Contenu connexe Similaire à Airbnb Campaign Proposal Similaire à Airbnb Campaign Proposal (20) 2. Overstep Communications
157 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94127
March 22, 2016
Jonathan Mildenhall
Chief Marketing Officer
Airbnb, Inc.
888 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Dear Mr. Mildenhall:
Attached in this booklet is Airbnb’s Campaign Proposal. Enclosed you will first find
an Executive Summary and Introduction, followed by the overall Marketing Problem, which
discusses that lack of awareness and security concerns prevent travelers from booking an
Airbnb. After that, you will find a detailed Situation Analysis with a SWOT. Next, there is an
explanation of the target audience for this campaign. The target audience is millennials in
the U.S., China, and Korea, and there is supporting evidence from both Primary and
Secondary Research. Finally, you will encounter our Marketing and Communication Goals,
along with brief Creative, Media, and Promotional Strategies. Here, it will explain that the
advertisements need to reduce skepticism and raise awareness in order for the target to
become a member of Airbnb.
If you have any questions, please contact Overstep Communications.
Sincerely,
3. Table of Contents
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Marketing Problem ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Situation Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Company Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Consumer Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Market Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 9
Product Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Competitive Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 11
SWOT .......................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Strengths .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Weaknesses ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
Opportunities ................................................................................................................................................. 20
Threats .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
Target Audience ................................................................................................................................................... 27
Secondary Research .................................................................................................................................... 27
Primary Research ......................................................................................................................................... 29
Methodology .............................................................................................................................................. 29
Results and Implications ....................................................................................................................... 30
Synthesis of Primary and Secondary Research ............................................................................... 40
Target Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 41
Problems and Opportunities Associated with Target Audience .............................................. 42
Campaign Goals .................................................................................................................................................... 46
Marketing Goals ............................................................................................................................................ 46
Communication Goals ................................................................................................................................ 47
Recommended Creative, Media, and Promotional Strategies ................................................... 51
Creative Approach ...................................................................................................................................... 51
Media Strategy .............................................................................................................................................. 52
Promotional Strategy ................................................................................................................................. 54
Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 56
5. 1
Executive Summary
Airbnb was founded in 2008 by two friends and allows travelers to rent spaces from
hosts, or people who have vacant space in their homes. While relatively new, Airbnb’s
current worth is $25.5 billion (Carson, 2015). Over the few years Airbnb have been
operating, the service has generated much attention. More than 60 billion individuals have
used Airbnb in 34,000 cities and 190 countries. Further, there have been 2 million listings
worldwide (Airbnb—Recapping Day 1 of Airbnb Open, n.d.).
In spite of their success, Airbnb struggles to communicate a positive brand image to
potential new users. This disconnect is largely based on mistrust of the company and is
affecting the number of people who decide to become members. Overstep Communications
recommended to focus on students and professionals, 18 to 34-years-old, because our
research showed that these two groups use travel sites to book travel accommodations.
Expanding into the Chinese and Korean markets provides multiple opportunities for
Airbnb because of a growing number of international and domestic tourists in these areas
(Travel China Guide, 2015; Statistics Korea, 2015). Our research showed that there are not
any significant differences seen between students and professionals among the different
markets, except for China. Thus, the proposed campaign Overstep Communications
constructed focuses on targeting millennials in America, China, and Korea. Additionally, the
Chinese and Korean markets will push Airbnb to develop a more trusting personality, as
these two are most concerned with the trustworthiness of the service.
Lastly, the proposed campaign will revolve around increasing the number of people
who sign up to become members. The advertisements will include informative and
emotional appeals and be placed online through banner advertisements and social media.
6. 2
Introduction
When booking travel accommodations, there are many sources used. As found in
our research, people tend to look for accommodations that have good security in the area
and that are clean, such as the multitude of online sources available, and this service is an
up and coming form of one of these services. Airbnb provide different alternatives to hotel
accommodations during travels. Hosts of Airbnb rent out rooms or their entire homes to
people looking for a different accommodation when traveling to a new destination.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb has grown significantly (About Us, n.d.). They began in San
Francisco and destinations can now be found all around the world (Airbnb, n.d.). Currently,
there are Airbnb listings in 34,000 cities and 190 countries (About Us, n.d.). The service is
becoming more popular; however, there are still a few challenges.
Since Airbnb were founded in 2008, the company is still relatively new and this is
apparent in the knowledge, or lack thereof, the service (Harris, 2015). Airbnb is a service
that, while convenient, also draws some skepticism from consumers. The goal is to reduce
the skepticism; to get more people to sign up to become members. That way, members will
be able to search for a wide variety of different options and increase traffic to Airbnb’s
website.
7. 3
Marketing Problem
Airbnb continue to grow and rise in popularity. Last year, they valued at $25.5
billion (Winkler, 2015). Yet, Airbnb faces many problems that prevent the valuation from
increasing. The biggest challenge Airbnb encounters is lack of awareness. Morgan Stanley
conducted a survey and of those respondents who have not used Airbnb before, 59% said
that they have not heard of Airbnb (Harris, 2015). Therefore, the problem needs to be
addressed in this campaign so more people sign up to become a member and the valuation
of the company can increase.
Additionally, Airbnb users and non-users have security concerns (Harris, 2015). In
the same study by Morgan Stanley, 32% of respondents have privacy concerns while 27%
have safety concerns with Airbnb (Harris, 2015). Security issues present a huge challenge
for Airbnb, especially for non-users who are most likely not going to try the service.
Consequently, Airbnb needs to assure consumers that they can be just as safe when staying
in an Airbnb listing as when staying in a hotel.
All in all, Airbnb’s future campaign needs to address these concerns in order to
accomplish their marketing goal, which is to get the target audience to sign up to become
active members.
8. 4
Situation Analysis
Company Analysis
History
As mentioned previously, Airbnb was founded in 2008 when 27-year-old
roommates, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, were struggling to pay their rent. According to an
interview featured in The Telegraph by Jessica Salter:
They had met five years earlier at Rhode Island School of Design. When they heard
about hotels running out of rooms due to a design conference in San Francisco,
Gebbia and Chesky jumped on the opportunity. They rented out three airbeds on
their living-room floor and cooked their guests breakfast the following morning.
After the stay proved to be successful, Gebbia and Chesky created
AirBedandBreakfast.com, receiving renters just six days after: “a 30-year-old Indian
man, a 35-year-old woman from Boston, and a 45-year-old father of four from Utah
sleeping on their floor for $80 a night.” The two young men realized this website
could grow into something amazing (Salter, 2012).
Both Gebbia and Chesky wanted to be entrepreneurs, but neither had a desire to
create more “stuff that ends up in landfill,” so creating a website that would allow people to
rent something that already existed was a great idea (Salter, 2012). After enlisting former
roommate, Nathan Blecharczyk, they began to officially develop the website. In summer
2008, President Obama was due to speak in Denver at the Democratic National Convention
and 80,000 people were expected to attend (Salter, 2012). With another shortage of hotel
rooms, Gebbia, Chesky, and Blecharczyk finished and launched the website two weeks
9. 5
before the conference. They had 800 listings within a week but were not making any
money. The young men decided to start selling boxes of cereal branded as “Obama O’s” and
“Cap’n McCain” for $40 each, selling 800 and making around $30,000 (Salter, 2012).
In 2009, investor Paul Graham (the co-founder of Y Combinator, a startup mentoring
program) gave the company $20,000 in funding, leading to another $600,000 from venture
capitalists (Salter, 2012). After adding a charge of up to 15% for booking, the trio was
making enough money to pay for living expenses by April. After investing a “significant
amount” of money, actor Ashton Kutcher became their Strategic Advisor. The company
received a further $112 million in venture funding in July 2011. Airbnb proved to be a
significant success (Salter, 2012).
Sales and Profits
As stated above, Airbnb reached a valuation of $25.5 billion, after finalizing a $1.5
billion funding round (Carson, 2015). According to Biz Carson from Business Insider, the
$25.5 billion exceeds hotel chain Marriott ($21 billion) and doubles the valuation of travel
site Expedia. Airbnb sees themselves hauling in “$10 billion in revenue by 2020, with
profits of $3 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization” (Carson, 2015).
In 2015, Airbnb expected $850 million in revenue and an operating loss of about $150
million, while striving to expand their market to new locations and dealing with regulatory
issues (Carson, 2015). There has been recent success with the company’s expansion to
Cuba, where there are more than 2,000 listings (Carson, 2015).
However, Airbnb continues to face regulatory issues. For a brief period of time, it
became illegal to use Airbnb in New York City (Carson, 2015). After the motion was
overturned, Airbnb shared that they are willing to pay taxes, as they do for San Francisco
10. 6
and Washington D.C. (Carson, 2015). The success of Airbnb is evident since Airbnb started
as a one-room listing and has expanded into hundreds of thousands of listings.
Unfortunately, the current marketing problem prevents Airbnb’s consumer base from
expanding.
