Why Confused.com’s new ad campaign is going to fall on deaf ears

“Great! Just what we need!” were the first thoughts that went through my mind as I read the news that Confused.com is launching a brand new mascot to front their new ad campaign.

In one of the most unimaginative advertising pushes I’ve ever seen: Confused.com’s ‘Brian the Robot’ is ready to jump onto the insurance mascot bandwagon to be seated alongside the Go Compare operatic annoyance and the ‘OH MY GOD MAKE IT STOP’ Compare The Market Meerkats.

Image taken from Marketing Week

I mean seriously, I understand that at one point these ads were seen as witty and new. But after years and years of the same old same old, I don’t understand why Confused.com has decided to follow suit. Granted, the formula may well work in creating brand loyalty, and selling online insurance is hardly rock and roll, but what’s wrong with creating a point of difference and setting your brand apart from the others?

One advertising campaign that springs to mind that has managed to do this is Southern Comfort’s ‘Whatever’s comfortable ad’. Rather than the usual ‘class and cool’ that we associate with whiskey adverts (think dark light and whispered ‘Disarrono on the rocks’). The ad campaign took a risk, stood apart and went viral. I imagine too it resulted in a lot more Southern Comfort related hangovers if the 500% spike in popularity of the brand has anything to do with it.

Perhaps Confused.com should take a leaf out of Southern Comfort’s books and try something new; fat man and budgie smugglers are optional.