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UK, July 23, 2012, 10:38 am -- /EPR NETWORK/ -- Confused.com recently conducted a unique social burglar experiment, following research revealing that 19% of the UK does not have any home and contents cover. To highlight the importance of having home insurance, the price comparison company invited members of the public to get involved with a secretive campaign based around burglary, becoming the first comparison website to embrace social media with such a campaign.
The first phase of the campaign began by asking more than 600 people who entered the
competition to visit a page on the Confused.com website and state the town or city
the clues in the video pointed to:
www.confused.com/home-insurance/articles/win-one-of-the-UKs-most-stolen-items-in-our-burglary-experiment.
The first three people who guessed the correct location from the clues given were then sent a video which told them about an opportunity to steal high value items from a vacant property in Bristol. In the video, they were asked to travel to Bristol Temple Meads train station, where they were met by an actor.
The competitors were then, one by one, picked up by the in-character actor from the video in a van and taken to the location in Bristol, where they were told to gain entry noiselessly and take what they could find. The competitors were filmed inside the house and were left unaware as to whether anybody would return to the house.
A video of the experience can be found at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7eMdQEPzNE.
The competitors included Alex from Brighton, who stated on the day that he had been burgled in the past while sleeping.
Security expert John Humphries of Defend and Protect Ltd has 17 years of security experience. He was asked to give his professional opinion of the contestant burglary footage and commented that Alex was surprisingly adept, most likely because he'd been burgled.
Sharon Flaherty, head of PR and content at Confused.com said: "With this campaign we were looking to create something immersive that demonstrated very clearly the importance of having home insurance and contents cover. We wanted to demonstrate that even members of the public with no burgling experience can gain access to a house and be in and out within minutes having stolen high value or sentimental items, and came up with this unique way to do so.
"In order to make it as authentic as possible, the contestants knew very little about the experience, something that was very important as we wanted to gain the insight of a security expert who could analyse the movements of the contestants and also give tips regarding home security. Interestingly, John Humphries said that the contestant who had been burgled was perhaps more at home in this experiment, as its clear that he now understands just what a burglar is looking for and where. I only hope those watching this don’t have to experience a burglary just to appreciate how devastating it can be."
About Confused.com
Confused.com is one of the UK's biggest and most popular price comparison services.
Launched in 2002, it generates over one million quotes per month. It has expanded
its range of comparison products over the last couple of years to include more
specialist insurances such as young drivers car insurance, landlord insurance and critical illness cover.
Confused.com is not a supplier, insurance company or broker. It provides an objective and unbiased comparison service. By using cutting-edge technology, it has developed a series of intelligent web-based solutions that help customers with their decision-making, subsequently finding them great deals on a wide-range of insurance products, financial services, utilities and more. Confused.com's service is based on the most up-to-date information provided by UK suppliers and industry regulators.
Confused.com is owned by the Admiral Group plc. Admiral listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004. Confused.com is regulated by the FSA.
PR Contact:
Sarah Wenham
Confused.com press office
Friary House
Greyfriars Road
Cardiff
CF10 3AE
02920 434275
www.confused.com
