Moneysupermarket hunts agency for major launch of online brand

Moneysupermarket Financial Group is in talks with a number of undisclosed agencies over advertising for a “major” product launch. It is understood the launch is scheduled for January.

The review is in early stages, but agencies have been approached about the new brand by the company, which owns price-comparison site moneysupermarket.com. It is thought the launch will lead to a significant increase in the group’s advertising spend, which was £6.5m for the 12 months to March 31, according to Nielsen figures.

Details of the launch have yet to be revealed. Money-supermarket has confirmed it will be an online brand, but will be different from its existing propositions.

Moneysupermarket.com was launched in December 1999 and the site allows consumers to compare the cost of personal finance products across 28 product types including mortgages, loans, credit cards and savings accounts.
The group also operates sister site Travelsupermarket and Mortgage 3000, a specialist site for mortgage brokers and intermediaries.

It is not known if Moneysupermarket’s roster agencies, Doner Cardwell Hawkins and digital agency TBG, have been approached to pitch for the project.

The company appointed Doner Cardwell Hawkins to create its first TV ad campaign last year. The aim of the creative was to position Moneysupermarket as the ultimate virtual store. It also handed TBG its £5m online advertising business in November last year. The agency handles advertising, online media planning and buying as well as affiliate marketing for the group’s sites.

The brand faces increasing competition, with rivals such as Confused.com ploughing millions of pounds into marketing.

Tesco Personal Finance, the financial services brand owned by the supermarket and Royal Bank of Scotland, has also launched a site comparing insurance from a number of different providers, including RBS Insurance’s Churchill.