RatedPeople the UK’s largest online trade recommendation service, has selected Diffusion as its retained consumer PR agency as part of an on-going strategy to build brand-awareness among its core homeowner audience.

The campaign will focus on introducing the RatedPeople.com platform as the place to find trusted, quality, local tradespeople for a range of home improvement jobs. The campaign will also highlight the importance of the site’s ratings system, which allows people to provide honest feedback on the tradesmen they hire, which is a key differentiator for RatedPeople.com, and has helped it grow to become the UK’s largest online trade recommendation service.

A key campaign objective will be elevating the RatedPeople.com brand, so that it becomes the first choice for homeowners searching for a local tradesman, but also the destination for quality tradesmen to find jobs instead of relying on directory services.

RatedPeople.com was founded in 2005. Homeowners who are in need of a tradesman can post jobs for free on RatedPeople.com and receive quotes from up to three interested tradesmen. This makes the site a two-way platform, connecting over a million homeowners with over 30,000 local tradesmen each month.

Tariq Dag Khan, CMO RatedPeople.com commented: “Online trade recommendation is the future for homeowners looking to find quality tradesmen they can trust. The industry is still in its nascent phase and there is a level of education needed to make homeowners aware of the ease and benefits of using the service. We want to raise awareness of our company, and the advantages for tradesmen and homeowners of using us, so Diffusion’s creative ideas and payment by results model meant the decision to work with them was an easy one to make.”

Tom Malcolm, Diffusion’s Head of Consumer said: “RatedPeople.com is perfectly placed to fill the increasing demand from consumers to get online recommendations when making decisions about their home. Diffusion’s expertise in harnessing the power of word of mouth recommendation, gained from our work on our other home-based consumer clients such as Dunelm Mill, will help to shape the campaign. Though a series of integrated creative campaigns we’re confident that we can continue to strengthen RatedPeople.com’s number one position in the home improvement market.”

Hotels.com, the world’s leading hotel booking website has appointed integrated agency Diffusion to raise consumer awareness of its mobile offering through a content seeding campaign to drive visibility and downloads of the Hotels.com’s mobile and tablet apps. The brief will be driven by examining trends on how mobile technology is changing the travel industry, positioning Hotels.com as a pioneer in this space.

A central objective of the campaign will be to drive downloads by combining strategic placement and product reviews in consumer tech media with the generation of consumer news stories. Supplementary to this, the campaign will also communicate the advantages of exclusive app hotel deals and the unique Welcome Rewards loyalty programme to personal finance media.

Alison Couper from Hotels.com commented:  “Since the app launched early last year, we have already achieved several million downloads but now want to take it to the next level. We want to drive downloads to a point where everyone who uses the website will use the app so all our customers have the advantage of booking with speed, security and convenience – whenever and wherever suits them best. We also want to underline the exclusive mobile late deals we offer through the app. We’re keen to get the app the exposure it deserves which is why we appointed Diffusion’s specialist Mobile team with their proven track record for delivering successful app awareness campaigns.”

Ivana Farthing, Head of Mobile Practice, at Diffusion continued: “The Hotels.com app offers the spontaneity that travelling consumers need, whether they are caught out and need to find somewhere to stay quickly, or are simply browsing hotels for their next holiday on their way home. This app in particular is the perfect embodiment of what the best travel apps should deliver: spontaneity, ease and help on the go and we’re excited to be working with Hotels.com, using our expertise in strategic app promotion to raise awareness and drive downloads.”

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.