Exisiting Consumer Analysis
Airbnb’s current consumers are segmented into two specific groups: hosts and
travelers (Deep, 2015). This particular mix allows the company to successfully function as a
sharing economy-based system; a system built upon an in-depth method of connecting
individuals around the world. As of February 2016, Airbnb has attracted 60 million users
and 640,000 hosts (Airbnb-Recapping Day 1 of Airbnb Open, n.d.). Hosts provide travelers
with a cozy accommodation, and sometimes food to eat. Simultaneously, travelers use
Airbnb as a service to find a “homey” place to stay in, sometimes, a new foreign setting.
Of the 640,000 hosts, 54% are female and 46% are male (Buhr, 2015). A study
conducted by former White House National Economic Advisor, Gene Sperling, found that
“the majority of hosts are working-class families who rent out their primary residence for
about 66 days a year,” increasing their annual income by 14% (Buhr, 2015). Interestingly
enough, Airbnb’s Head of Global Policy and Public Affairs, Chris Lehane, shared in an article
from The New York Times by Mike Isaac that “99 percent of people on Airbnb in New York
City are using it as an economic lifeline" (Isaac, 2015). Seventy-two percent of Airbnb hosts
in New York City use the money they earn from renting out their space to stay in their own
home (Heath, 2015). Ben Popper from The Verge interviewed described how an Airbnb
host rented five units, but only had one under his name and estimated an income of
$500,000 (Popper, 2015). On average, Airbnb hosts annually earn $7,350 (or a 14% raise in
11. 7
annual income) from temporarily renting out their space (Heath, 2015). Based on this,
Airbnb claims to be helping the middle-class family supplement their income through the
site (Burh, 2015). Although generating a steady flow of revenue is important to hosts,
building trust is just as crucial. Hosts hope to develop a trusting relationship between
themselves and potential users (Airbnb, 2014).
Due to the lack of understanding of applicable laws that are enforced, hosts are
accused of “cheating” the system of tax dollars (Williams-Alvarez, 2014). In order to
comfortably and safely participate in the growing sharing-economy, travelers and hosts
need to understand the laws. Since laws in different cities and states are continuing to
change, this is a long-term problem.
For travelers, Airbnb is an exciting get-away from the regular monotonous pattern
of life. Travelers seize the opportunity to “take advantage of a higher quality of items or
services than they would otherwise afford,” (Hughes, 2016). Chesky shared with Conde´
Nast that there are five specific ways in which travelers use Airbnb: neighborhood
sampling, visiting family and friends, introducing grandparents to their new grandchildren,
taking lengthy vacations, and exploring new “quirky” locations (Cohen, 2014).
Moving to a new city is both exciting and terrifying. Often times, individuals would
like to get a feel of the area during all hours of the day to decide whether or not a place is
for them. Chesky claimed setting up a month-stay in that new area is a perfect way to get a
clear feel on the location (Cohen, 2014). He added many users use Airbnb specifically for
said reason (Cohen, 2014).
Further, staying in an extended family member’s home proves to be an interesting
experience. For some, staying with family is comforting, but Airbnb gives users the option
12. 8
of being able to get away when it is no longer comforting but suffocating. Chesky said he
noticed people booking houses in the same neighborhood as their family members (Cohen,
2014). A host in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood told Chesky that most of her guests
were family members of other residents in her building (Cohen, 2014). Additionally, after
having a new baby, most parents often invite their own parents to help out with household
chores and taking care of the infant. When grandparents stay in the home, they can become
overbearing, so it is not surprising that new parents are using Airbnb to book their parents
a home during their stay. Through this, everyone is given more privacy (Cohen, 2014).
Last minute and spontaneous bookings make up Airbnb’s business but Chesky
indicated that extended stays are growing, as well (Cohen, 2014). According to Chesky, “ten
percent of our business is long-term stays, and it is growing...I could easily see that being
15 to 20%,” (Cohen, 2014). He believed this specific area is where Airbnb shines brightest.
Chesky encouraged people to think of how they may feel after staying at a friend’s for 30
days, or a hotel for 30 days. Using Airbnb for an extended stay certainly seems more
appropriate (Cohen, 2014).
In terms of age, the company has attracted a great amount of interest from
millennials as well. EMarketer found “a November 2012 survey by JWTIntelligence [stated]
more than half of millennials (those ages 18 to 34) said they would use a peer-to-peer
service like Airbnb—a far higher percentage than Generation X and baby boomers”
(eMarketer, 2014). However, studies do show that 10% of Airbnb hosts are over the age of
60 and 1 million Airbnb users are also over the age of 60 (Airbnb-Celebrating Airbnb’s 60+
Host Community, n.d.).
Surprisingly, Chesky disclosed that many people want unusual places to stay, “like
13. 9
boats, treehouses, handmade homes, and yurts.” He added “[Airbnb is] probably the largest
marketplace for boats,” and their most popular listings are treehouses (Cohen, 2014).
Airbnb’s app is known for finding such locations underneath their “Discovery” section,
“which features private islands, windmills, haunted houses, and even buses you can sleep
in” (Cohen, 2014). It is precisely listings like these that have allowed Airbnb to attract such
a unique and diverse group of travelers. These individuals look for adventure and
excitement. Travelers keep their end of the sharing-economy bargain as they find the new
ways to create long-lasting memories while helping their community.
Market Analysis
Airbnb have 2,368 employees (450 of which are in Europe) and is positioned as the
world’s 3rd most valuable privately held startup (Gamba, 2015; Byrne, 2015; Alba, 2015).
This notion was solidified by Airbnb’s finance round in June 2015. According to Davey Alba
in Wired, their $1.5 billion financing round was one of the largest private funding rounds
ever (Alba, 2015). They are currently behind Uber, who is positioned as the 1st most
valued privately held startup (valued at $62.5 billion) and then Xiaomi, a smartphone
manufacturer that sells high-end devices at low prices, positioned in 2nd place (valued at
$46 billion) (Alba, 2015; Seifert, 2013).
In New York City, Airbnb have made a great impression. Airbnb share on their
public blog that the median home-sharing income for an Airbnb host in New York City is
$5,110 (Popper, 2015). According to Airbnb’s website, “78% of Airbnb hosts in New York
earn low, moderate, or middle incomes” and “36% [(freelancers, part-time workers, or
students)] have unsteady incomes” (Airbnb, 2015). Further, there are “13,800 active
listings in Brooklyn, 13,400 active listings in Outer Manhattan, 5,300 active listings in
14. 10
Central Manhattan, 2,500 active listings in Queens, 430 active listings in the Bronx, and 200
active listings in Staten Island” (Airbnb, 2015).
As previously mentioned, Airbnb is presently active in 34,000 cities and 190
countries. Their listings are especially popular among business travelers, with a 2015
“annual growth rate of 261 percent domestically and 249 percent internationally” (Yeung,
2016). The most popular U.S. city for booking is San Francisco, California and the most
popular international city is Vancouver, Canada (Yeung, 2016).
Moreover, Airbnb hope to expand into the Chinese market. Blecharczyk told The
Financial Times that the demand in China to travel increased exponentially last year (Shead,
2016). Airbnb target Chinese tourists looking to travel internationally (Horwitz, 2015).
According to Horwitz, Airbnb became “‘strategic partners’ with China Broadband Capital
and Sequoia Capital China, and is looking for a CEO to head up a domestic branch”
(Horwitz, 2015). As Fritz Demopolous stated, “domestic Chinese travel is probably 80 to 90
percent of the overall travel market” (Horwitz, 2015). Airbnb must adapt their business
model if they want to effectively reach Chinese travelers.
Product Analysis
Travelers often wish to find new, interesting accommodations when booking their
travels, and these are what Airbnb offer. Staying in hotels can get redundant and boring, so
the options offered by Airbnb provide new experiences for travelers. The rates of Airbnb
can be more affordable than the typical hotel, which allows for more exploration and
experience gained from the travel destination of the consumer. At high travel times, like the
summer, hotel prices are more likely to go up and are more difficult to book due to the high
demand of consumers (Okura, 2015). Airbnb can help solve this issue.
15. 11
While Airbnb is still growing, the problem of booked hotels or high prices can be
alleviated by booking an Airbnb room or home. The wants and needs of people are
changing and they are looking for different experiences when they travel and it is
important for providers to be aware of these changes (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson,
2015, p. 102). Airbnb provides these types of experiences and allows the satisfaction of the
wants and needs to occur. Travelers want to be able to enjoy themselves while they are
away and not worry about how much money they are spending overall. By booking an
Airbnb, these consumers are able to save some of their funds for other experiences.
Airbnb’s brand essence is built up by many aspects. The brand’s personality can be
described as young, adventurous, innovative, bold and visionary (Parente & Strausbaugh-
Hutchinson, 2015, p. 168). They also offer many attributes and benefits to their consumers
that help position themselves better (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 168).
