Moneysupermarket.com

MoneySuperMarket.com Group plc
Public (LSE: MONY)
Founded 1993
Founder Simon Nixon
Headquarters Ewloe, Wales
Key people
Bruce Carnegie-Brown (Chairman of the board)
Simon Nixon (Founder)
Mark Lewis CEO
Revenue £316.4 million (2016)[1]
£91.2 million (2016)[1]
£73.5 million (2016)[1]
Website Moneysupermarket.com

Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC (LSE: MONY) 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 mortgages, credit cards and loans. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The business was established in 1993 by Simon Nixon, at the time a student at Nottingham University, and Duncan Cameron as a provider of off-line mortgage information to Independent Financial Advisors under the name Mortgage 2000.[2] and in 1999 launched moneysupermarket.com providing on-line mortgage information.[3] Since then the business has been developed to provide credit card and personal loan information [3]

In June 2007, Duncan Cameron left the business selling his 47% stake to Simon Nixon for £162m[4] and in July 2007 the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange.[5] At the time it had a market capitalisation of £843m, with Nixon releasing £101m and retaining 54.5% of the business.[6]

Operations

The Company derives its revenues from three main sources:[7]

The UK website has set up a scheme named the Cheap Energy Club, an example of a service that allows consumers, rather than companies, to become responsible for their own data management. The scheme requires you to input data regarding your current energy tariffs and state the amount of saving for which you would be willing to switch providers. Tariffs that are available are then reviewed every month and you are notified when switching would trigger your target saving.

Criticisms

In 2007, The Guardian noted that for household and car insurance, price comparison websites such as moneysupermarket.com rarely include all products on the market and that price comparisons are consequently incomplete.[8]

Adverts

In 2010, adverts featured comedian Omid Djalili as the character of "HaggleHero".[9]

Then from 2011 to 2013 showed adverts such as man surfing on an inflatable crocodile, another man in a jungle with gorillas and another man going into space.[10] In August 2013 a new advert was launched showing a man named Bill running around Croydon with an army of cats whilst a spokesman played by James Lance saying that Bill is so Moneysupermarket.[11]

In 2014, a new advert was launched featuring Snoop Dogg and his song "Who Am I (What's My Name)" features on the ad.[12]

In January 2015, another advertising campaign was launched featuring a man named Dave (played by Michael Van Schoik), walking down a street in L.A, dressed in a shirt, suit jacket, denim hot pants and high heels. He alongside two other people, struts confidently to the song "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls, while showing off his prominent rear to stunned onlookers, including Sharon Osborne.[13] It was later revealed by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK to be the most complained about advert in 2015 with 1,513 complaints. In their ruling, the ASA found that whilst it may be distasteful so some, it did not judge the ad was offensive and the complaint was not upheld.[14]

In July 2015, another advert was launched. It shows a chubby construction worker named Colin (played by Kyle McIntire). He dances, gryates, does a worm dance and a split in front of his co-workers and the bemused office staff at the other building. The song featured in this ad is "Just a Little" by British pop group Liberty X. At the end of the advert, he also swings on a wrecking ball (a reference to the video of Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball).[15]

In January 2016, another TV campaign by agency Mother was launched featuring a bodyguard named Gary. The song featured in the ad is "Big Bad Wolf" by Duck Sauce, an American-Canadian DJ duo.[16]

In April 2016, another advert was released. It showed all three of the 'epic' people having a dance off in a car park. The song featured in the advert is "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink. The ad premiered during the first break of Britains Got Talent.[17]

In March 2017, another advert featuring Skeletor dancing to the song "Fame" and also featuring He-Man was released.[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Moneysupermarket.com Group. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. Moneysupermarket founder Simon Nixon moves to Jersey over tax The Telegraph, 16 November 2012
  3. 1 2 Moneysupermarket.com:History
  4. "The Independent - 404". The Independent. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  5. Ben Bland (26 July 2007). "Moneysupermarket.com IPO disappoints". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. "Moneysupermarket.com & SimonSeeks: Simon Nixon". Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  7. "About Us". moneysupermarket.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  8. "Take care when using price comparison websites". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  9. "Watch Omid Djalili in Moneysupermarket.com ad". The Guardian. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  10. "Moneysupermarket 'surf' by Mother". Campaign Live. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  11. "Moneysupermarket.com "running with cats" by Mother". Campaign Live. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  12. "MoneySuperMarket Ad Featuring Snoop Dogg". You Tube. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  13. "Businessman's bizarre 'sexy' strut". The Sun. 17 January 2015.
  14. "2015's most complained about ads". ASA. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  15. "MoneySupermarket follows 'epic strut' with pole-dancing builder". Campaign Live. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  16. "Moneysupermarket.com "epic wolf" by Mother". Campaign. Haymarket Media Group. 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-03-02. Moneysupermarket.com's follow-up to last year's popular "epic strut" and "Colin" ads features a presidential bodyguard popping and locking to Duck Sauce's Big Bad Wolf.
  17. "The new Money Supermarket ad has debuted – and it features a bit of an epic dance off". Metro. DMG Media. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  18. "Skeletor Boogies to 'Fame' in Moneysupermarket's Latest 'Epic' Ad".
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