character may boost brand awareness

significantly, it does not necessarily mean that more people will use its services. This means

that other factors such as the offers available also have an impact. As well as having number

one position in the market, Money Supermarket also has the highest rankings on Google. The

main reason behind this success is that it is considered an authority by Google where lots of

22

PR is associated with the brand and it is also promoted widely through all the respected

websites, which shows that the brand’s values are also a factor in market ratings. (Nixon,

2010)

It was also discovered from the results that the largest group involved in joining social

networking sites was the youngest age category, 15-24. However, this same age group only

had a very small percentage of people who actually visited any of the price comparison sites.

Whereas in contrast, the group that ranked the highest for using these websites was the age

group, 45-64, which also had a very low percentage who were linked up to the social

networking sites. This evidence links up to the literature review whereby Anderson talks

about the younger generation living a digital lifestyle and so it is clearly important to place

more emphasis on digital within the media mix when targeting this particular group of

individuals. This shows the importance of knowing your audience where brand awareness

and marketing channels should be chosen depending on the target group. However it seems

that all four of these price comparison sites are more interested in creating as much brand

exposure as possible where they are not taking the audience into full account. Overall these

findings clearly show that the brand awareness does not directly link to the market share.

Brand associations within the name

There are two types of awareness: spontaneous, which measures the percentage of people

who spontaneously mention a particular brand when asked to name brands in a certain

category; and prompted, which measures the percentage of people who recognise a brand

from a particular category when shown a list. Both the spontaneous and prompted

measurement was used. For the spontaneous method, the following question was asked:

23

‘Can you name any price comparison sites?’

The top four comparison sites featured a great deal as seen in figure 2, which confirms that

brand awareness connects to the success of the brand:

Figure 2

Compare the Market

GoCompare

MoneySupermarket

Confused

Other

24

Figure 3 displays the results for the prompted method where the public were asked to connect

the brand name with the character as well as connect the character image and name of the

character:

Figure 3

As you can see from the survey results in figure 3, Compare the Market is by far the most

recognised brand out of the top four UK Price Comparison sites. This is because the meerkat

states in every advertisement that there has been a misunderstanding between Compare the

Market and Compare the Meerkat and so this constant reminder of the brand name makes us

remember it. This is also due to its ubiquitous nature of this brand, which now seems to be an

important trait in the delivery of brands today. It was, however surprising to see that the

character name was only known by 15% whereas, Money Supermarket, which scored the

lowest brand and character recognition, had the highest amount of people that knew the

character name. This is due to the fact that this character is a famous comedian and actor and

so many people were aware of him, despite being unable to make the connection. The

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Compare theMarket

Go Compare MoneySupermarket

Confused

Brand and characterassociation

Character imagerecognition

Character namerecognition

25

character name recognition was higher than the brand and character association as well as the

highest for all the characters involved, which shows that this character has a competitive

advantage over its rivals due to its celebrity status.

The next trend the graphs show is the character image recognition is higher than the brand

and character association, which means more people were familiar with the brand when

shown a picture of the character than when they were asked to connect the brand name with

the character used. This gives evidence that the having a memorable character helps towards

remembering a brand and therefore is a highly successful way of creating brand awareness.

The Marketing strategy of Compare The Market

As confirmed by the survey results that Compare the Market is the most recognised brand,

the focus will now be on Compare the Market, looking closely at the main media channels

used and the important features of the character that make it memorable and set itself apart

from other characters.

The character was introduced in 2009 and as you can see in figure 4, there has been a

dramatic rise in sales and customer numbers since the advertisements were released.

Figure 4

2009/10 2008/09

Pre tax profit £62 million £54 million

Profit growth 16 % 24%

Number of customers 3.5 million 2.7 million

26

The success of the meerkat character in Compare the Market is all down to its marketing

strategy, which has significantly increased its brand awareness and in turn, has made the

insurance market interesting. This market has never been considered particularly engaging to

consumers and so in order to capture the public’s attention, the company has released

advertisements that have nothing to do with insurance and instead has focused on building

brand awareness. It is more of a form of entertainment where the advertisements are laid out

as a three part trilogy so that they are reminiscent of a film trailer. It is very realistic where

there are film reviews and the opportunity of meeting the cast. There are also a series of

documentary style advertisements with new stories and characters to keep it fresh. This is

successful as it is a unique concept, which keeps customers on edge, waiting in anticipation

to see the next part of the story and therefore an ongoing brand engagement is sustained.