Some attributes include affordability and variety of options, in which cases consumers can
select the accommodations most relevant to their wants and needs. The benefits gained
include the satisfaction of saving money and of having choices when booking
accommodations for travels.
The essence of the brand Airbnb builds allows consumers to create mental
connections to the brand that will provide an opportunity to create top of mind awareness.
In addition, loyal customers will continue to use the service (Parente & Strausbaugh-
Hutchinson, 2015, p. 103). These mental connections will bring consumers back to Airbnb
and encourage others to use the service. With a good brand essence, Airbnb will be able to
grow their consumer base and increase membership on their site.
Competitive Analysis
16. 12
Since accommodation-sharing is a newer concept compared to traditional
accommodation reservations, Airbnb has both indirect and direct competitors. Travelers
mainly use online travel agents, such as Expedia and still use other renting sites like
HomeAway (Harris, 2015). On the other hand, China has Airbnb imitators that are very
similar to Airbnb and its business model, like Xiazohu (CIW Team, 2015).
Expedia
Expedia provides travelers with an online trip-planning resource. These resources
allow travelers to book all of their travel accommodations, including airline tickets, hotel
reservations, car rentals, cruises, and vacation packages. Expedia launched in 1996 and
currently resides in North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific region (Hoover’s-Expedia,
n.d.). Similar to Airbnb, Expedia offer accommodations that appeal to both leisure travelers
and business travelers, in addition to providing a large variety of options ranging from
modest to luxury accommodations (Global Network of Brands, n.d.). According to Hoover’s,
Expedia’s sales in 2015 was $6.67 billion and the net income was $764.47 million. While
Expedia offer different travel accommodations, 93% of the revenue is generated just from
leisure travels and 70% of the revenue is generated from hotel reservations alone in 2014
(Hoover’s-Expedia, n.d.).
In their book “Advertising Campaign Strategy: A Guide to Marketing Communication
Plans,” Donald E. Parente and Kirsten L. Strausbaugh-Hutchinson explained that it is
essential to identify what consumers consider when purchasing a product or service
(Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 113). Out of 50 participants that took our
questionnaire, 14 participants preferred Expedia to be their one source to book travel
accommodations for many different reasons. Participants described Expedia as easy to use
17. 13
as well as a source with good deals. Some participants also indicated that one of the
advantages of using Expedia is that they provide a variety of options that the users can
compare with other options.
Past advertisements from Expedia have a large focus on emotional appeals and
togetherness. The ads Expedia have used come from multiple media outlets: television,
radio, newspaper and internet (MPA — the Association of Magazine Media, Kantar Media,
2016). One television commercial, for example, showed a father who was constantly
traveling for business but always brought his daughter back a different animal statue or
plush toy. One day, he saved up enough Expedia rewards points so he could take his
daughter to Africa to experience a real safari as opposed to the makeshift one she displayed
on her windowsill (180LA, 2014). This makes Expedia a reasonable competitor of Airbnb
because Expedia’s main function as a travel website is hotel reservations.
HomeAway
HomeAway present users with an online, travel website that allows users to book
vacation rentals in over 190 countries. Unlike Airbnb that allow users to book private
rooms within a home, HomeAway provide travelers with the whole vacation rental.
According to their website, HomeAway are “committed to helping families and friends find
the perfect vacation rental to create unforgettable travel experiences together” (Company
Information, n.d.). Founders Brian Sharples and Carl Shephard started HomeAway in
Austin, Texas in February 2005, but the company was previously named WVR Group. The
name changed to HomeAway in May 2006 (Corporate Timeline, n.d.). However, Expedia,
Inc. acquired HomeAway with all of their brands: VRBO.com, VacationRentals.com,
BedandBreakfast.com, among others that are foreign websites (Expedia, Inc., 2015). In
18. 14
2014, sales were $446.76 million and the net income was $13.38 million, with 60% of
revenue from the United States, 15% from France, and 12% from the United Kingdom
(Hoover’s-HomeAway, n.d.).
HomeAway’s past advertising includes television, newspaper, internet and outdoor
media outlets (MPA — the Association of Magazine Media, Kantar Media, 2016). A major
focus of their advertisements is the idea of wholesome living, having the whole family
together in one place for themselves, like renting out an entire home instead of one room
and sharing it with others (Saatchi & Saatchi, 2016). Another depiction of the whole family
being in one place together was shown in their advertisement entitled “Biscuit,” in which a
family dog traveled far and wide to find his owners on vacation in a HomeAway location
(Saatchi & Saatchi, 2015).
They are a competitor because they offer similar services like Airbnb, allowing users
to have an alternative to hotel reservations. Similarly, HomeAway grow in popularity in
Europe, just like Airbnb, and they are trying to expand to the Chinese market (Hoover’s-
HomeAway, n.d.).
Xiaozhu
Xiaozhu offer Chinese travelers an online, accommodating-sharing service, which
resemble Airbnb. Launched in 2012 by founder Chen Chi, Xiaozhu had a hard time
successfully listing different accommodations; however, after a few years since the launch,
Xiaozhu raised more than $60 million in Series C round funding and offered over 30,000
homes in more than 200 Chinese cities (Yimin, 2015). Xiaozhu have a very similar business
model to Airbnb but after a few years, Xiaozhu adjusted their business model in order to
20. 16
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
First and foremost, Airbnb are part of a growing economic movement: the sharing
economy. The sharing economy is “a socio-economic ecosystem built around the sharing of
human and physical resources,” (Matofska, n.d.). What makes Airbnb so special is that they
encompass some of the many aspects that are crucial to creating a successful sharing
economy, one of those being people. Airbnb allow for people all over the world to
communicate in ways that we never thought possible. Through this, Airbnb create an
authentic experience (at a relatively reasonable price) people cannot receive when booking
a hotel.
Additionally, the founders’ simple idea of purchasing and renting out three air
mattresses in their apartment not only helped them with their rent dilemma, but
encouraged them to expand on that concept and create a company that is flourishing today.
Because they are a new company, Airbnb have been able to build and create new ways to
out-do the hotel industry. One of these ways includes providing 24/7 customer service.
According to GetHuman, this service is strictly for Airbnb users and allows hosts or
travelers to call any time to report an issue; ask a question about billing, sales, or more; or
share a comment (Airbnb Support Channels Compared, n.d.). With an average wait time of
approximately 15 minutes, Airbnb do their best to try and be there for their customers in a
timely manner. Further, they now offer host protection insurance (now covering $1 billion
per booking) (Airbnb-Host Protection Insurance, n.d.).
In addition to their newness, Airbnb are sleek and modern, radiating a trendy image
for the typical young consumer. The effortless, minimal style of the website, easy
21. 17
accessibility of the Airbnb app, and the popularity of the company themselves attract the
younger crowd. There is no need for students to pay an exorbitantly high amount of money
to travel to their desired destination if people are willing to rent out a space in their home,
or their entire home, for a decent low price.
● 24/7 Customer service
● Offers unique traveling experience (direct relationship between travelers and locals)
● Offers host protection insurance (according to Airbnb, their insurance now covers $1
billion per booking)
● Modern, trendy image for younger consumers
● Significantly growing number of consumers
● Generally lower prices when compared to standard hotel rates
● Part of sharing service so host and renter benefit
● Company is a great investment for potential investors (increased valuation of
company)
Weaknesses:
Yet, in spite of the many strengths Airbnb have, they suffer from many weaknesses.
Airbnb have struggled with the law more than once. In 2015, Airbnb were accused of
breaking Proposition F (casually known as the Airbnb Initiative) in San Francisco, which
would have essentially toughened regulation on short-term rental of residential
apartments and homes, (Lien, 2015). Tougher regulations would mean instead of the
22. 18
allowed 90 days in a year limit for renting (or unlimited renting if the host is present),
hosts would only be able to rent out their spaces for 75 days (Lien, 2015).
Proposition F would further require hosts and platforms to provide reports that
would include the number of nights the space was being rented, and the number of the
nights the host would be present (Lien, 2015). Interested parties, like non-profits and
housing groups, would be able to sue hosts and platforms for violating any set rules (Lien,
2015). This would be a great change from the current stance which gives individuals the
right to sue but not parties. Finally, people would not be able to rent out new additions to
their homes, for example, adding a new kitchen or bathroom to a garage (Lien, 2015).
Moreover, Airbnb act as direct middlemen between hosts and travelers. While the
company provides insurance for hosts, Airbnb do not guarantee the safety of said hosts or
renters or either of their possessions. Rightly so, this notion pushes many to feel skeptical
about the company, rather than comfortable. As a result, Airbnb rely heavily on the quality
of their hosts and travelers.
Further, Airbnb do not require their hosts to provide travelers with services they
may receive if they choose to stay in a hotel. These include: arranging or serving breakfast
in the morning, a space to park their car, and complimentary transportation. On Airbnb’s
blog, they do mention that there must be a high level of communication between hosts and
travelers when setting up a stay. They stated, “from the moment a guest inquires about
your listing to the time of booking, it is critical to state your House Rules and the amenities
you offer up front” (Airbnb-Setting Guest Expectations, n.d.). Doing so will prevent
misunderstandings and guarantee more positive experiences.
