Contents Insights Primary research Consumer Profiles Big Idea Creative Concept and Output
Unlike any other existing travel agent, Airbnb creates an experience for the traveller and agent or in this case, the hosts. It is an online trusted community marketplace where people can discover as well as host unique places all over the world. Airbnb are unique because they want their consumers to feel as if they belong to wherever in the world they may go. Abiding by the word ‘community’, Airbnb easily connects travellers with hosts through their site where relationships may be established from the trustworthy and one of a kind experience which leads to the feeling of belonging. Striving to achieve a feeling, Airbnb just wants everybody to feel as if they ‘belong’, anywhere in the world.
Founded 6 years ago, Airbnb has achieved a success of over 25,000,000 guests, based within 190 countries and more than 34,000 cities as well as 600 castles. Airbnb have introduced a new world of travelling, differing from the ordinary hotel and hostel experiences. Embracing the idea of sharing, hospitality and connecting, is what this online community of travellers and hosts is all about. The feeling of ‘belonging’ is most important, as Airbnb just want people to connect, share, relate, and feel accepted and safe.
Becoming part of this global Airbnb community is simple. The website is the easiest solution to the problem of finding unique, affordable accommodation across the world. Also for people who are seeking to earn extra income and showcase their own space to the millions. Airbnb simply plays the role of a social media site for travellers and hosts; enabling everybody to communicate before sharing a home with each other, encouraging the idea of ‘belonging’ and feeling safe when travelling. It’s a quick process of exploring the website, finding what you are looking for and then making it happen, easily accessed from the comfort of your own home.
‘Belonging’
‘Our interests, motivation, health and happiness are inextricably tied to the feeling that we belong to a greater community that may share common interests and aspirations.’ - (Gregory M. Walton 2007)
As humans, we need to have the feeling of belonging; It is a ‘psychological lever that has broad consequences’ (Gregory M. Walton 2007). Being able to find a sense of belonging within family, friends, or a place is what is needed to feel the opposite of loneliness and unacceptance. The feeling itself creates a foundation towards our sense of happiness, therefore ‘belonging’ is more than just a word but plays a significance in our emotions throughout life. This feeling can be taken for granted, which Airbnb has recognised and seek to make a change with this community; you don’t just receive financial rewards but personal ones too, for hosts and travellers alike that stems from the feeling of belonging and acceptance.
With new technologies being introduced every day, creating a huge benefit to those who look to stay in contact long distance. It is no longer a chore to keep in touch, bringing people together. The modern world is subconsciously recognising the ache of the universal human need to feel as if they belong, to feel welcome and accepted no matter where in the world they are. Airbnb takes pride in the word ‘belonging’. The emergence of Web 2.0 digital technologies has transformed the end-to-end travel process. Social media provides travellers with a gateway to the opinions and recommendations of millions of people. Social media and Travel gel together because of the experiential nature of travel, which is a social activity in itself. (Jessica Kelly, Mintel 2014) It is the breadth of content that users are habituated to sharing on social networks that leads them to push content there more frequently. (Samuel Gee, Mintel 2014) The use of social media sites is increasing every day; by a range of audiences around the world. According to statistics the number of users worldwide has increased dramatically between 2010 and 2014 and it is estimated that this trend will continue, indeed it is estimated that by 2016 there will be around 2.13 billion social network users around the globe, up from 1.4 billion in 2012. (Statista 2014) ‘It’s a small world’ is becoming more literal as it’s much easier to find people and information online; from a name, location or the use of a hashtag.
‘Confronting the worst job market in decades, many college graduates who expected to land paid jobs are turning to unpaid internships to try to get a foot in an employer’s door’. (Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times 2012)
Primary
On the basis of this information, primary research was conducted in order to find out the correlation between the lack of disposable income for this demographic and the target market for the campaign which was style conscious people.
Research
From the question ‘What is most important when booking accommodation?’ ‘location’ is priority followed by’ price’. A large majority of the survey were 1822 year olds, which fit into the criteria of University students and graduates. The research indicates that location comes first which implies that the target audience are style conscious when booking accommodation. Therefore the focus should be based around the location first then price of places. Price is also an important factor for 18-25 year olds, this age group is in the range that would be studying at a university or just graduating and as such this supports the secondary research on the job market being in a bad situation and students having little income.
