The largest alternative accommodation platform, Airbnb, recently announced its largest brand campaign yet called ‘Live There’. In line with their marketing message, the campaign highlights what Airbnb focusses on, authentic local experiences. Through this campaign, they are speaking against the commoditisation of travel and are trying to inspire travellers to ditch the templated experiences to experience the hospitality of local hosts.
This new campaign accompanies some new features Airbnb has introduced. The first one is ‘Bespoke Matching’. For this feature, they have reworked the search feature so that the results are more personalised. The app starts conversation with the travellers about their trip to match them to the best suited rentals. It keeps learning and evolving to improve the experience.
Another new feature matches the neighbourhood to find the right neighbourhood for the local experience. This has been launched with 691 neighbourhoods in 23 cities all over. The neighbourhood will be matched depending on the taste and preferences. Along with this, they introduced Guidebooks which are created by Airbnb hosts to showcase local tips. The guidebooks allow travellers to find local attractions and places to visit and these recommendations are off the beaten track.
“The number one reason people chose to travel on Airbnb is they want to live like a local. They don’t want to be tourists stuck in long lines, fighting with the crowds to see the same thing as everyone else,” said Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO. “Our hosts offer more than just generic hospitality – they welcome travelers from around the world into their communities. Today is the start of an exciting journey to help people not just go somewhere, but truly live there.”
Better tailored search results would help them increase bookings to some extent as with better (for them) suggestions will make it more likely for them to like a place. The neighbourhood matching would further help with the same and enhance the overall experience of a traveller during his Airbnb stay. With guidebooks, they are eyeing services that focus on local recommendations and experiences. Expect to see more developments in this direction in near future.
The campaign that they have introduced includes TV spots of 15, 30 and 60 seconds along with digital, out-of-home and print creatives. You can find more details about the new features and campaign here.
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