Listening In The News

Strangers Aren't So Strange

                                                           Airbnb

Airbnb's new ad campaign showcases three unusual-looking, shaggy guests in their Airbnb listing, showing us that we are all very similar in the end. The fuzzy guests arrive in the dead of night, as if ready to devour sleeping prey. Yet when the ad cuts to morning, they admire the view, boil the kettle, and play 'Beautiful Strangers' by Kevin Morby like a regular family on a holiday getaway. As kids, we were always taught about stranger danger but here with Airbnb Stranger danger does not apply in this neck of the woods. Wondering why  Airbnb chose to create a film about a family of shaggy beasts? All is revealed in the tagline – strangers aren’t so strange. The campaign appears to be a bid to encourage nervous homeowners to put aside their fears of nightmare guests and give hosting a go. When Airbnb was born back in 2007, many people were unconvinced that strangers would stay in each other’s homes. What we’ve learned over the past 14 years is that strangers really aren’t that strange.  

Today, Airbnb has more than 4 million Hosts across nearly 6 million listings. And every day, Hosts open their doors to over half a million strangers. When vacation's over, they straighten out crooked pictures and leave a thank-you note. As they vanish through the door again, the shag vanishes and they become ordinary people. 

                         "Strangers aren't that strange," the end of the commercial reads.

                                                            "Try hosting." 

The value proposition to hosts is income generation, simplicity, and safety. In their own words, “Airbnb exists to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, providing healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable.” The value proposition to hosts is income generation, simplicity, and safety.

I think one of the downfalls with Airbnb is their cleaning fees. It's honestly in my opinion way too high. You really could get a hotel that doesn't charge that much. In my own experience, I would have booked an additional night but since the fee for cleaning was so high I shortened my stay.

Another downfall with Airbnb is being the host. You really don't know who will be staying in your home. Unfortunately, Airbnb does not have a screening process or background check system in place. I believe that security and safety should come first. The host who is lending their own home out should feel secure in their booked guests.

When I read this comment I wasn't sure what Couchsurfing was so I looked it up. After researching it and gaining more understanding of how the site works I found it to be sort of similar to Airbnb but I wasn't sold. I feel safer and more secure with Airbnb. Airbnb markets safety and fabulous experiences.

I had a similar experience when I booked an Airbnb in Honolulu Hawaii. I was lucky enough to receive my money back through their customer service department. I found this comment on Instagram. I was surprised to see that Airbnb did not respond to this comment but had responded to plenty of others on their IG page. This comment shows another downfall to Airbnb's customer service and consumer satisfaction.

I found their marketing strategy to be fun and different. I really enjoyed the storytelling of this particular campaign. It caught my attention and I believe it got its message across to the viewers. What I found odd thou was that Airbnb turned off the commenting on Youtube. I really didn't understand that. I felt like they didn't believe in their own campaign and didn't want any negative backlash for whatever reason.

If I were the companies brand manager I would encourage commenting from the viewers so that I could use the feedback to better future campaigns.

I learned from watching this fun commercial that Airbnb is showing people that it is ok to rent out your home to strangers and that we are all the same despite our differences.

https://youtu.be/pdcElQTd8gM