‘Belonging’ is a word which Airbnb champion within their community, therefore within my survey I asked ‘What is your perception of belonging?’ resulting in a split answer between acceptance and friendship/relationship, which has created a focus for the new campaign. The results of the survey help reinforce Airbnb’s three most important factors; people, places and love.
Further to this, the majority of questionnaires were completed by style conscious people and as such they fit within the target market for the campaign, also that they focus on price as a major factor when looking for accommodation provides the campaign with a basis on which to build. Evidently shown, the result of this question ‘Do you attend art and/or fashion events? If not, do you wish to?’ fills the gap in the campaign of affordable accommodation for style conscious people.
Airbnb only has 187,000 followers, however over 25,000,000 guests. So following on from this, another question was added ‘what social networking platforms do you use most and why? (E.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) Also how often do you post...? Daily, weekly or once a month?’ The mass of the answers were Instagram and Snapchat, posting daily and weekly; people prefer viewing and sharing photos rather than random written posts, also it’s the easiest source for brands or bloggers using hashtags. It is indisputable that campaigning for this young generation, that Air bnb will gain followers from each of the guests they gain in this demographic, which will promote brand awareness just through social media.
This new campaign will be aimed towards 18-25 year olds, known to be the prime travelling age. It will be channelled to a new community of style conscious people with a creative background within either fashion, art, photography etc. Their main inspiration in life is taken from travelling, embracing street art and different cultures with an open mind, which they then share throughout social networking sites.
The Big Idea
Communities are brought together through sharing similar interests and aspirations, therefore people are constantly seeking to become part of something. Airbnb is a large online community which travellers and hosts belong to. However looking at a smaller picture, there is a gap to introduce a solution for a new, specific audience to Air bnb encouraging the main idea of ‘belonging’ – linking people with certain interests to certain locations creating a new community within Air bnb.
In this case, specifically style conscious people who seek affordable accommodation in up and coming capitals. A lot of the way we travel is mass produced, however Airbnb is all about a community of individuals with an endless range of accommodation; from apartments in the capitals, to villas in paradise, which means there will always be unique travel experiences and accommodation to your taste every time you use Airbnb. Wherever we visit around the world, we look to feel accepted and this is the opportunity to find exactly that.
Starting up a new community, within another community? Can this be achieved? Collated from research, it is a belief that the Travel and Tourism industry now heavily relies on social media, which links to our style conscious target audience of 18-25 year olds who are the main reason why words are spread dramatically quickly through the ‘small’ digital world. From this, it has come to a realisation that bringing together people through Airbnb simply due to the idea of sharing similar interests which results into the feeling of belonging to a community and sharing with one another the experience on social media sites. The focus of the new users of Airbnb is sharing.
To appeal to this certain target audience, there will be new categories within the Airbnb website ‘Just for the weekend’ and ‘Explore the world’ available which will consist of several recommendations for those who seek to ‘Travel in Style’ but at an affordable price. From primary research conducted, a majority of the target audience are interested in using Airbnb to be able to attend those events happening in the up and coming capitals of the world, Fashion Weeks, annual Exhibitions etc. Furthermore, the attraction of experiencing unique hospitality as well as culture is what they’d prefer to the norm of staying in cheap and generic hotels or shabby hostels.
#LFW Over 5,000 visitors are expected annually at London Fashion Week, therefore the chances are that this new community will empower the existing large community that Air bnb comprises. In February 2014 there were over 300,000 mentions of #LFW on twitter over 5 days, and nearly 100,000 images tagged #LFW on Instagram (Mintel, 2014). The main focus at these events is that word spreads as quickly as possible. It is doubles that Airbnb will be mentioned thus helping the community grow, enhancing the idea of ‘belonging’. The traveller (target audience) will feel accepted within the event and Airbnb can belong to these different events, becoming a partnership opportunity for people who attend the events and want to stay in unique accommodation that matches the experience. With the hashtag appearing on the most popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook; Airbnb will gain brand awareness from this new community sharing their experiences with everyone by #TravelInStyle. Posts on social media platforms are mainly life highlights, it’s where people go to show off and it’s undeniable that #TravelInStyle will appear among the highlights of this new community within Airbnb.
