Carrentals.co.uk Case Study

Context was first appointed by Carrentals.co.uk in 2003 when the company was founded as a car hire broker. Context was tasked with raising the profile of the brand to secure high levels of bookings for the company.

In 2007, Carrentals.co.uk changed its business structure from a car hire broker to a car hire comparator. The re-launch needed to communicate the change of direction the business had taken and what this new comparison service offered to customers.

Aims

• Establish Carrentals.co.uk as the leading car hire comparator in the UK
• Drive bookings for Carrentals.co.uk and make the website the first port of call for anyone looking to book car hire
• Build the reputation of Carrentals.co.uk with key journalists and publications across national, travel and consumer media
• Gain customer loyalty to increase repeat bookings
• Use PR to lead all other marketing activity

Actions

• Re-launched the brand as a price comparison website
• Generated an ongoing stream of news and advice to help build Carrentals.co.uk as a trusted and established brand
• Educated consumers on the benefits of a comparison website through a strong, targeted media campaign
• Built the profile of Carrentals.co.uk spokespeople in national and travel publications
• Monitored travel trends and news stories to respond to current issues
• Built strong relationships with key journalists through a dedicated press trip facility service
• Increased customer loyalty through expert travel advice, clear and honest messaging and exclusive partnerships and offers
• Created and managed quality interactive customer resources on Carrentals.co.uk, including a forum and blog

Results

• Following the re-launch of Carrentals.co.uk as a comparator in 2007, the company is now the
• UK’s leading price comparison website for car rental – the company’s market share for car hire search terms in 2010 reached 59%
• 97 pieces of national coverage in 2010, including articles in The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Radio 4 and News of the World
• Average value of monthly press coverage in 2010 = £180,000
• Won the 2008 Travolution Award for Best Car Hire website and Highly Commended as Best
• Meta Search/Price Comparison Website 2010
• E-letter programme initiated and coordinated by Context helped to grow customer database to over 300,000
• Context helped increase Carrentals.co.uk’s turnover to over £27m in 2010 – achieved from a standing start in 2003
• Context has now represented Carrentals.co.uk for eight years