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comparethemarket.com wins a major industry award for its innovative Meerkat marketing campaign

Immediate release: 13 July 2009

Comparethemarket.com has won the Marketing Initiative of the Year Award at the prestigious British Insurance Awards 2009.

The price comparison website, operated by the BGL Group, won the award for its innovative campaign featuring Aleksandr Orlov the Russian meerkat, which has attracted unprecedented response from consumers and the media alike.

More than 1,800 of the insurance industry's movers and shakers attended the black tie awards ceremony hosted by the leading insurance title Post Magazine and comedian Dara O'Briain at The Royal Albert Hall, London.

The long-standing British Insurance Awards are now in their 15th year and are dubbed the insurance industry's 'hall of fame'. Every year they recognise top performers, embracing individual successes, outstanding team achievements and effective partnerships. All in all, the British Insurance Awards track the industry's collective commitment to innovation and delivering continuous service improvement.

Members of the comparethemarket.com team were on hand to collect the award. Kal Atwal, Managing Director of comparethemarket.com, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to win this award for our unique Meerkat campaign. It is a true accolade and testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of our organisation and the willingness to try new and innovative approaches to marketing our brands in a competitive and crowded marketplace."

The TV campaign featuring Aleksandr, the aristocratic meerkat and founder of comparethemeerkat.com launched in January. The campaign centres on his frustration that people keep coming to his website looking for cheaper car insurance, not meerkats! His catchphrase "Simples!" now features on ringtones worldwide and has been heard on primetime shows such as Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and Radio 4's 'Now Show'.

Today, Aleksandr has more than 480,000 fans on Facebook and almost 19,000 followers on Twitter. The comparethemeerkat.com website does indeed allow visitors to compare meerkats and has had more than 5.6 million hits since its inception. Comparethemarket.com is now one of the most visited insurance websites in the UK.

A jubilant Kal Atwal, Managing Director of comparethemarket.com (centre) receiving her award - with comedian Dara O'Briain, left and David Rasche, Executive Chairman of insurance IT provider SSP, sponsors of the Marketing Initiative of the Year Award.