23. 19
Disabled individuals encounter issues when using the sharing service. Bruce Golding
shared “[handicapped] travelers who use the controversial room-rental service could be in
for a rude awakening when they arrive in the Big Apple, as a slew of New York City
apartments touted as ‘wheelchair accessible’ are really obstacle courses for the infirm”
(Golding, 2014). A listing in Astoria, Queens featured a narrow spiral staircase to the
second floor; a listing for a “cozy” apartment in East Village featured a steep wooden
staircase to its sleeping loft; and another listing had a metal ladder (Golding, 2014).
Individuals should be aware that falsely labeling a listing as “wheelchair accessible” puts
disabled persons in dire situations. In a letter sent to authorities from the Disabled In
Action of Metropolitan New York Group, advocates for disabled persons accused Airbnb of
violating the Americans With Disability Act, “along with city and state laws that ‘require all
private and public entities providing public accommodations to offer an equal opportunity
for persons with a disability’” (Golding, 2014). Airbnb continue to work on this growing
problem, making sure to help guests find appropriate listings to meet their needs.
Finally, the idea of Airbnb is largely susceptible to potential copycats. For example,
Xiaozhu.com in China are essentially the exact same concept, but targeted towards Chinese
consumers (Fung, 2015). This hurts Airbnb directly because they are choosing to expand
their company to China, a rapidly growing market that is full of travelers. With Xiaozhu
being right in the center of this, they act as direct competitor to Airbnb.
24. 20
● Proposition F→ San Francisco law that allows Airbnb to have hosts in this area
● Safety of self and possessions is not guaranteed for travelers
● Original idea but susceptible to potential copycats (Xiaozhu.com, for example)
● Airbnb is direct middleman between a host and the traveler
● Relies heavily on quality of the host; bad reviews directly affect the progression of the
company
● Not easily accessible for disabled individuals
● Newness means skepticism from many
● Does not include all services some hotels may include like parking, breakfast, travel
accommodations, etc.
Opportunities:
Still, Airbnb can tackle opportunities like expanding their market to Chinese and
Korean audiences before Xiaozhu. Blecharczyk shared that Airbnb’s newfound focus on
China is due to an increase in demand in the country (Horwitz, 2015). Because much of the
Chinese target audiece is unbiased towards hotels and Airbnb, they will approach Airbnb
with a fresh perspective. Also, China has a large supply of vacant homes-- more than 50
million in urban China--which have become hotspots for vacation use (Jim, 2015).
In Korea, Airbnb have been met with resistance. Introduced in the country in
January 2013, Airbnb were deemed an “illegal activity” (Leem, 2016). In Will Airbnb Be
Feasible in Korea?, Yoon-Kyung Leem mentioned a Korean surnamed Jung was fined
700,000 won, Korean currency, (100,000 won per traveler a day) for violating the Public
25. 21
Health Control Act. Yet, the Korean government is becoming aware of the benefits
associated with Airbnb (and the importance of keeping up with the rest of the world) and is
moving to devise policies in the rent lodging service (Leem, 2016).
One of the many reasons Airbnb are a growing commodity is because of their
affordability. Airbnb allow consumers who enjoy traveling to visit a new place and stay
with a host who has been
screened by the company.
According to Alan Henry’s
article about
Priceconomics, research
showed that, on average,
people could save “close to
50% over a hotel room by
renting a private room on Airbnb, and close to 22% by renting an apartment over a hotel
room” (Henry, 2013). Of course, savings will vary depending on the chosen city.
Additionally, there is great potential for Airbnb to collaborate with travel agencies.
In an article written by Mathilde Khlat, she claimed in September 2014 Airbnb were
“making [their] first steps in the world of Work Councils by signing a commercial
partnership with ProwebCE” (Khlat, 2014). Through this partnership, Airbnb hope to
gather a greater understanding of their business consumers in order to cater to their needs.
It should be noted that Airbnb have already dedicated a page to business travelers on their
website. The France Director of ProwebCE shared that “business travelers represent 10 to
26. 22
20% of [their] clientele. It is an axis that is developing, from major companies to smaller
enterprises” (Khlat, 2014).
Airbnb’s popularity continues to spill into the pop-culture realm through celebrities.
For the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, famous soccer player, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, put his home
on Airbnb for $15,000 a day (Lang, 2014). Singer Beyoncé rented a luxurious home in Los
Altos Hills, California for $10,000 a night to stay at before and after her Super Bowl 50
Halftime performance in February 2016 (Chan, 2016). Panther football player, Roman
Harper, placed his home on the site as well. Fans were able to rent out the extravagant suite
for $5,000. In spite of the high price, Harper shared that the proceeds were to go to charity
(Mandell, 2016). And while this may seem like the first time Airbnb have been involved
with charity, it is not. In 2014, Hurricane Sandy victims found themselves without a home;
without a place where they could lay their heads. On their website, Airbnb shares that
1,400 Airbnb hosts came to the rescue and offered aid to the victims, whether it was a
warm, home-cooked meal or listed their spaces for free (Airbnb- Airbnb Disaster Response,
n.d.). Since then, they have responded to various emergencies around the world: “San Diego
in response to major fires; Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia for people affected by the Balkan
floods; and London, Sardinia, and Colorado after serious flooding hit these regions”
(Airbnb-Airbnb Disaster Response, n.d.).
● Potential to reach foreign audiences, specifically in China and Korea
● China has a large supply of vacant homes
● Dissatisfaction with hotels due to high prices
● Could expand to travel guides and be used by travel agents in lieu of other sources
27. 23
● Celebrities are using Airbnb (Beyonce, NFL player from the 50th Super Bowl, and
Ronaldinho)
● Charity opportunities
Threats:
Unfortunately, Airbnb still face many issues today. As mentioned before, their idea,
while interesting, is easily replicated. However, Airbnb’s unique selling proposition (USP) is
that travelers can experience another culture, lifestyle, or a new city by booking an Airbnb
listing. Airbnb provide travelers with an experience they will never forget. HomeAway and
Xiaozhu are just a couple of the growing amount of competitors for Airbnb. HomeAway
provide the traveler with the entire home and Xiaozhu are slowly but surely gaining
momentum in China, ruining Airbnb’s plans to capture the increasing amount of Chinese
travelers. Xiaozhu’s strength largely comes from their in-depth understanding of the
Chinese market.
With a business model based solely on communication between renters and hosts,
and Airbnb acting as the middlemen, complications are bound to emerge. Their first major
problem was in 2011 when a host named EJ wrote a blog post explaining how her
apartment was ransacked by a renter:
They smashed a hole through a locked closet door, and found the passport,
cash, credit card and grandmother’s jewelry I had hidden inside. They took
my camera, my iPod, an old laptop, and my external backup drive filled with
photos, journals… my entire life… The death-like smell emanating from the
28. 24
bathroom was frightening (and still is) and the bathroom sink was caked
with a crusty yellow substance (Bradford, 2014).
This specific incident lead Airbnb to enact their current insurance policy for hosts.
Unfortunately, circumstances, such as the one previously mentioned, cannot be controlled
by Airbnb and draw negative attention to the company and their consumers.
Airbnb’s effect is global, but so are the regulations. The process of posting a home on
the site, hoping someone becomes interested, and collecting money sounds simpler than it
actually is. Many of the cities with Airbnb accommodations also have many local
regulations in regards to renting out a home for brief or lengthy period of time (Williams-
Alvarez, 2014). For example, in 2014, a great majority of the rentals in New York City
(70%) were considered illegal because hosts were dishonest and cheating New York
officials out of tax dollars. In New York, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a
report on Airbnb, and stated that the company “likely owed millions” in unpaid taxes
(Williams-Alvarez, 2014). At the same time, New York State and New York City “impose a
number of taxes that may apply to Airbnb hosts -- like the New York City Hotel Occupancy
tax of 5.875%” but because hosts are not officially operating as hotels, they do not pay the
tax (Williams-Alvarez, 2014).
Some get away unscathed, but others are not so lucky. Nigel Warren, for instance,
“was told by city officials that he owed $7,000 in fines because his Airbnb hosting violated
the city's illegal hotel law,” the Multiple Dwelling Law. The law prohibits rentals of less than
30 days in “Class A” multiple dwellings, or a dwelling that is occupied by three or more
families for permanent residence purposes (Williams-Alvarez, 2014). The exception to this
rule is that users may host someone while the host (or a roommate) is present during the
29. 25
stay. Eventually, Warren’s fine was overturned after it was brought to light that his
roommate was present (Williams-Alvarez, 2014).
Essentially, it is extremely important for hosts and travelers alike to be aware of city
laws and regulations. Comfortable affordable housing is understandably in high demand,
and the main reason Airbnb are who they are. However, if Airbnb want to continue to be
relevant for all of the right reasons, regulations must be acknowledged and followed to
ensure the safety of all parties involved and to help protect neighbors (Williams-Alvarez,
2014).