So with quick access to the new category on Airbnb, they will be able to pursue that wish when travelling. Choosing Airbnb will support the feeling of belonging, both within the large community marketplace and the smaller community within ‘Travel in Style’. By sharing interests with the hosts who will be providing the unique accommodation and knowledge of the up and coming city you are visiting, a true connection can be built, alongside the experience itself. The way Airbnb works is that the cost isn’t based on a per guest basis but on the accommodation, therefore if travelling in a group (which is most of the target audience’s preference of travel), the costs become simply affordable. What creative people seek is to be individual, so why choose to accommodate oneself in a hotel or hostel which falls into a mass market when Airbnb offers similar priced unique accommodation that includes a guide (the host) of the city itself, all inclusive! It’s both practical and affordable, with a unique twist.
Appealing to the target audience; a section called ‘Travel in Style’ will be added on both the Airbnb website and app. This will be where they can view and find out information about the unique, affordable accommodation that Airbnb offers within up and coming cities that will be included, linking to the different art and/or fashion events around the world. Additionally, there will be a newsfeed available of other people’s reviews of their experience about the places and hosts, which will be interesting to the target audience (18-25 year olds coming from a creative background) This will help build trust by being able to communicate with one another, and with everybody part of this new community having similar interests, making it easier for users to feel acceptance and belonging by sharing things in common.
When selecting a City, the site will link to a page with a short description of the city, then most importantly the budget priced (under £100) accommodation appears according to ‘#TravelInStyle’ preferences. Each of the Cities pages focuses on unique, on trend accommodation to the taste of the previously defined target audience. While browsing through the new ‘#TravelInStyle’ section, a drop down bar will always sit at the top of the toolbar with options of: Newsfeed, Discover, Messages and Your Profile, becoming a ‘personal organiser’.
Taking inspiration from the largest online style community Polyvore.com; the focus of the campaign will be based around ‘Outfit of the days’ sets which users of Polyvore create on the site. The ‘outfit of the days’ will link with the up and coming cities which will be included within the new ‘Travel in Style’ section on Airbnb, such as New York, Paris, Tokyo, Milan, London etc. With more and more bloggers coming onto the surface of the creative industry, with more ‘outfit
of the days’ appearing everywhere. Therefore, I feel that this will appeal to the target audience. The aim is for this new community to channel their inner creativity with Airbnb, feeling as if they belong to something different to the usual creative social media groups they may be a part of; this will be promoted as a tagline ‘Channel your inner creativity anywhere with Airbnb’ following the hashtag ‘#TravelInStyle’.
Inspiratio
Matt Wisniewski
Sara Byrne
For this new idea, the aim of the campaign is to create something different for Airbnb, which will appeal to a new audience. Today's WWD reports that style bloggers like Bryanboy and Aimee Song now earn sixfigure salaries, $100000 – and in some cases, even more (Dazed Digital 2014). Everybody with a creative background views blogs so after researching through blogs and bloggers on Instagram, it resulted in the idea of ‘Outfit of the days’ for this ‘#TravelInStyle’ campaign, as this appeals to the target audience. The main idea of the campaign is to appeal to the ‘style conscious’ target audience, as well as linking it to travel. With the ‘Outfit of the Days’, I have allocated appropriate outfits for each of the cities featured within the ‘#TravelInStyle’ section; choosing street style photos I noticed researching each of the cities. After discovering Sara Byrne’s and Matt Wisniewski’s beautiful double exposure portrait photographs, it was then obvious that combining style and travel would be possible. With overlaying the photographs of the cities on top of the ‘OOTD’s’, the creation of the campaign emerged. The fact that it has that ‘look twice’ effect due to the subtleness of the travel side makes the campaign work as a whole. The web design, the brand aesthetics aren’t to be changed. ‘#TravelInStyle’ simply integrates within the current Airbnb website and app. As above, the section will feature on the homepage as you scroll down and an example of three different destinations will appear as choices. The thumbnails are two images (Outfit of the day and the city itself) overlaid, so it can be easily identified.
Campaign Stopframe
On social media sites such as the examples shown, Facebook and Twitter, different collections of OOTD’s will be displayed as it creates a diversity within the new concept. Unlike the main campaign, the twitter banner has the tag line ‘Channel your inner creativity anywhere, and belong with Airbnb’. The campaigns will always link with this overlay effect of both the OOTD’s and the cities photographs, however for diversity, different cities shall be used.
‘#TravelInStyle’ is also available in an app, it’s just a compact version mirroring the website layout. An app is ideal for the young audience because a phone has become a necessity to keep updated with the social media world.