Although these advertisements do not directly link with insurance, it has proven to be a much

better way of advertising where the character becomes a shortcut reference to the brand and

overall more interesting than the brand itself.

In terms of the website, there are two separate sections to the official website containing a

blog from Meerkovo village as well as a section where you can compare meerkats. This is

particularly clever as it engages the customer as well as showing the creatives what sort of

meerkats are in demand by the general public so that new characters in the advertisements

can be introduced.

27

The use of social media has been key to the success of the Compare the market campaign.

From their website, you are able to link directly to Facebook and Twitter from the home page

as well as view and download all the advertisements and share them via these sites. Twitter in

particular is proving to be a recent success in building brands where people are able to

discuss brands, products and services in real time. (Mortimer, 2009) It can be used in a

variety of ways depending on the needs of the company. It can be used to send out

promotional offers, to build the brand’s voice or as a way of dealing with customer service

queries. Compare the Market uses it for brand awareness where Aleksandr Orlov’s

grammatically incorrect English tweets are used to give life to the meerkat beyond the

television advertisements. This is successful as it creates an ongoing engagement between the

brand and customers and it is a useful way of not bothering those who are not interested in

the brand.

This accessibility has enabled maximum brand engagement and the potential for the brand to

go viral. These advertisements are all on Youtube, which gives consumers the option to view

them when they want and also gives them the potential to spread internationally. The meerkat

is connected to all the most popular UK social media sites, giving it full brand exposure and

the fact that it is linked up with all the social networking sites, makes it more human and

easier to engage with. However as stated before, the digital emphasis engages mostly

younger people who are less likely to use the price comparison sites and so it is successful in

creating a strong brand presence but less so at boosting profits.

The Competition

The Times Online states that the Compare the Market site increased its market share of UK

insurance comparison site visits by 76 percent has driven up traffic to the website by 83 per

cent since the campaign was launched January (Judge, 2009). At the same time Money

28

Supermarket lost 25.2 percent of visits, Confused dropped five percent and GoCompare lost

31.8% (Andrews, 2009).

The meerkat has since become a catalyst for a significant change in advertising in the price

comparison market where every competitor of Compare the Market has now radically

changed their advertising where they have had to re-evaluate their strategies in a bid to win

back market share. The chief executive of Confused has stated ‘The meerkat has raised the

bar.’ (Ramsay, 2009) In reaction to this they have recently introduced a new brand character

called Cara. Money Supermarket launched a fourteen million pound advertising campaign

featuring Dragons’ Den entrepreneur, Peter Jones. However these advertisements were soon

replaced with a character in order to compete. Like the meerkat, the new campaign is

centered around humour with the use of the actor and comedian, Omid Djalili, who plays an

Iranian character. Another comparison site competing directly with Compare the Market is

Go Compare who in an attempt to regain market share, responded with the launch of a

campaign featuring an opera singer called Gio Compario, which cost twenty-one million

pounds. Seeing as the top four price comparison sites have all chosen characters to promote

their brands confirms their success in building brand awareness.

In order to see what these sites have done to compete, a table (figure 5) has been produced to

make that comparison displaying the media channels used and other such means as well as

the amount of fans they have all accumulated as a result.

29

Figure 5

PRICECOMPARISONSITES ANDMARKET SHARE

SOCIALMEDIA(more than1000 fans)

WEBSITE TELEVISION RADIO VISUALS GAMES ANDMERCHANDISE

OTHER

COMPARE THEMARKET (11%)

GO COMPARE(15%)

MONEY (38%)SUPERMARKET

CONFUSED (16%)

30

The fact that the top four comparison sites all contain the main social networking sites show

how this is an essential element for brands these days. As all the characters are used for

entertainment purposes, each one offers a variety of ways to engage with the brand from

games to applications and merchandise. This table (Figure 5) shows the extent to which the

top brands in the price comparison sector are going to and the abundance of media channels

they are using in order to compete. It also shows how the services on offer are no longer of

much importance and instead demonstrates how today’s marketers are going beyond

traditional branding techniques by offering such a large variety of online and offline

measures to ensure ultimate brand exposure.

