• LateRooms.com used TV for the first time to give it an awareness boost
• A TV campaign made the online brand's PPC strategy more profitable
• LateRooms.com was made instantly more 'famous' - bookings increased by 70% and web visits by 49%

The challenge

LateRooms.com had never advertised on TV before, but stiff competition from rivals with bigger media spends had forced it to reassess its media strategy.

With the likes of booking.com and hotels.com investing heavily in both TV and Pay Per Click (PPC), there was a fear that unless it raised its game, LateRooms.com would become "out of sight, out of mind". Whilst it had used PPC, press and digital campaign elements before, it needed to add a new medium to boost brand awareness.

Against an overall aim to establish the brand as the 'go to' choice for accommodation booking, LateRooms.com wanted to deliver a profit of £10 million and raise prompted brand awareness to 46% (from 38% in the previous year).

The TV solution

Launching in April 2009, ads were based around a strategy of "Discovery", with the focus being on how LateRooms.com could help consumers and business travellers stretch accommodation budgets and find new and fun places to stay. Using the insight that around 50% of LateRooms.com bookings are made 'last minute', key periods such as Easter and Bank Holiday weekends were capitalised on. Weekends in general were also identified as a key time for accommodation searches so this was upweighted accordingly.

Spots were booked to run during relevant engagement programs such as A Place in the Sun and Islands of Britain and were also prioritised for popular shows such as Britain's Got Talent and Coronation Street to gain maximum 'fame' for the brand.

30" commercials launched the brand proposition at first, with 10" spots added to the mix once coverage had reached around 80%.

Results

Whilst we don't know whether the £10 million profit margin was achieved (LateRooms.com have not released figures for publication), it did enjoy a 41% increase in profit year on year and a 46% increase in market share. In addition, there was an increase of 49% increase in site visits over the duration of the campaign, spiking after each TV burst. By the end of the campaign, bookings were up 70% year-on-year - peaking at an increase of 95% year-on-year during the launch weekend.

As a result of the TV campaign, LateRooms.com's PPC strategy also became more profitable, with more traffic arriving at the site from cheaper (and so better converting) search terms such as 'late rooms'. According to tracking research, by the end of the campaign awareness was up from 30% to 50%, the brand had overtaken Hotels.com for consideration and was third only to industry heavyweights Lastminute.com and Expedia for claimed visitation.

In 2010, it plans to invest even more in TV.

"Using TV within our campaign mix was instrumental in our growth last year. The impact we saw was immediate, unlike the print campaigns we had done previously which built slowly over time. TV definitely did the job, not only in making our brand more 'famous' but in delivering traffic and bookings to the site."

Jessica Reading,
Head of Marketing,
LateRooms.com