In conclusion, creating a new way for young, style conscious but not necessarily wealthy people to explore the world affordably, can only make Airbnb the first and only choice and can only make Airbnb more successful.
Research Methodology
Research Purpose Strengths Weakness Outcomes & Effect Method Internet
To develop an understanding of insights and find sufficient information and statistics within the market.
A large amount of sources are available, which are easy to find and can be helpfully specified quickly.
Some information isn’t neccessarily trustworthy or reliable.
Clear understanding of the company and insights, as well as detailed relevant market research which helped me towards the new concept.
Survey
To understand matter of opinions within the target audience, as research to help direct my concept successfully.
Using typeform, people are able to write detailed responses, resulting in good collection of data.
Sometimes responses may not be helpful and risk of not having enough results for market research.
Good amount of results to work with and helpful detailed answers.
Social Media
To reach out to the the young target audience and collect data to fit statistics.
Majority of the target audience use social media, therefore certainty lies within researching through social media.
Risk of people not replying or misunderstanding of the queries.
Not many responses on comment, however people answered the question in person so still got results but not in the format expected.
Appendix
Imagery Fig.1 – DesignStudio, (2014), Air bnb rebrand [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.logoed.co.uk/2014/10/09/ airbnb/ [Accessed 03 January 15]. Fig.2 – DesignStudio, (2014), Air bnb introduces ‘the Belo’ [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.logodesignlove. com/new-airbnb-identity [Accessed 03 January 15] Fig.3 – Agnes Lee and Matt Luckhurst, (2014), Air bnb - The world map [ONLINE]. Available at:http:// andrealikes.to/ [Accessed 04 January 15]. Fig. 4 – Everest, (2009), Find a sense of belonging [ONLINE]. Available at:http://news.everest.edu/ post/2009/06/everest-college-belonging/#.VLW5QCusUWI [Accessed 03 January 15]. Fig. 5 – Cienpies Design, (2012), Gadgets icons world map [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.dreamstime. com/royalty-free-stock-image-gadgets-icons-world-map-illustration-image26696806 [Accessed 03 January 15]. Fig. 6 – Design Studio, (2014), The Belo, new identity Airbnb [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www. weneedcafeine.com/belo-nouvelle-identite-airbnb/ [Accessed 03 January 15] Fig. 7 – Airbnb, (2014), Belong Anywhere [ONLINE]. Available at: http://blog.airbnb.com/belong-anywhere/ [Accessed 04 January 15]. Fig. 8 – Daniel Buren, (2013), Partridge Pop Art! [ONLINE]. Available at: http://partridgeevents.co.uk/ partridge-pop-art/ [Accessed 05 January 15]. Fig. 9 – Andy, (2013), House of Fraser Competition and Milan Fashion Getaway [ONLINE]. Available at:http:// www.mycelebrityfashion.co.uk/2013/08/house-of-fraser-competition-and-milan-fashion-getaway/ [Accessed 05 January 15] Fig. 10 – Design Studio, (2014), Airbnb identity and web design [ONLINE]. Available at: http://4ggl.org/ belong-anywhere/ [Accessed 05 January 15]. Fig. 11 – Wise, (2014), Community [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.wiseemployment.com.au/en/ community/community-investment/ [Accessed 05 January 15] Fig. 12 – Robert Longo, (2009), Community [ONLINE]. Available at: http://theselby.com/galleries/robertlongo/[Accessed 06 January 15]. Fig. 13 – Life multimedia, (2011), Social Media 101 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.lifemultimedia.com/ the-social-media-world/ [Accessed 06 January 15] Fig. 14 – Matt Wisniewski, (2011), Portraits Blended with Photos of Nature [ONLINE]. Available at: http:// petapixel.com/2011/11/11/portraits-blended-with-photos-of-nature/ [Accessed 11 January 15] Fig. 15 – Sara K Byrne, (2013), Double Exposure Portraits [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.thisiscolossal. com/2013/04/double-exposure-portraits-by-sara-k-byrne/ [Accessed 11 January 15]. Fig. 16 – Design Studio, (2014), Airbnb webpage [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/ [Accessed 06 January 15]. Fig. 17 – Design Studio , (2014), Rebranding the world’s most compelling hospitality idea [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.wearedesignstudio.com/works/airbnb-brand/ [Accessed 06 January 15].
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