From the survey, 75% claimed to have seen these advertisements the most on television with

the internet behind on 20% with the largest age group being 15-24. This confirms my initial

research from the IAB White paper about the importance of placing more emphasis on digital

within the media mix as it has clearly shown a big impact on brand metrics, particularly

amongst the younger age group who spend more time online these days than in the past.

The other findings I sourced from the survey consisted of what aspects of the character stood

out to the public. Here are the characteristics, which kept on featuring, which I will look at in

depth:

31

The Human characteristics

This particular characteristic is only relevant for the meerkat as it is the only featured animal

out of the four characters. The meerket has physical human attributes where it walks on all

fours, wears clothes and talks. These human characteristics have given the character the

opportunity to do more in order to increase the brand awareness and for that reason, the brand

has gone far beyond its main marketing channel. As seen in the research by Dotz, by giving

an animal human characteristics, it instantly becomes more appealing where it is able to gain

a personality, creating more of an emotional connection to customers.

The meerkat has been given the name, Aleksandr Orlov where he is treated like a physical

being with a celebrity status. Podcasts have been produced featuring Orlov interviewing

famous people as well as interviews on both the Daybreak and the Sun newspaper. He is also

The most appealing character characteristics

The accent

The humour

The catchy tune/phrase

The human qualities

Other

32

the first character to have its own Twitter and Linked in account and to release an

autobiography, which is entitled ‘A Simple’s Life.’ A record company has even expressed an

interest in releasing a single featuring the meerkat as well as a campaign created to add the

catchphrase, ‘simples’ to the dictionary (Gibbons, 2009). The fact that the meerkat is treated

like an actual person makes engaging with it more accessible and so consumers are able to

interact with the brand in a large variety of ways. This backs up Adamson’s quote about how

the branding is brought to life if the character becomes real to people.

Offline measures have also played a part in the brand awareness such as the creation of an

application for the i-phone where well-known phrases by Orlov can be downloaded.

Hundreds of meerkat merchandise now also exists from meerkat electronic games to meerkat

cuddly toys where they were selling at Harrods over the 2010 Christmas period. Orlov is also

the first ever character to produce an autobiography; this book focuses on the history of

Aleksandr Orlov from his ancestors to his current life in charge of meerkat comparison.This

is an example of how marketers are thinking out of the box in order to catch customers’

attention and to stand out from the competition where the brand experiences are becoming

even more important than what is being sold.

These marketing methods have all shown a dramatic rise in brand awareness where the

character has had so much impact that there has been an increased interest in keeping these

animals as pets. The BBC Look North had to produce a news report encouraging people not

to purchase meerkats as pets in reaction to this and so London Zoo are now promoting an

adoption scheme, which has proven popular (Nettleton, 2009). Furthermore there has been a

significant increase in visitors to the meerkat section of the zoo. (Wilkes, 2010) The zoo are

taking advantage of this sudden popularity in meerkats that they have recently created ‘The

Meerkat Experience’ where the public buy a voucher that entitles you to a meerkat

33

experience day in which they have the opportunity to interact with the meerkats inside the

cage and are also given the just to feed them. In reaction to the huge popularity of these

animals, the film entitled, ‘The Meerkats,’ narrated by Paul Newman was released in 2009.

Lastly the Aleksandr Orlov autobiography has sold more than 130,000 copies, topping the

Bookseller list and the cuddly was proven much popular than they sold a many more than had

expected, which prompted the owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, to give the entire stock

to children's charities (Owen, 2010).

The Accent and tone of voice

Research from the Central Office of Information and the Radio Advertising Bureau reveals

that the effectiveness of advertising can be improved depending on the accents it uses,

creating more of an engagement between a brand and its customers. The research confirmed

that local accents could do just that whereby they are associated with real, ordinary people

and seem to be more effective at conveying credible real-life experiences. The perceptions of

accents have changed in the last fifty years where the 20th century ‘Received Pronunciation’

(RP) accent is no longer generally accepted as the accent of authority. Social change as well

as the popularity of celebrities, has created a softer modern day RP (Government Contracting

Opportunities, 2009). An example is the use of the cockney accent for the use of the character

in the American price comparison site, Geico, which consists of an anthropomorphic gecko.

In current advertisements, the gecko’s accent is more working-class in order to further

“humanize” him.