Lastly, Airbnb’s logo has come under fire many times for its seemingly “sexual
undertones” and an alarmingly glaring resemblance to the existing logo of an 11-year-old
IT automation company, Automation Anywhere, who have since changed their logo
(pictured on the left in the image) (Carr, 2014).
Some believe the logo looks like a heart made out
of a bent paperclip and others see genitalia
(men’s or women’s, as no one is completely sure)
(Carr, 2014). In Fast Company’s article about the
logo, Austin Carr reported that Airbnb’s new logo
was meant to combine “elements of a heart, a
location pin, as well as the "A" in Airbnb” (Carr, 2014). Carr added the logo was designed
to be customizable. It is simple and can be easily drawn, but never drawn the same way
twice, “a reflection of Airbnb's unique community of hosts” (Carr, 2014). The “Bélo”, the
unique name for Airbnb’s logo, is the “universal symbol of belonging” (Carr, 2014).
According to Airbnb’s blog, Chesky wrote “it’s an iconic mark for our windows, our doors,
31. 27
Target Audience
Secondary Research
To choose a target audience, there were many sources used to determine what the
best options were. Sarbjit Nahal, Head of Thematic Investing of Bank of America Corp. in
London discussed that millennials are using experiences to help shape their identities and
creating memories that they can share with their friends, which includes sporting events,
the sharing economy, and travel to name a few. In addition, a survey by Harris Poll and
Eventbrite Inc. found that “78% of millennials would rather pay for an experience rather
than a good” (Costa, 2016).
The chosen target audience, adults ages 18-34, includes 67.6 million people
(Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). In this target audience the focus was millennials of
both professional and student standing because they are known to travel frequently. In July
2014, Airbnb launched Business Travel on Airbnb, which is a “service that helps business
travelers’ search and book accommodations” (Fuscaldo, 2015). Considering this, it is
important to investigate whether there is a difference in product use between the two
target segments.
In addition to American millennials, Korean and Chinese millennials were chosen as
well. Airbnb are a global service, who are really trying to break into the Asian market. It is a
large population and has an increased number of travelers. It should be noted that while
Airbnb are starting to establish themselves in China, they have yet to become an
established source in Korea. According to Lee Woo-young, Gebbia shared “Korea was
growing faster than any other Asian market in its accommodation information sharing
service” (Lee, 2013). There has been a 758% growth in the sharing economy in the Korean
32. 28
market (Lee, 2013). Airbnb continue to make efforts to appeal to this market by providing
Korean-language service to increase the number of Korean tourists. This information is an
integral part in developing the campaign strategy.
Simmons OneView allows for an understanding of where the target audience can be
found and what their travel habits they are likely to be. According to Simmons OneView,
adults between the ages of 18-34 are more willing to book travel accommodations through
a site they are unfamiliar with [Table 1 in Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView). Being
that Airbnb is not well-known, this is a helpful concept. Of this age group, 59.4% have
traveled domestically in the last 12 months [Table 2 in Appendix] and 37.9% [Table 3 in
Appendix] have traveled to foreign countries in the last three years (Simmons Research
OneView, n.d.). This shows that the target audience is likely to travel and need hotel
accommodations, which provides Airbnb the opportunity to expand their business.
However, 65.7% of 18-34-year-olds reserve hotels and motels as their travel
accommodations [Table 4 in Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.).
Implications for Campaign Strategy
With this information and knowledge, the strategy is guided in directions that would
be both effective and ethical. This knowledge will help to develop a strategy that orients
itself in a way that will help Airbnb reach their target audience. The target audience travels
often and with this in mind, the strategy will lean towards their habits and allow for
primitive targeting before they book their accommodations.
Finally, since the company is trying to establish themselves in the Asian market,
Overstep Communications suggest that the campaign should also take place in Korea. That
33. 29
way, Airbnb will expose themselves to a whole brand new market and take advantage of
attracting a whole new target audience.
Primary Research
Methodology
The purpose of the primary research was to explore consumers’ decision making in
hotel accommodations, to discover consumers’ perceptions of the brand, and to learn about
product use and future behavior intentions. The overall goal of our research was to see if
there are any differences in travel habits and Airbnb use between students and full-time
professionals. Overstep Communications developed a questionnaire and conducted four
focus groups in order to gain insightful data. Both the questionnaire and the focus group
questions are in the Appendix.
The sampling frame for the questionnaire consisted of 50 millennials aged 18-34.
More specifically, Overstep Communications equally divided millennials by using quota
sampling into full-time students and full-time working professionals since Airbnb is
appealing to business travelers. Overstep Communications used a convenient sampling
technique to obtain most of our participants. Also, Overstep Communications used a
snowball-sampling technique to obtain more participants for the study. The questionnaire
consists of different formats, including open-ended questions, multiple-choice questions,
and rating scales. Staff of Overstep Communications conducted telephone interviews and
the surveys were conducted between February 24, 2016 and March 3, 2016. After data was
collected, Overstep Communications used SPSS, a statistical software, to run tests and
analyze the data as well as perform content analyses on all open-ended questions.
34. 30
In addition to the questionnaire, Overstep Communications developed a sampling
frame for the focus group in a similar manner. Eight Korean millennials and eight Chinese
millennials were chosen to participate, also equally divided into full-time students and full-
time working professionals. Staff of Overstep Communications used convenient sampling
to select the participants. There were four separate focus groups that were for each group:
four Chinese students, four Chinese full-time professionals, four Korean students, and four
Korean full-time professionals. Participants engaged in a Skype video call, and each were
performed in Chinese or Korean, and then translated into English. The Chinese focus
groups took place on February 26, 2016 and February 27, 2016 while the Korean focus
groups took place on February 27, 2016. Questions focused on consumers’ decision making
for hotel accommodations, product use, and future behavior intentions. After focus groups
were completed, Overstep Communications summarized all of the responses.
Results of Questionnaire and Implications for the Campaign Strategy
After performing a variety of different statistical testing, including t-tests, chi-
square, and correlations, our research will provide significant insight for Airbnb’s
campaign strategy. Overstep Communications’ research determined that there are not
many significant differences between students’ and professionals’ uses of Airbnb’s services.
Travel Habits
One of the first things participants indicated were their travel habits. Both groups,
students and professionals, travel for business, leisure, and to visit family and friends. Our
data indicate that there are not any significant differences between professionals and
students when traveling for business, leisure, and family or friends [Output 1 in appendix].
35. 31
However, as seen on the left, our data describe that on average, participants travel more to
visit family and friends [Output 2 in Appendix]. Yet, of all of the participants, as a whole,
travel for business less than they travel for leisure or to visit family and friends.
It was also discovered that participants have different expectations from each of the
travels. In order to determine what those gains were, Overstep Communications conducted a
content analysis on each of the open-ended responses. For business travels, three themes
were revealed from the responses: experience, connections, and other. Participants want to
gain even more experience abroad in another location, while networking from people in
different locations. For leisure travels, responses were categorized into relaxation,
experience, entertainment/fun, visitation, and other. One participant travels for leisure “to
explore a new city and sometimes countries and cultures, and to try different food, that is my
number one, and also meet different people.” Another participant stated that “traveling
makes you discover yourself.” There was a common trend among people who travel for
leisure: respondents hope to gain relaxation during the trip. Some described that leisure
travels helps them escape from the stress that comes from school or work.
Finally, for visiting family and friends, responses were categorized into four
categories: bonding, catching up, seeing them, and other. Participants described that by
visiting family and friends, they can build better relationships and remain in contact with
them. In terms of seasonality, participants discussed that they travel the most in summer
[Output 3 in Appendix]. Nevertheless, full-time professionals are more likely to travel alone
than students are [Output 4 in Appendix].
Implications
36. 32
Our data demonstrate that there are a variety of reasons why people travel and there
is benefits travelers want to gain from their trip. Since participants travel more per year to
visit friends and family, the campaign should focus on how Airbnb can be an easy and
inexpensive way to see others. Travelers do not have to book a hotel in order to visit family
and friends. In addition, since respondents expressed that they hope to gain memorable
experiences from traveling for leisure, it is important that Overstep Communications display
in the campaign that travelers have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of
their chosen destination. However, many of the respondents do not travel for business as
often. Therefore, it is not imperative to include business travels in Airbnb’s campaign.
Further, our data indicate that participants travel more in the summer, and that can help
with the campaign timeline. Overstep Communications should develop a timeline in which
there are heavy amounts of advertising during February, March, and April, when travelers
book accommodations for summer getaways.
Concerns When Booking a Hotel Room
On the other hand, there are several differences among different groups with concerns
when booking a hotel room. It was found that females are more concerned with the security
of the room than males. However, both males and females scored almost similarly in all other
concern categories [Output 5 in Appendix]. Both genders are most concerned with the
cleanliness and security of the area while they are least concerned with the size of the room.
