One of the UK’s most loved brand characters has finally made his way to Australia, with Comparethemarket.com.au introducing quirky meerkat Alexandr Orlov to the market from Sunday.

The imminent arrival was revealed by B&T last year, but this weekend will see the comparethemeerkat.com.au website going live, as the price comparison site looks to cement a place in the Aussie market.

A soft launch of the brand a fortnight ago shunned the meerkats, instead opting to explain the offering of the comparison service.

When it launched in the UK the comical ads by VCCP, in which the aristocratic Russian star explains the common confusion of people arriving on his website instead of the Compare The Market site, ramped up brand recognition and hits.

The Australian version of the ad has not been revealed, but a statement from the insurance comparison service said it will be similar to the UK launch ad, with Orlov into comparing meerkats not insurance and intoning they are “two very different things”.

Australian managing director George Meligonis said: “Comparethemeerkat.com was hugely successful in the UK and we hope introducing a similar strategy to the brand here in Australia will help us gain the same visibility and market share – and importantly demonstrate to Australians why comparison websites could help them get a better deal.”

In December the adverts topped a Nielsen consumer poll as the UK’s most loved ad.