Marketing in the news- Airbnb raising the bar
One of my favorite marketing campaigns that has been running within the last couple of years is the Airbnb animated ads, a clear simple idea that I think was executed perfectly. I am sure you have seen these ads on TV or YouTube, they compare the stay at a hotel vs the stay at an Airbnb, weighing the many advantages of staying at the private Airbnb. The slight variations in these ads cater to many. looking for a girls weekend? you don't want to be stuck in a public pool, use Airbnb. Visiting Paris? Stay in the trendiest neighborhoods with Airbnb. Each ad wraps up with the simple saying, "Get an Airbnb and get a place for yourself."
In The Drum article I read, Kendra Barnett met with the chief marketing officer Hiroki Asai, he explained that when Covid-19 hit in 2020 the tourism and travel industry took a toll. Because of the lockdowns, Airbnb lost 80% of her business basically over night. While some would see the situation they were in and give up, CMO Hiroki Asai, saw this dip in business as an opportunity to reimagine what the next stage of the company would look like. The business grabbed the reins to form a unified idea about their business. Before this point (pre-pandemic) Airbnbs marketing strategies were pretty relaxed, most of their publicity came from the media, and a lot of that media was not positive.
The creators of Airbnb wanted to regain control of their company, fix the narrative. Striving to make the company simpler and creatively driven, the team refocused their lens to show the REAL draw of Airbnb, the people. I would say this marketing team hit the nail right on the head. Keeping their brand in mind at all points, they have been able to crank out very many of these ads. The key point in every ad being, stay Where you want, with the people you want. The creativity in the ads is top tier, the animation in each one sets itself aside in your mind. I believe Airbnb does have the leg up on the home rentals when it comes to advertising. With companies like VRBO choosing to go the comedic route with their ads, I feel like the audience that would want to go stay at a vacation rental would be more drawn to the "artsy fartsy" ads.
Hiroki Asai spent 18 years on the marketing team for apple, I think that shows through in these ads. Steve Jobs had a saying that, "simple can be harder than complex-" I think that shows here. The simplicity of the ad sells the idea, it makes me think as a comsumer that my Airbnb experiencing will be the same. Me and my girlfriends are gonna go find a beautiful villa for the weekend. If I was in charge of this marketing campaign I would add some more types of places in the ads. Airbnb can run more on the expensive side, I think something about lower priced accommodation would be helpful, because the people who want to travel are probably younger(broke).
Its quality advertisements like these that make me happy, the creativity is inherently joyful. Unlike the Volvo ads that were made using artificial intelligence, those just make me nauseous. I think all companies should strive for this level of creativity.
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