Despite having gender differences, there are not any significant differences between full-time
37. 33
professionals and students when booking a hotel room [Output 6 in Appendix]. Both
segments are most concerned with security of the area and cleanliness and are least
concerned with the size of the room.
Implications
Overstep Communications assumed cleanliness, security, and the size of the room
would be important to consumers. With that said, it is evident that cleanliness and security
are the more important factors for males and females, students and professionals alike.
Clearly, Overstep Communications must consider these factors when creating Airbnb’s
campaign in order to ensure that consumers view Airbnb in a favorable light. No matter the
size of the room or home an Airbnb user may rent, Overstep Communications want to
portray all of its listings as safe alternatives for traditional methods like hotels.
First Words That Come to Mind
After indicating whether or not respondents have heard of Airbnb, they stated the first
words that came to mind when hearing the word “Airbnb.” Responses were categorized into
five sections: positive words, negative words, neutral words, words associated with travel,
and other. Some positive associations indicated that Airbnb are “cheap” and “convenient”
while others associated Airbnb with “sketchy” and “not for me.” However, 20 participants
associated Airbnb with travel with words such as “bed and breakfast” and “travel.” Others
connect Airbnb with “couch” and “new type of economy,” which does not fit in the other
categories.
38. 34
Implications
While some responses Overstep Communications received positively associated
Airbnb with convenience, affordability, and a unique way of altering the economy for the
better, there is still a significant amount of individuals who feel skepticism towards the
company. This may be due to a lack of understanding of the company, or just a lack of
knowledge about Airbnb’s existence. In order to reduce skepticism, Overstep
Communications have to make sure that the chosen target audience has a clear
understanding of who Airbnb are and what they do for the economy. Additionally, Overstep
Communication should attempt to create an overall lasting positive association with Airbnb
and the TA’s subconscious.
Feelings About Airbnb
Along with analyzing words associated with Airbnb, Overstep Communications
conducted another content analysis on how respondents expressed their feelings when they
thought about the word “Airbnb.” Responses were categorized into four sections: positive,
neutral, negative, and unrelated. There were 20 positive feelings associated with Airbnb. One
respondent thought about Airbnb as “something new and interesting to try” and another said
that it was “good, I like sharing services. I think they are innovative.” A few participants
commented about their feelings after using Airbnb and stated that “I feel good, I used it
before and I had good experiences” while another indicated “I enjoyed using Airbnb more
than using a hotel.” While some participants had positive feelings towards Airbnb, some felt
39. 35
neutral about it, saying they felt fine or indifferent. However, 13 participants described that
they felt skeptical of the service and thought the idea of it is very questionable. The rest of
the participants felt things that are unrelated to Airbnb. For example, one participant
described Airbnb as airplane-related.
Implications
Similarly to the implications of First Words That Come to Mind, participants expressed
some positive and negative feelings towards the company. This means that the campaign
needs to change the negative feelings into positive ones, so non-users can sign up to become
a member. With that being said, Overstep Communications should focus on informing the
target audience that Airbnb is dependable, and an easy and convenient alternative to hotel
reservations and will allow them to experience the culture of the destination in a more
personal way. While some respondents are aware of Airbnb, the target audience is not
properly informed about all the benefits that come along with the service.
Staying with a Host During Travels
More specifically, Overstep Communications asked participants if they were okay
with the host being present during their stay in an Airbnb accommodation. Of the 50
participants, 19 indicated that they are fine with the idea of the owner staying during the
travel. On the other hand, 15 participants were not okay with the arrangement while the
remaining participants felt that it depended on the situation. One specific respondent
40. 36
expressed that it “depends, are there other people there too? If there are more people I am
okay with it. If it is just us, less comfortable.”
Implications
Much like First Words That Come to Mind and Feelings About Airbnb, skepticism is
undoubtedly an underlying factor when staying in any stranger’s home. As expected,
Overstep Communications have to make sure that hosts and travelers alike feel comfortable
with one another. Airbnb stress the importance of building trust between hosts and
travelers, as doing so helps maintain the “homey” feel of a traveler’s stay. Additionally,
Overstep Communications want to portray hosts not as strangers, but as cultural mentors;
people who teach travelers about different aspects of the culture, along with generating
positive personal relationships. Overstep Communications also expected to hear that
individuals would feel more comfortable with friends being present during their stay. With
this information, Overstep Communications should ensure that travelers, whether alone or
not, are completely safe in the homes of Airbnb hosts, who are subject to background checks
at any moment.
Future Use of Airbnb
Another finding in our research is that there are differences among the different
groups of people and how likely they are going to use Airbnb in the future. Contrary to what
was expected, women are more likely than men to use Airbnb in the future [Output 7 in
41. 37
Appendix]. Nonetheless, there is not a significant difference between full-time professionals
and students when using Airbnb in the future [Output 8 in Appendix].
Implications
As mentioned above, Overstep Communications expected to see that men were more
likely to use Airbnb in the future than women, and students to use Airbnb more than
professionals. Because that was not the case, Overstep Communications would like to
understand what exactly prevents male consumers from using the service. In doing so,
Overstep Communications can generate more action from the male portion of the target
audience. Interestingly, students and professionals use the service pretty similarly,
supporting Airbnb’s claim to reach a diverse audience interested in exploring and using the
service.
Thoughts of Participants Who Have Never Heard of Airbnb
Of the 50 participants, only nine never heard of Airbnb. On an 11-point rating scale,
with zero being least likely and ten being most likely, that asked participants their future
intentions to use Airbnb, the average was 3.6 [Output 9 in Appendix]. This shows that those
who have not heard of Airbnb are most likely not going to use it. In addition, respondents
rated trustworthiness really low, and gave moderate scores to convenience and dependence
[Output 10 in Appendix].
Implications
43. 39
interest in using Airbnb as long as the listing is not in China. The responses for whether
participants are comfortable with the host being present are almost same for both
professionals and students. Some people think they are comfortable and some are not. Only
one out of the eight participants trust Airbnb’s service.
Implications
From our focus groups results, there is clearly a difference between professionals and
students when it comes to using Airbnb. Professionals are not aware of Airbnb, and they are
not interested in using them in the future. Professionals can gain more trust towards Airbnb
if they hear about their friends’ experiences using them. In this way, Overstep
Communications should allow people to share their experiences through social media. In
addition, information regarding safety should also be included in the campaign to help
students trust Airbnb since they value safety the most. After trust is established through the
campaign, Chinese students should be more willing to sign up for a membership.
Results of Korean Focus Groups
There was not much of a difference in attitude between Korean professionals and
students, in regards to Airbnb, but there are some responses that would be helpful for
Airbnb to consider. For example, price is an important factor when booking travel
accommodations. When Overstep Communications inquired about the use of Airbnb,
professionals proposed using their first experiences to determine whether or not they would
use Airbnb. This proves that their first experiences are extremely important, especially for a
44. 40
new company with little awareness like Airbnb. When Overstep Communications asked
about their trust in Airbnb’s services, both professionals and students said that they do not
trust Airbnb because “it is not easy to trust a stranger.”
Implications
Based on the focus group results, Overstep Communications made some
recommendations for the campaign strategy. The main objective would be to reduce safety
concerns and increase trust, so that Koreans will be more interested in booking an Airbnb
accommodation. By providing information about the price and how inexpensive Airbnb can
be, Airbnb would be more appealing to the target audience. Moreover, by featuring the safety
features of an Airbnb listing, they can help build trust between hosts and travelers.
Synthesis of Secondary and Primary Research
The Secondary Research provided Overstep Communications with a solid
foundation for the Situation Analysis, SWOT, and target audience. However, Overstep
Communications utilized their Primary Research in order to understand the proposed
target audience for this campaign. Essentially, Overstep Communications pulled all of the
information and combined it so that there is a better understanding of the target audience,
and its travel habits, perceptions and attitudes of Airbnb, and its media use. There were not
any conflicting information between the Primary and Secondary Research.
Target Audience Recommendations
Based on Primary and Secondary Research, the target audience for this campaign is
American, Chinese, and Korean millennials, who are 18-34 years-old. While there are not
45. 41
any differences between students and professionals in the U.S. and Korea, there are in fact
slight differences between Chinese students and professionals. There are 67.6 million
American millennials between the ages of 18 and 34 (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.).
Meanwhile, there are 415 million millennials in China, which is greater than the working
population of both the U.S. and Western Europe (Browne, 2015). Also, based on the
population projections by Statistics Korea, there are 10.4 million Korean millennials
(Statistics Korea, 2015).
