Founded in March 2011, Wimdu is one of a growing group of companies offering a marketplace for homeowners to rent out their spare rooms and homes to tourists and visitors. The company set up UK offices in May 2011 and already lists almost 2,000 properties in the UK. Helped by an £80million investment injection by the Samwer Brothers, Wimdu has expanded globally and now has over 35,000 properties in 2,000 cities across 100 countries.

The campaign will focus on building brand awareness of Wimdu’s social accommodation search which unites travellers and hosts from around the world. The campaign will also aim to attract new hosts to the site especially in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics. Diffusion will reinforce that anybody can offer their flat or house to guests, the host benefits from additional income and social travel provides guests with a completely new perspective on the holiday destination.

A key campaign objective will be introducing consumers to social accommodation whilst encouraging home owners to open their home to guests visiting the UK. The campaign will be driven by key creative peaks, reinforced by a solid and integrated press office campaign.

Michael Riegel, CEO of Wimdu UK commented, “Social accommodation is one of the fastest growing sectors within the travel industry, but has yet to gain substantial media coverage across media channels. We want to raise awareness of this trend, and Diffusion’s experience in the travel industry combined with their integrated approach, made the agency a natural choice.”

Tom Malcolm, Head of Consumer at Diffusion commented:  “Wimdu UK is the type of challenger brand we love to work with at Diffusion. The British public has an enduring love affair with all aspects of travel and we want to tap into all those emotional connections through our campaign. Wimdu UK is operating in a competitive space and a consumer campaign which can tap into a new trend can really help increase brand presence.”

As reported by PR Week today, Wimdu has appointed Diffusion as its retained consumer PR agency. Following a competitive pitch, Diffusion has been selected to develop and implement a communications strategy raising awareness of Wimdu UK among consumers in the UK through a sustained national and regional media campaign.

Founded in March 2011, Wimdu is one of a growing group of companies offering a marketplace for homeowners to rent out their spare rooms and homes to tourists and visitors. The company set up UK offices in May 2011 and already lists almost 2,000 properties in the UK. Helped by an £80million investment injection by the Samwer Brothers, Wimdu has expanded globally and now has over 35,000 properties in 2,000 cities across 100 countries. Our campaign will focus on building brand awareness of Wimdu’s social accommodation search which unites travellers and hosts from around the world.

Michael Riegel, CEO of Wimdu UK commented, “Social accommodation is one of the fastest growing sectors within the travel industry, but has yet to gain substantial media coverage across media channels. We want to raise awareness of this trend, and Diffusion’s experience in the travel industry combined with their integrated approach, made the agency a natural choice.”

Today we launched our annual Social TV Trends Report 2011 which finds that the way Brits watch, share, discuss and interact with their TVs is fundamentally changing as a result of social media – as reported by BBC News, PaidContent, and The Next Web. More than three quarters (76 per cent) of TV viewers surf the internet, use our mobile phones, use our iPads or instant message while watching our favourite programmes. Surveying the habits of 2,025 British online consumers with YouGov, our report has found that ‘media stacking’ continues to grow in popularity and has now become mainstream.

Among ‘Media Stacking’ activities, Internet browsing is the most popular activity with 62 per cent of us surfing while watching TV followed by using a mobile phone (46 per cent) and using Facebook (38 per cent). One in five (20 per cent) 18-24 year old TV viewers are on Twitter while watching their favourite TV shows while 28 per cent are using instant messaging such as BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). While 96 per cent of 18-24 year old TV viewers admit to ‘media stacking’, it’s not just an activity for the younger generation as almost two thirds (63 per cent) of TV viewing Brits aged over 55 do it too.

According to the report, 43 per cent of British adults have commented or discussed it with other people not in the same room as them. Women are more likely to be doing so – one in two (50 per cent) compared to 37 per cent of men, while 18-34 year olds are the most prolific commentators (68 per cent).

Social media continues to revive TV as a truly social experience allowing a deeper, shared viewing experience with one big difference: instead of rushing home with our friends and family to huddle around the box on a Saturday night, we are flocking to our laptops, iPads and mobile phones to share the experience virtually. British consumers are information hungry and it appears that not even the most compelling new TV shows can glue our eyes solely on the box as Brits of all ages are combining their viewing with at least one other digital channel. This trend is good news for TV manufacturers who can integrate social TV capabilities into their products, and an opportunity for broadcasters who can truly still create national TV moments that aren’t just major sporting events and see off the naysayers who predicted that the internet and catch-up TV would be the death knell of linear TV programming.