'Are annoying ads really bad – would you go compare with GoCompare?' blog discussion 12 February 2010 at 12:07PM edited 12 February 2010 at 12:10PM in Martin's blogs & appearances & MoneySavingExpert in the news 51 replies 8.5K views

Former_MSE_Penelope

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's "Are annoying ads really bad – would you go compare with GoCompare?" Blog.

phizzimum

personally I find the ads that try to be funny less annoying than the ones that try to be serious - I voted for the confused.com "vox pop" people. are they real people or actors? even if they're real people then we presume they're being paid to say how great the company is.

an opera singer or an animated meercat isn't pretending to be anything other than a marketing gimmick. it doesn't actually try to tell us anything about the service provided just helps us remember the name.

bradhadair

Ads like the GoCompare one just turn me straight off and I now purposely avoid using it, especially since i discovered other comparison sites find me cheaper car insurance than GoCompare do. As soon as the ad comes on the telly i either change channel, turn the volume off, of if its the umpteenth time i've seen it that day turn the whole blasted telly off!!:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

kezbabybabe

My natural instinct would be to shy away from Go Compare and use one of the other comparison sites instead.

Of course if I was to be truely MSE I would need to use it as part of the search, begrudgingly.

Lucky for me I don't have much use of these sites as I don't need car insurance and my home contents is through one company as stated in my tenancy agreement.

fleetco

Amusing ads like the Meerkat one I like and will tend to go for - 'Go Compare' drives us daft; we mute it or freeze it if using Sky and under no circumstances would I ever go to their site in protest!

I'd love to know how well that campaign is working for them

nzseries1

I like the GoCompare ad, but I hate the confused.com one. And yes, their ad does make confused.com stick in my head, but when I decided which site to use recently, I wouldn't use confused.com simply because of their extremely irritating ad.

So I think that even though we may talk about brands with annoying ads to other people because we find them annoying, which does spread the brand name around, I still personally wouldn't use one if I really hated their ad.

moredeadthanalive

That advert really annoys me whenever it is on. I emailed them to say how bad I thought it was and that as a result I would never use them to buy insurance. They emailed back acknowledging my distaste but of course hoped that I would use them in the future.

I don't think they understood "never".

Of course I use them as per Martin's guide to fine the cheapest quote but then go through another comparison site or even quidco if that is cheaper.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

glossyhair

I find both GoCompare and Confused.com REALLY REALLY annoying! I think the advertising ideas behind both are sound, but the fact that they seem to be on every five minutes drives me absolutely crazy and I tend to mute or change channels. :mad:

Compare the Meerkat, oops sorry Market, is witty and clever (with entertaining Facebook/Twitter sites etc.) and it would probably lead me towards the website.

Of course, I would follow Martin's recommendations anyway, regardless of advertising . . . savvy money saving is what matters in the end :money:

segarrett

They are doing well if it is annoying enough for you to remember and be mildly irritated, but failing if you actually switch off.

I always wonder why TV/radio stations take ads that must cause sizeable numbers of people to actually switch off or change channels. Years ago I stopped listening to Capital Radio completely because of the Brian Walden adverts and also some public service adverts designed to make you slow down in your car. (They whispered to you that you knew you were driving over the speed limit. As I was always doing 20mph on the M25, this was calculated incense) It was too dangerous to drive with these ads liable to be played as they made me so cross!

Compare the meerkat is a great ad, and still enjoyable, Go Compare is a pain, and I haven't seen the new moneysupermarket enough to be annoyed yet and like Omid Djalili so I'm pleased for him as he's probably earning a nice fee. But both pale beside all the NatWest or M&S food ads. I have to switch these off immediately. (It is not "my" M&S - gggrrgghh)

alicebluegown

My worst ones are any those Post Office ones with the nasty liitle 'know it all' man (who tells you there's no commission on foreign exchange at the PO, but not that their ER is 'orribly high!), and any of those BT ads with the too bland to be true couple. I'd certainly try and avoid but the source of both of these makes that difficult!

lolarentt

What about the reverse? Where you like the ad but can't remember what the product is! There's currently one with someone on a roller-coaster track that weaves around tall buildings, background music is 'More Than A Feeling' by Boston (great oldie!) However I've no idea what the ad's for! I might buy some if it's cheap!!