American Problem: Security
Based on our Primary Research, security is one of the biggest problems that
Americans are concerned with. Zak Stone, writer and editor, wrote positively about startup
companies, like Airbnb, for numerous publications in the past (Kerkvliet, 2015). Stone
booked a house from Airbnb with his family to spend Thanksgiving. The property had
additional features such as a rope swing attached to a tree. When his father got on the
swing, a large piece of the tree struck his head and killed him (Bonnington, 2015). While
tragic, Stone’s family are not the only ones who experienced tragedy while using an Airbnb
listing. In December 2013, a Canadian woman booked an accommodation through Airbnb
and stayed in Taiwan for a wedding with five of her friends. That Canadian woman suffered
from carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking water heater and a lack of proper
ventilation in her Airbnb rental (Stone, 2015). In Living and Dying on Airbnb, Stone wrote
that “hotel rooms are standardized for safety, monitored by staff, and often quite
expensive. Airbnb rentals, on the other hand, are unregulated, eclectic, and affordable, and
the safety standards are only slowly materializing” (Stone, 2015). This is an issue that
46. 42
might prevent the target audience from wanting to try Airbnb, since they could be
presented with a risky situation while using them.
American Problem: Cleanliness
Based on our Primary Research, cleanliness is another thing most people are
concerned with. On Airbnb’s website, it said hosts need to “ensure that your listing’s
bedrooms and common areas are cleaned before each guest’s arrival. This is including
changing linens and cleaning surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen” (Airbnb-Hospitality
Standards, n.d.). There are still some guests who had bad cleanliness experiences (Mulligan,
2012). Unlike hotels, Airbnb do not have a standard of cleanliness. In this way, when people
choose to stay in an apartment, they are taking a gamble. Most of the time, the gamble
results in a more positive overall experience. However, there are still times when the risk is
not worth it (Mulligan, 2012).
While Airbnb offer the option for hosts to have professional photos taken of their
homes, there is still skepticism on the reliability of the photos. Because travelers cannot
upload their own pictures in reviews, people resort to posting on social media to expose
the reality of the conditions on the Airbnb listing [Photo 1 in Appendix] (Mulligan, 2012).
American Problem: Social Media and Racial Discrimination
Based on the Simmons data, Americans 18-34 use social media more than any other
age group. While it can be an opportunity, it is more of a challenge for Airbnb. A unique
characteristic of social media is that there is a wide spread of stories, news and opinions
easily accessible to anyone at any given time. There have been issues about mistreatment
and even racial discrimination involving Airbnb hosts and travelers (McPhate, 2015).
According to an article by Mike McPhate from The New York Times, a paper by three
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Harvard researchers found “widespread discrimination” by hosts against people with
Black-sounding names seeking rentals (McPhate, 2015). To test this notion, fictional guests
with names like Lakisha or Rasheed were created. It was found that they were 16% less
likely to be accepted than identical guests with names like Brent or Kristen (McPhate,
2015). Our targeted age group is an avid user of social media and may be exposed to
negative issues, like the one above, associated with Airbnb.
American Opportunity: Experience
It was reported in The Atlantic that “the millennial generation… is more interested
than older generations in traveling abroad as much as possible—by a 23-percentage-point
margin” (Machado, 2014). Machado claimed the United Nations estimated that 20% of all
international tourists are young people. Additionally, these millennial travelers are
generating more than $180 billion in annual tourism revenue. Further, the article described
that millennials care less about soaking up the sun and more about “exploring more remote
destinations, staying in hostels instead of hotels, and choosing long-term backpacking trips
instead of two-week jaunts” (Machado, 2014).
China and Korean Problem: Culture
The problems related to the target audience are the same in both China and Korea,
since their cultures are similar. Chinese and Koreans have believed in Confucianism for
thousands of years, and in this philosophy, the home is a private space (Parente &
Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 66). In comparison to Americans, Chinese and Koreans
are more likely to put family and the home as priorities. In this way, Chinese and Koreans
do not like to rent their spare room to strangers, and people do not like to live at strangers’
houses either. These patterns are also shown in our focus group’s result.
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Chinese and Korean Problem: Trust
The issue of trust is the biggest problem in both China and Korea (Mahahan, 2015).
It was apparent in our Primary Research that both Chinese and Koreans alike do not trust
Airbnb. One conclusion from the Korean focus group was that they do not trust Airbnb’s
services because Korean millennials
experience anxiety when there is a
lack of trust between hosts and
travelers. Moreover, based on a poll
from The Wall Street Journal that was
conducted on 2,300 Korean college
students asking about
trustworthiness, it showed that they
trust only 8.4% of strangers and 7.7% of corporate people (Jun, 2015).
Francis Fukuyama argued in his book “Trust” that there are two types of trust: high
trust culture and low trust culture (Huang, n.d.). Low trust cultures, like China, value
personal trust, meaning they can only trust another person if they have a personal
relationship with that person (Huang, n.d.). For the Chinese, trust is easily gained if there is
an existing connection via the family or network of “in-groups” (Huang, n.d.). Without those
connections it can take a long time before trust is established (Huang, n.d.).
Chinese Problem: Awareness
China has been aware of the concept of the sharing economy since 2015
(Zhongguozhisheng, 2016). Companies like Airbnb and Uber are fairly new to the target
audience. Although people are using similar services to Uber a lot in their daily lives, there
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are still people in China and Korea that have never heard about Airbnb. It will also be hard
for people to accept this new service in the future because according to the results from the
focus groups, none of the Chinese professionals would like to use Airbnb.
Chinese Opportunity: Abundance of Travelers
There are nearly 1.4 billion people living in China. This number is equivalent to
18.72% of the entire world’s population (Worldometers, 2016). Evidently, China definitely
plays an important part in the global market, and Airbnb will have many opportunities
there. It was found that “the total number of trips abroad from China is estimated at 109
million in 2014. China is the world’s largest outbound travel market since 2012, with a total
expenditure of $129 billion in 2013” (UNWTO, 2015). In 2014, there were more than 259
million Chinese travelers who booked their trips online, and 80% of this number booked
their trips on their mobile devices (Xinhua, 2016). According to the Travel China Guide
there were “133.8 million inbound tourists, including foreigners and tourists from Hong
Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. 56.8857 million stayed overnight in China, an increase of 4.1%
and 2.3% compared with the same period in 2014” [Chart 1 in Appendix] (Travel China
Guide, 2015).
Korean Opportunity: Abundance of Travelers
Based on the Korean statistics, there is a constant increase of travelers who travel
overnight (Statistics Korea, 2015). Moreover, there is a constant increase of Koreans who
travel internationally. There is an abundance of Korean travelers; therefore, Airbnb can
take advantage of this opportunity and position itself as a preferred accommodation source
[Charts 2 and 3 in Appendix] (Statistics Korea, 2015).
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Campaign Goals
Marketing Goal
Airbnb provide services that need to be more established. Overstep
Communications believe that Airbnb need to have more members from around the globe.
The intent of the Marketing Goal is to increase the number of members on Airbnb’s
website. When people visit Airbnb.com, they have the option of signing up to become a
member. In doing so, they will be able to create a profile and gain the opportunity to search
for listings.
Searching through listings may lead to bookings. Through an increased purchase
rate, repeat purchases are more likely to occur. The sign up rate should be increased by
10% by the end of the calendar year, December 31, 2017. By accumulating more members,
along with maintaining those who already use the service, Airbnb will position themselves
as the go-to service and establish place in the market.
Campaign Timeline
American Campaign
Based on our Primary Research, which states that most Americans travel during the
summer, Overstep Communications should mainly put the advertisements on the media
outlets from January 2017 to August 2017 because these are the times when people book
summer vacations. Overstep Communications would like for the advertisements to be
exposed all other months of the year, creating a pulsing media model. In doing so, Overstep
Communications will be able to establish awareness of Airbnb when the target audience
begins planning their summer trips. Further, beginning in January gives the target audience
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ample time to get a clear understanding of the services Airbnb provide and become a
member.
Korean Campaign
According to the Traveltimes, based on the research done by Criteo Korea, most
Koreans travel between mid-January and early September. In addition, people tend to
spend most of their budget during spring for travel accommodations (Son, 2016).
Therefore, Overstep Communications should focus on putting advertisements on the media
outlets heavily during the spring season, which is March through May. Overstep
Communications would like to create a pulsing media model in order to reduce the budget
for quality while still being an effective way to reach the target audience.
Chinese Campaign
In China, it was found that the first week of October is the week that the Chinese
population travels most (China Highlights, 2015). Almost half of the country’s inhabitants
travel during these days (Lu, 2015). Unlike the American campaign, Overstep
Communications decided the advertisements should run throughout the year, increasing
from March to October, mimicking the pulsing media model.
Communication Goals
American Market
After further deliberation, Overstep Communications concluded that, currently,
affordability and convenience are common phrases used by the target audience when
describing Airbnb. However, the main challenge with targeting the American audience is
reducing skepticism and indifference towards Airbnb. Overstep Communications decided
to base our methods on a traditional learning model.
