Copycat advertising: Is it successful?

Copycat advertising takes a really popular concept..and well copies it.

A while back comparethemarket.com launched an amazingly successful campaign comparethemeerkat.com which is still running quite successfully today perhaps also because the meerkat's in all honesty are quite successful. 

So when I came across this ad by LesFurets.com I was slightly disappointed. Sure it's a cute little ad but it lacked originality in it being too similar to comparethemeerkats.com which is in the same product category as well.

But for those who recognize the similarity its a fantastic win for LesFurets. By piggybacking on an already successful campaign their customers would recognize the advantages of the product/service being advertised, with much less investment than their competitors. 

Copycat Advertising.. Does it add any value??

I recently came across a post in which a question was raised about two ads by Nissan & Renault which were shockingly similar..the question was, which one came first?

Honestly, I do not know the answer, but what I am more curious about is why are they similar in the first place?

Both adverts, were for the brands' new line of electric cars, product similarity is not justification enough.
On the same vein of thought, a couple of deodorant  advertisements in India came under fire for being "too sexy" for public viewing. I assume that these brands intended on copying the "the Axe effect" to promote their brands as well.

But is there a point to copycat advertising?
I Think Not.

It just goes to show that, the brand in question does not have its own identity, but is dependent on the success of the brand they are copying. In fact, it may even have a negative effect in the sense that the viewer may end up comparing both ads and if yours is of an inferior quality it may just drive up the sales of the original brand.  So what then is the point of spending money to advertise your brand, when all you may be doing is promoting the brand whose creative was original in the first place? None!

It is better to have your own brand identity even if it may be as popular, but at least your original.