Airtasker: Newsjacking to deliver brand awareness and thought leadership
THE CHALLENGE
We generate significant media coverage month-on-month for our retained client Airtasker, driven by strong newsjacking and storytelling around Airtasker’s impact on the lives of British people.
In fact, Airtasker is now so embedded as a marketplace for one off projects and jobs, that it can track employment confidence by the levels of activity on its site.
In early 2026, our client noticed a shift in sign-up patterns. As a result of press stories on job losses from AI, general perceptions of job security were unsettled and there was a sharp uptick in registrations to Airtasker. UK workers were unsure about which jobs would be affected by AI and people were taking to Airtasker to find projects that would de-risk redundancy and improve career security. The question was, how could we turn this observation into a significant corporate PR campaign?
OUR APPROACH
We decided to use the upcoming visit of Airtasker’s CEO to position him as a UK thought leader and spokesperson on these changing attitudes and behaviours.
Using Airtasker data combined with consumer research, we suggested that increases in registrations combined with the worries about AI on economic security was leading to what we coined as “skill stacking”, an employment trend where people are using multiple skills to earn income, spreading the risk if one source fails.
We created a media ready report, along with case studies of Airtasker users who are skill stacking, to create a package which we pitched to media.
THE RESULTS
From TV to national newspapers, the Skill Stacking report resonated. Coverage included:
The Times
The Sun
The Sunday Times
BBC Talking Business
Heart Breakfast
BBC Regional Radio
During the four-minute Heart FM Breakfast segment, Airtasker experienced a 1000% increase in registrations.
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