The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is leaning on the power of Compare the Market’s iconic Meerkat to raise awareness of its role in ensuring that advertising remains legal, decent, honest and truthful.

The ASA has teamed up with Compare the Market and Acast for the next phase of its awareness campaign which launches UK-wide this week and will run for eight weeks across multiple platforms and channels, both online and offline.

The campaign hopes to continue industry momentum to build on the rising trust in advertising that the Credos Value of Trust report, released by the AA in June.

The Advertising Association (AA) has worked closely with many of its media owner members across the industry to help the ASA access advertising inventory which has been donated by organisations. This campaign is geared to help further.

This is not the first time the ASA has leaned on the nostalgia and fame of iconic advertising. With previous campaigns featuring Churchill, Irn-Bru, Lloyds, Marmite and Tesco.

This year, Compare the Market’s well-known ‘Simples’ strapline and Meerkat imagery will also feature in press and out of home advertising, as they set out to remind the public that they ensure ads remain legal, decent, honest and truthful.

Mark Vile, Chief Brand Officer at Compare the Market, said: “At the heart of our advertising is an inherent drive to ensure we are doing right by our customers. Our purpose is to help make great financial decisions a breeze for everyone, and our advertising sets out to make this message as engaging as possible.”

He continued: “For many years, our much-loved meerkats have entertained the British public and it’s great to see their fame lent to this campaign.’’

The ASA ad awareness campaign was launched in 2022 to increase people’s knowledge, trust and confidence in the ASA’s self-regulatory system.

After the first phase, thirty six percent of UK adults had seen their ads. With the most recent phase, their research has found that those who saw the campaign were twice as likely to say they tend to trust most ads, more than twice as likely to say they feel positively towards advertising and have a greater trust in ads across all media than those who hadn’t seen the ads. People who saw the ads were more than twice as likely to recognise the ASA logo, and almost twice as likely to know that the ASA regulates advertising on social media, than those who hadn’t seen the campaign.

A partnership with Acast will see the ASA awareness campaign appear on podcasts for the first time. A move that reflects the growth of podcasting as a media platform and the need to reach this audience and remind them that the ASA spans all media platforms.

The Leith Agency and EssenceMediacom have donated their time and expertise to the latest wave of the campaign.

Guy Parker, CEO of the ASA, explained: “We’re pleased that our ad campaign is having a real impact on people’s trust in the ASA and advertising. It’s important people know that we’re here, keeping advertising legal, decent, honest and truthful, and we’re grateful to all our partners for lending us their iconic slogans that the public know so well.”

He continued: “Our new partnership with Acast means we’ll be able to directly reach podcast listeners, reminding them that we regulate ads across all media. And the iconic branding of Compare the Market will help reinforce the message that the people can trust that we are effectively regulating UK advertising.”

Stephen Woodford, CEO of the Advertising Association, added: “Our work at the Advertising Association has always been rooted in building trust in advertising – which our recent tracking research shows is on the rise. Helping to build the greatest possible awareness of the UK’s gold-standard self-regulatory system is one of the key things we can do as an industry to drive even more trust in advertising. A huge thank you goes to all the media owners and brands who have supported this campaign so generously once again.”