Confused.com is a UK based financial services comparison platform specialising in comparison of insurance and financial services, including

car insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury r ...

home insurance Home insurance, also commonly called homeowner's insurance (often abbreviated in the US real estate industry as HOI), is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insura ...

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

, van insurance and

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

. Confused.com's platform includes a website and app.

History

Confused.com launched in 2001, becoming the UK’s first car insurance comparison site. Its offices are based in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. Confused.com was part of the Admiral Group plc until its sale to RVU on 30 May 2021. Confused.com is regulated by the

Financial Conduct Authority The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulation, financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government, and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The ...

Management

Confused.com has undergone a high degree of management

churn Churn may refer to: * Churn drill, large-diameter drilling machine large holes appropriate for holes in the ground Dairy-product terms * Butter churn, device for churning butter * Churning (butter), the process of creating butter out of mil ...

in recent years. At the top level, founding Managing Director Kate Armstrong, an IT consultant originally from Sydney, retired from the business in 2005, following the successful flotation of the Admiral Group. She was succeeded by Deborah Williams who took the reins from 2005 to 2007. The business underwent expansive growth in this period with profit hitting £36 million in 2007. It was with some degree of surprise therefore that the industry received news of Williams' departure to join a relatively unknown insurance broker. Williams was succeeded by Carlton Hood in the newly created position of CEO. The sector was shaken up by the ground breaking

Compare the Market Comparethemarket is a UK price comparison service, price comparison website, founded in 2006, that is part of the BGL Group. The website also offers other on-line companies the ability to provide their customers with a co-branded or White-labe ...

campaign in 2009; Confused.com, along with other established competitors, lost market share. Hood resigned abruptly in 2010 and was succeeded by Group FD Kevin Chidwick as an interim measure. Chidwick remained in place until January 2012 and was succeeded by Admiral Group senior manager Nic Weng Kan followed by Martin Coriat. Coriat was MD of Admiral-owned French comparison site LeLynx.fr until he took up the position of Confused.com CEO in October 2013. In August 2012, Joby Russell stepped into the role of Marketing Director. After overseeing the launch of the 'Brian the Robot' campaign and later toy promotions, Russell left the role in May 2015 to take up the role of CMO at online estate agents Purplebricks.com. In late 2015 Paul Troy was appointed the CMO role at Confused.com. Troy had previously worked for Moneysupermarket between 2011 and 2013 where he created the 'You're so money supermarket' campaign. In September 2017, Louise O'Shea was appointed as CEO of Confused.com taking over from Martin Coriat who himself was appointed as chief executive of Admiral-owned French comparison website LeLynx. O'Shea was promoted to the CEO position from her role as finance director at Confused.com. In May 2018, Confused.com announced the appointment of Sam Day as chief marketing officer, replacing Troy.

Awards

Confused.com have been recipients of a number of marketing and industry awards: * Winners - Best in house team - 2014 European Search Awards * Winners - Best systems integration (marketing specialist category) - 2013 UK

Sitecore Sitecore is a customer experience management company that provides web content management, and multichannel marketing automation software. The company was founded in 2001 in Denmark. Origins In 1998, in Copenhagen, Denmark, University of Copen ...

site of the year awards * Joint winners - Best financial services site (joint winners with

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

) in the financial services category - 2013 UK

site of the year awards * Highly commended - What Mortgage Best comparison site category - 2013/2014 personal finance awards * Winners - Marketing Excellence award (PR category) - 'Driving in heels campaign' - South Wales Chamber of Commerce Marketing Excellence Awards 2013 * Winners - PR award - 'Driving in heels campaign' - Canmol Marketing awards 2012 * Winners - PR award - 'Middle lane hoggers campaign' - PR Moment Awards 2017 *Winners - PPC Best Use of Data - 'Data driving fractional attribution' - The Drum Search Awards 2017 *Winners - Best Financial Services Campaign - 'The true depth of the UK's pothole problem' - The Drum Search Awards 2018 *Winners - Digital and social media campaign of the year - 'The depth of the UK's pothole problem' - PRCA Dare Awards 2018 - SW & Wales

Advertising

In early years, Confused.com achieved success with a simple, repetitive direct response advertising format, in which a man described what Confused.com was offering, with a slightly different variant being used from 2003 until 2005. This led to the longest running of Confused.com’s campaigns, starting from 2005 until 2008, featuring simple cardboard props on a white background, later with people saying they were "Confused.com" by the depicted marketplace. In later years as competitors

Moneysupermarket.com Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC is a British price comparison website-based business specialising in financial services. The website enables consumers to compare prices on a range of products, including energy, car insurance, home insurance, tr ...