The meerkat character in the Compare the Market advertisements was inspired by Geico in

terms of its humour with the use of accents and pronunciation. His voice is supplied by

34

Simon Greenall, who played Alan Partridge’s friend, Michael, in I’m Alan Partridge. He

speaks in a Russian accent, mispronunciating certain words. Both of these advertising

strategies use accents to create humour, proving that this strategy can successfully imprint a

brand into the mind of the consumer. The meerkat’s accent also gives the character lots of

charm which leads to people talking about the character in an enthusiastic way. This viral

form of discussion is more successful than relying on the jingle getting stuck in your head or

with the use of an annoying character that sparks controversy.

The use of this Russian accent has also created controversy where many Eastern Europeans in

particular have claimed the advertisements to be offensive. In a letter by the Advertising

Standards Authority in response to a complaint referring to the racist associations of the

advert, it stated "Whatever impact the mild stereotyping of the eastern European accent has is

undercut by the fact that it is a cartoon rather than a live actor. As such we do not feel that the

content of the commercial is likely to provoke widespread offence." (Jones, 2009) Therefore

it seems that the cartoon status means this issue cannot be taken seriously but if it was a real

person, the case would probably be different. This relates to the celebrity endorsement in the

literature review, which talks about how celebrities can affect a brand negatively whereas a

character can be controlled and is much less likely to misrepresent the brand. In another

response to a complaint, they stated that characters that are supplied with an accent are

“elevated” to the status of “funny” and highly saleable creatures (Lyux, 2010). This is similar

to the study made by Dotz where he talked about how the use of animals changes the delivery

where mocking a foreign accent is less insulting than a human doing the same. When

completing the survey, 25 % were a fan of the character due to its accent and so this

characteristic clearly plays an important role in the humour and shows it would not be as

successful without this key element.

35

The accent is central to all of the four characters. Omid Djaili, who originally has a British

accent, puts on an Iranian accent in order to highlight the difference between cultures where

he berates the British for their inability to haggle and compares it to the people in the Middle

East where it is part of their culture. It is particularly funny how he leads the viewer into

thinking he has an Iranian accent and then he suddenly switches by impersonating the British

accent by saying certain words with a cockney accent. David Osborne, Money Supermarket’s

marketing director, said:

‘Omid plays on the differences between British and Middle Eastern cultures as part of his

comedy routine so using him as a figurehead for this campaign really helps highlight the

message we want to deliver’ (Blake, 2010).

Therefore the use of this character is well thought out and its humour is executed well, which

is the reason why it delivers such successful results.

Gio Compario, the opera singer character, consists of an Italian accent, which is well suited

as opera originated in Renaissance Italy and now the country is extremely famous for this art

form. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery,

and costumes as well as dance. Therefore it is well suited as words can be incorporated into

the song to highlight the insurance deals available and so the added accent adds to the

humour. The dramatic opera-like song is loud and over the top, which is ideal as it is very

memorable.

Cara in Confused.com consists of a very warm, northern accent, which highlights my point

about how people engage more with local accents. The use of a woman is also more engaging

where her soft intonation is very appealing with mother-like qualities, which is more trusting.

36

With the most recent advertisements, she is now singing with the voice of the West End star,

Louise Dearm (Parsons, 2010). This use of a celebrity is once again employed where the

advertisement is turned into more of a form of entertainment than promoting insurance itself.

Overall the tone of voice of each character is light hearted, which works well as it makes the

serious topic of insurance more appealing. It is a chore to sort out insurance and so these

characters offer an enjoyment factor, which people prefer to being pitched.

The Humour

Humorous advertising is the most difficult to create successfully due to its subjective nature.

However if the right balance is created, humour can evoke an emotional response and in turn

become very memorable. From my survey, the meerkat was by far the most appealing

character with the majority of people using the humour as their primary reason. With the

influx of Eastern Europeans to England, we very much live in a multicultural society where

many can relate to the difference between nationalities and the confusion that comes with it.

Therefore the meerkat, with its Russian accent and mispronunciations is very warming.

In GoCompare, the look of the character is funny in itself. It consists of an overweight,

clumsy looking opera singer with a funny looking moustache where the whole advert is over

the top with humorous song lyrics and exaggerated dance moves. It is also funny in the way

that it starts with an everyday setting and then the whole room bursts out into song and dance

in quite an unexpected manner.

