GoCompare hails success of its annoying taxi ads

NEW TV ads for GoCompare featuring an annoying London cabbie have proved an unlikely hit after they helped accelerate sales for owner eSure.

GoCompare rolled out the new campaign to advertise its credit cards, mortgage and loan comparison tool, taking on the likes of Moneysupermarket.

The adverts incensed viewers, who flooded social media to complain they were too annoying but the campaign helped trigger a sales surge, driving Gocompare revenue up nearly a fifth to £36 million for the first three months of the year.

This compared to a 1% revenue rise in the first quarter last year. “Gocompare.com made very good progress in the first quarter… the new advertising campaign is delivering in line with our expectations,” chief executive Stuart Vann said.

Esure took full control of GoCompare in 2014 and reintroduced opera mascot Gio Compario last year after the previous owner killed him off. The new ads feature a bald cabbie and Compario in a Hackney carriage.

Overall gross written premiums for eSure rose 15.5% to £151 million. Motor insurance premiums were up 17.1% against 7.3% for home ones