Is Direct Response Meerkating Dangerous?

I recently enthused about the “Compare the Meerkat” campaign for the UK insurance site “Comparethe market.com” (in the post “Emotional Direct Response Meerkating?!?”).

But are there dangers in an off-beat, somewhat zany campaign like this?  I’ll consider this in a moment, but first another of the brilliant ads in the series…

Wonderful!

But are there pitfalls?  Here are 4 potential problems…

1) The Novelty Wears Off

First problem is if people get tired of the ads and the novelty wears off.  To avoid this, the campaign needs to be kept fresh with new ads and new ideas to keep attention.  In effect, the campaign needs to be turned into an ongoing mini “soap opera”.  In this instance, the ad team seem to be on a creative roll.  There’s a whole series of different ads and have a look at the “www.CompareTheMeerkat.com” site!

Plus a Meerkat Movie?…

But that could lead to a different problem…

2) The Campaign Loses Touch With The Original Objective

With a big hit like the “CompareTheMeerkat” campaign, there’s a risk that the creative team get carried away with their own genius and forget what the aim is…to get people to “CompareTheMarket.com”.  No sign of that so far but the marketing discipline needs to be maintained.

3) Damage To The Main Brand

There’s a risk to a brand if it becomes perceived as a bit of a novelty.  For example, if the meerkat was the brand symbol for “CompareTheMarket.com” that could cause problems (especially when the novelty eventually wears off).  However, part of the genius of this campaign is that there is no direct link.  “CompareTheMeerkat.com” and “CompareTheMarket.com” are distinct entities.

4) Lack Of Attention To The Main Brand

A slightly different problem is that with all the attention on the genius of the Meerkat lead generating campaign, not enough attention is directed to building the actual brand itself and the relationship with customers.

I confess, I haven’t looked closely at what “CompareThe market.com” itself is doing.  That can be the subject of another post.  But for enduring success, the company needs to take advantage of the flood of new business from the highly successful lead generation campaign to build a strong market position and a strong relationship with their clients.

In the meantime they can bask in the warm glow of success.  As Gary Halbert once commented, there are few business problems that aren’t improved by more sales.