Money Supermarket creates humour with the use of the comedian, Omid Djaili where he

compares in a humorous way the differences between the British and the middle East. People

37

can easily relate to this as it is accurate as to what British people are generally like in terms of

their reserved attitude as confirmed by research conducted for money Supermarket that shows

that whilst, as a nation we hate paying more than we have to, just 10% of us regularly ask for

a better deal when we make a purchase. Therefore it appeals to a mass audience with a

humorous twist on the British way of life.

38

Chapter 5- The Conclusion

Characters have clearly come a long way since they were first used in advertising.

Advancements in digital technology have played a major role in their development from

characters, which were primarily seen in printed form to those with distinctive personalities.

It is now essential to be connected to all the main social networking sites as well as a wide

range of media channels in order to engage to the full potential with customers and to

compete in the market. This ongoing engagement is evidently an important factor of

maintaining a brands’ loyalty with customers. Furthermore this has given marketers more of

an insight into their customers’ thoughts and needs. However at the same time, brands today

seem to be placing more emphasis on the media channels than what is being sold and so

creating ultimate brand exposure seems to be of higher importance.

While the abundance of marketing channels both online and offline are vital to increase brand

awareness, it is the delivery of the character in terms of its image and personality, which are

of utmost importance. Without good management, the character can fail to communicate the

right message and in turn give the brand a bad name. Those that produce the best results are

adaptable to the public’s needs so that they evolve at the same rate as the markets and

technological improvements. Getting to know customers first so that the relevant channels

can be sought is an important trait in branding. However these case studies demonstrate how

brands are now using every possible channel in order to maximise the brand exposure to its

full capacity.

It is also evident that if managed well, a character can help a brand to stand out from the

competition, particularly in the price comparison market. This statement can be backed up by

the research collected from the survey where the image recognition was higher than the brand

and association for all four characters. This market is highly competitive due to the fact that

39

they have increased in popularity in recent years and as a result there are so many available

with a large percentage offering the same services. Characters have become more popular in

commodity selling where marketers have realised the importance of offering unique ways of

differentiating their brands rather than cutting prices. Characters are therefore used to create

that distinct brand voice, which in turn helps the brand to stand out.

Today’s customers are more demanding in their expectations of what their brands should

deliver and so this has led to even more competition between rivals where brands are creating

even more brand experiences. Marketers are thinking out of the box and developing unique

ways of creating brand awareness. Compare the Market is a key example where it has gone

far beyond selling services and is an example of how brand experiences and creating brand

awareness are more important than what is being sold.

As seen in the case studies, characters today are used to entertain in order to increase brand

awareness, which seems to be a developing trend where the rational forms of selling products

are becoming less frequent. The changing needs of the public have transformed the way

brands relate to people where an emotional connection within a niche target audience is

becoming more of a featured trait and where trust and loyalty play key factors. However, in

the price comparison market, it is difficult to try and relate emotionally to the commoditised

services it offers. Therefore the products and services on offer are less important where the

characters take over where their main aim is to create brand exposure through entertainment.

The characters also appeal to such a large age group that very few of the younger generation

do not actually use price comparison websites. This means that the brand metrics are not

directly linked to the popularity of a character. So while it is clear to see that characters are

successful tools at increasing brand awareness, they do not have the power to completely

40

alter the customers’ behaviour where the services on offer and other factors play an even

more important part.

41

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The Appendix

1. Please state your age and gender: 15-24 25-44 45-64 64+

Male Female

2. Do you know which characters are used in the following price comparison sites?

Compare the Market .........................................

Go Compare .........................................

Money Supermarket .........................................

Confused ..........................................

3. Now look at the pictures of these four characters (please turn over to see the images).

Which characters do you now recognise?

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

4. Do you know any of their names?

1......................................

2......................................

3......................................

4......................................

5. Which character have you seen the most of?

.........................................................................................................

6. Where have you mainly come across this character?

Television

Internet

Radio

Other

48

7. Which character appeals to you the most?

...........................................................................................................

8. State the reason

The accent

The humour

The catchy tune/catch phrase

The human qualities

Other (Please state).....................................................................

9. Have you joined any social networking groups connected to these price comparison

sites? And if so, which one?

.............................................................................................................

10. Have you visited any of these price comparison websites? And if so, which one?

................................................................................................................

f

fd

d

d

d

d

d

d

49

Image 1 Image 2

Image 3 Image 4