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As stated before, cognitively, Airbnb is initially met with unawareness and
skepticism with the American target audience. Based on our primary research, 13
participants expressed that they felt skeptical of the service and thought the idea of it is
very questionable. A great portion of the target audience has heard of Airbnb, but not many
have actually visited the site and used the service. With that said, there is a large void
between the cognitive and affective components of our model and getting the target
audience to visit the website and learn more about Airbnb. In order to get the target
audience to visit the website to gather information and reduce skepticism and
unawareness, Overstep Communications have to provide the target audience with more
information about Airbnb and their benefits through Airbnb’s advertisements. Essentially,
Airbnb must build brand equity among the target audience so that the target audience
associates positive thoughts and feelings with the service (Parente & Strausbaugh-
Hutchinson, 2015, p. 119). The advertisements will emphasize the USP, which is Airbnb can
provide traveling experiences that users will never forget. Further, once the cognitive and
affective components have changed, Overstep Communications predict a significant change
in the behavioral component, as well, with the target audience being more likely to sign up
and become a member of Airbnb.
Korean Market
Affectively, the main obstacle with targeting the Korean audience is a lack of trust
between Airbnb and potential users. The Korean target audience shared that, despite their
lack of knowledge of the service, they would be willing to use Airbnb to determine whether
or not they would use it again in the future. Consequently, there is a void between the
affective and behavioral components. The void prevents the target audience from
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experimenting with Airbnb, thus preventing from forming opinions about them. If Overstep
Communications want to increase sign ups for Airbnb membership, they must build brand
loyalty and focus solely on branding Airbnb as a trustworthy service to the Korean target
audience.
Chinese Professionals Market
In addition to the Korean market, Chinese professionals have a hard time trusting
Airbnb, and this prevents them from visiting the website. As expected by Overstep
Communications, Chinese professionals’ lack of trust is rooted in a lack of knowledge of the
service. Thus, the void in this particular model is after the affective and cognitive
components and before the behavioral section. Overstep Communications decided the best
way to approach this market is to appeal heavily to their emotions and to project Airbnb as
a safe and dependable alternative. Doing so will motivate Chinese professionals to visit
Airbnb’s website, become aware of the service, and learn to trust Airbnb. Further, Overstep
Communications expect Chinese professionals to sign up and become members of Airbnb.
Through this method, Overstep Communications hope to obtain Chinese professionals as
loyal consumers.
Chinese Students Market
Similarly to Americans, the main challenge in getting Chinese students to sign up for
a membership is reducing their negative feelings about safety concerns when booking an
Airbnb travel arrangement. Furthermore, Overstep Communications decided that the
communication goal is once again based off the traditional learning model.
Again, according to the focus group, Chinese students think that Airbnb is unsafe.
However, students may still be willing to book an Airbnb listing, but still have safety
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Recommended Creative, Media and Promotional Strategies
Creative Approach
For the creative strategy, there are a few ideas that would be beneficial to Airbnb.
The target audience is exposed to high ad clutter. It has been said that people are exposed
to 3,000 advertisements per day (Myszewski, 2015). With this in mind, in order to capture
the target audience in a way that makes a large impression, the ad must be eye-catching
and unique. The chosen media will allow for greater impact and resonation with the target
audience. The ads will be unobtrusive to their lives. Overstep Communications understand
that people do not like being bothered by advertisements, such as pop-up adverstisements,
so by creating unobtrusive, yet creative and attention-grabbing versions, there will be no
harm done to the target audience. The appeals will be both emotional and informative
since the TAs in all markets have some degree of a lack of trust, lack of awareness, and
safety concerns with Airbnb.
According to the FCB Grid, which is a resource that helps develop an ad campaign
creative strategy, Airbnb provide a high involvement service (Parente & Strausbaugh-
Hutchinson, 2015, p. 178). Because of this, Airbnb fall into both the informational and
affective quadrants. The target audience needs a clear understanding on what Airbnb have
to offer, and establish a connection to Airbnb (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p.
179). In addition, this campaign needs to address Airbnb’s unique selling proposition
(USP), which is that after booking with Airbnb, users can temporarily experience what
living is like in another life. Whether that is experiencing another culture, lifestyle, or
simply a new city, Airbnb provide an experience travelers will never forget. By featuring
the USP in the campaign, it will allow for a “persuasive advantage” and will “force
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competitors to imitate or choose [a] more aggressive strategy” (Parente & Strausbaugh-
Hutchinson, 2015, p. 181).
After going through the Ostrow Model [Ostrow Model in Appendix] and analyzing
the marketing factors, copy factors, and media factors that affect creative frequency,
Overstep Communications decided that a frequency of 4.1 needs to be established. Airbnb
have many competitors and a low market share. Additionally, this is going to be a new
campaign that is going to utilize image type copy in order to portray feelings of trust and
safety. Further, there is going to be high ad clutter throughout the internet, and the
attentiveness for these ads will most likely be low. Therefore, the frequency for this
campaign is relatively high.
Media Strategy
American
Overstep Communications recommend using nontraditional media. Nontraditional
media include online advertisements and social media. According to our research, the
target audience was asked where they were most likely to hear about Airbnb. Based on our
findings for the likelihood of hearing about Airbnb, the average rating, on a five-point scale,
with one being least likely and five being most likely, for seeing an online advertisement is
3.68. This is the highest average for all sources asked about. In addition, the target audience
is well-versed in the world of technology being that the majority of them grew up in the
technology age. Adults ages 18-34 are slightly more likely than the average person to be
online throughout the day [Table 5 in Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). The
target audience is 88% more likely to use a banner ad as a lead to purchase very often
[Table 6 in Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). Similarly, the target audience is
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108% more likely [Table 7 in Appendix] to use a full-motion video ad to guide them
towards a purchase (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). Therefore, online advertisements
will be the primary focus of this campaign. Online marketing will be the easiest way to
track the target audience. Overstep Communications can move consumers through a funnel
by having a high, online presence (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 226).
One media outlet that is very prevalent in the world is social media, since it is
“today’s lifeline” (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 228). Of adults between 18-
34, they are 29% more likely be a social media user [Table 8 in Appendix], while also being
97% more likely to visit their accounts three or more times a day [Table 9 in Appendix]
(Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). Their prominence on social media leads them to be
86% more likely to purchase a product advertised on a social sharing or social networking
site [Table 10 in Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.). Utilizing social media will
enable Airbnb to develop a brand preference and promote storytelling among members of
the target audience (Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2015, p. 228). With this, tying
aspects of social media into the campaign will provide a great opportunity to reach the
target audience and make an impact on them.
Surprisingly, this age group is not likely to watch television. At one point, there was
a high presence of television viewers; however, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are
now being used more than live programming (Spangler, 2015). With the growing
prominence of technology, television is fading away and would not be a good outlet to focus
on. The target audience is less likely than the average American to watch TV [Table 11 in
Appendix] (Simmons Research OneView, n.d.).
Korean
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Overstep Communications recommend using social media to reach the Korean
target audience. According to the Allaboutads’ column “2016 Social Media Trend and Core
Strategy” by Jay Cho, DMC reported in 2015 that research showed consumers gain
information about services or products from social media” (Cho, 2016, slide 15-17). There
was an increase of 6 to 8% compared to 2013 (Cho, 2016, slide 15-17). Moreover, social
media plays an important role in a purchase decisions and in being an ideal media platform
for viral marketing (Cho, 2016, slide 15-17).
In 2014, Korea’s social media landscape increased from a reported 23.5% in 2012 to
39.9% (Edelman, 2015). The average age of social media users has increased significantly
between people ages 10 to 40, with 74.4% of people in their 20s using social media and
61% of people in their 30s using social media (Edelman, 2015). Furthermore, Korea has the
highest digital video viewer penetration in the world: “95.9% of Korean internet users
watch videos at least once a week” (Edelman, 2015).
Chinese
Overstep Communications plan to use social media and online advertising.
There are 70% of people using social media between the ages of 19-35 and 38% of social
media users make their product purchase decisions based on recommendations they read
on social media (Jamie, 2015). The internet is also a very important way to reach the target
audience in the campaign. In 2016, there are 721 million internet users in China, and 58%
of them are millennials (Internet Live Stats, n.d; Russell, 2016).
Promotional Strategy
For promotions, Overstep Communications suggest doing a referral program. In
this situation, recommending five friends to sign up for an Airbnb membership will result
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Summary
Overall, Overstep Communications understand what the problems and
opportunities associated with Airbnb are when it comes to the TA’s mind. That being said,
the implications that this has can be fixed through the campaign as aforementioned. It will
help to alleviate these complications and create a better awareness and usage of Airbnb.
The strategy suggested by Overstep Communications is simple yet well-rounded in
reaching the intended target audience. By running this campaign, Airbnb will welcome
more people to sign up for membership.
The online and social media components will pull potential users in and spark their
interests in what Airbnb have to offer. In the future, Airbnb will become more prominent
in consumers’ minds and be more likely to make them loyal customers. With the
combination of the recommended campaign and Promotional Strategies, both the
Communications and Marketing Goals will be achieved and Airbnb will become more
established in the marketplace. With their establishment, more people will book travel
accommodations through Airbnb and they will become more prevalent than the typical
hotel or motel options the target audience currently utilizes.