, Go.Compare and

Comparethemarket.com Comparethemarket is a UK price comparison website, founded in 2006, that is part of the BGL Group. The website also offers other on-line companies the ability to provide their customers with a co-branded or white labelled comparison service. ...

have entered the market, Confused.com has tried numerous different advertising vehicles. None have emulated the success of the initial campaign and Confused.com has slipped from the position of market leader to being the fourth largest car insurance comparison website in the UK. The popularity of the company's slogan 'Confused.com' rose to prominence after the success of the 2002 campaign. A 2002 study by Webster showed that the slogan was the third most used phrase of the year behind 'Hey you' and 'Naughty Soldier'. Later adverts, starting around the year of 2009, contained real life testimonials, featured customers and prolific social media users talking about their experiences while using the website, as well as showcasing the website’s simplicity by explaining how it works. Adverts in early 2010 focused on the concept of regret and featured members of the public lamenting that they could have purchased something they wanted if they had purchased their car insurance through Confused.com. In September 2010, Confused.com introduced the character of "Cara Confused" a wild-haired animated version of the original company

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

that was present on the former Confused.com logo. The inspiration for the creation of Cara came from Kate Armstrong, the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and former

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Confused.com. The campaign used the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

, "it pays to be Confused.com". In February 2011 an advert started featuring Cara (voiced by West End star

Louise Dearman Louise Dearman (born 13 March 1979) is a British actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing Glinda and Elphaba in the West End production of the musical '' Wicked.'' Notably, she is the only actress to have played both witches in any prod ...

) singing the

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

track "

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that syst ...

". Marketing Director Mike Hoban claimed that this campaign gained Confused.com 2 million customers since launch. On 1 June 2013 a campaign launched featuring a robot named Brian, depicted as being on a mission to help people to "save pounds". On 24 December 2014, an advert was launched where scrap dealers kidnap Brian. Instead of melting him down straight away, they leave him hanging through the night on a magnet. However, his robot friends at headquarters receive his distress call and go to help him. A couple of weeks later the succeeding advert shows the same five co-robots, known as the Herberts (Chief Herbert, Miss Herbert, Stunt Herbert, Clever Herbert and Baby Herbert), go to help Brian. They stop the incinerator at the last moment, saving Brian and continuing the 'Brian' advertising campaigns after they repair him. In 2015, an advert was launched featuring Brian and the Herberts dancing to "

Jump on It! "Apache" is a song written by Jerry Lordan and first recorded by Bert Weedon. Lordan played the song on ukulele to the Shadows while on tour, and liking the song, the group released their own version which topped the UK Singles Chart for five we ...

" promoting the then brand new Brian toy available by buying insurance through Confused.com. In early 2016, two more toys were launched, Miss Herbert and Stunt Herbert, with a corresponding campaign showing both characters competing with each other to promote their respective toys. On 1 August 2016, the adverts featuring the Robots were scrapped in favour of a new advertisement featuring

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...

. On 17 August 2018, following a run of 6 adverts, James Corden was replaced in favour of a new direction and new frontman Timothy Murphy. The advert features Murphy driving a car through a busy mass of confusing messaging and advertising before ending with Murphy driving down a clear road. This advert and all subsequent adverts featured

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

Rumble Rumble or Rumbling may refer to: Sounds and vibrations * Rumble (noise), a form of low frequency noise * Rumble, a haptic feedback vibration feature in video game controllers * Rumbling, a quality of a heart murmur * Stomach rumble, or borbory ...

. The ads parody the songs like

Y.M.C.A. (song) "Y.M.C.A." is a song by American disco group Village People. It was released in 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, '' Cruisin (1978). The song was written by Jacques Morali (also the record's producer) and singer Victor W ...

by Village People and

Chain Reaction (Diana Ross song) "Chain Reaction" is a song by American singer Diana Ross, released on November 12, 1985, as the second single from her sixteenth studio album, ''Eaten Alive'' (1985). The song was written by the Bee Gees and contains additional vocals from Bar ...

by Diana Ross.

Sponsorship

Confused.com has sponsored programmes on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

such as ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' (including the drama series ''

Quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth ...

'', due to its association with ''Millionaire''), ''

Ninja Warrior UK ''Ninja Warrior UK'' (also known as ''Ninja Warrior UK: Race for Glory'') is a British physical obstacle assault course game show, created for ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is based upon the format of the Japanese game show ''Sasuke (TV series ...

'', ''

Sunday Night at the Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End theatre, West End. Originally produced by Associated Television, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network ...

'', ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show ''The Hollywood Squares, Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Mon ...

'', ''

Catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'', and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' on

Sky Showcase Sky Showcase is a British pay television channel which launched on 1 September 2021 along with Sky Max. It is owned and operated by Sky Group, a division of American media company Comcast. The channel was announced on 28 July 2021 to replace S ...

. It also previously sponsored the ITV National Weather. In 2019, along with

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

, they were a sponsor of ITV's coverage of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Confused.Com Financial services companies established in 2001 Companies based in Cardiff Vehicle insurance 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom Internet properties established in 2001 Online financial services companies of the United Kingdom

History

Management

Awards

Advertising

Sponsorship

See also

References

External links