Entering 2009, Laterooms.com, a UK-based online accommodation specialist, was facing increasing pressure from competitors such as Booking.com, Hotels.com and Lastminute.com, which were investing heavily in online and TV. Therefore, it was crucial for Laterooms to increase its visibility and be perceived as a serious player. Digital display, pay per click and press were all elements that had been used before, Laterooms needed an additional element to deliver scale and therefore broad awareness. TV was selected as the best channel to deliver this.

To increase the visibility of Laterooms.com and be perceived as a serious player.

Adopting a "fame" (to deliver scale) and "engagement" (to enhance targeting) approach to environment, programmes such as Coronation Street, Champions League football and Britain's Got Talent were selected to deliver the former, while programming such as Islands Of Britain, A Place In The Sun and Around The World In 80 Trades were selected for their engagement value. Key periods where booking activity naturally increased (Easter, May Bank Holiday and August Bank Holiday) became the focus of TV activity and weekends (a key time for accommodation searches) were upweighted.

Awareness rose from 30 per cent to 50 per cent, site visits were up 49 per cent, bookings were up 70 per cent - and Laterooms grew its market share, from 2.21 points to 3.23 points (a 46 per cent rise) during the campaign (source: Hitwise: Destination and Accommodation).

"Using TV 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, the head of marketing at Laterooms, says. The campaign also won Best Newcomer to TV at the TV Planning Awards, ahead of 'TV accelerates value' for Pets At Home and 'Very gets a great start with TV' for Very.