Want to build a strong community for your Challenger Brand? Here’s how Airbnb does it.
Today, Airbnb unveiled its new global Host campaign. As a superhost on the platform I was invited to see the campaign launch live, and was taken back by how impressive it was.
The campaign, delivered as a series of videos, focuses on the connections, memories and magic moments we associate with travel, putting them within reach (domestically) thanks to Airbnb hosts.
In contrast to the homogenous experience of hotels, Airbnb’s unique stays and the thoughtful touches provided by hosts provide the welcome respite to the sameness we experience in quarantine.
Be it a note on fresh towels or being welcomed with home baked cookies and local craft beers, they’re welcome reminders of the connections we yearn for and what makes the Airbnb platform so powerful. The campaign is a celebration of that. It’s simple but effective storytelling, driven by the authenticity of real photographs from real guest experiences, set to a backdrop of emotional soundtracks.
It’s also an excellent example of a brand showing self-love.
By leaning into what makes Airbnb unique and the point of difference it offers, it’s created something memorable. The fact it was introduced to hosts like myself in a community-first event via Zoom, before anyone else, is also a nice touch.
At the end of 2020 I shared a post on LinkedIn about 5&Vine’s rebrand. While that rebrand included a new website, landing pages, rethinking social and content strategies, it centered on the idea of being your own client, and finding a way to make new work, work. As a result, 2020 ended up being our best year yet.
After seeing this campaign reveal, I can’t help but feel Airbnb is finding success by doing the same. Airbnb is about community and belonging and while the travel industry has been perhaps one of the most affected by the pandemic, this content proves they’re readying for a rebound.
Rather than celebrate a tone of travellers in front of famous landmarks in far-flung countries, they’re focusing on domestic travel, making memories with friends and family, and promising that, with great hosts, excitement awaits in travel. In the face of insurmountable odds, they’re staying true to what makes them unique.
To see the campaign in full (which I highly recommend), you can see more on the Airbnb site.
