AirbnbsCampaignProposal2016

OverstepCommunications

NicoletteAmbrosio KayleeNaden JanelleKelly

WonjaeChoi LiumingGuo

OverstepCommunications157MissionStreetSanFrancisco,CA94127March22,2016

JonathanMildenhallChiefMarketingOfficerAirbnb,Inc.888BrannanStreetSanFrancisco,CA94103

DearMr.Mildenhall:

AttachedinthisbookletisAirbnbsCampaignProposal.Enclosedyouwillfirstfind

anExecutiveSummaryandIntroduction,followedbytheoverallMarketingProblem,which

discussesthatlackofawarenessandsecurityconcernspreventtravelersfrombookingan

Airbnb.Afterthat,youwillfindadetailedSituationAnalysiswithaSWOT.Next,thereisan

explanationofthetargetaudienceforthiscampaign.Thetargetaudienceismillennialsin

theU.S.,China,andKorea,andthereissupportingevidencefrombothPrimaryand

SecondaryResearch.Finally,youwillencounterourMarketingandCommunicationGoals,

alongwithbriefCreative,Media,andPromotionalStrategies.Here,itwillexplainthatthe

advertisementsneedtoreduceskepticismandraiseawarenessinorderforthetargetto

becomeamemberofAirbnb.

Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactOverstepCommunications.

Sincerely,

TableofContents

ExecutiveSummary..............................................................................................................................................1Introduction..............................................................................................................................................................2MarketingProblem...............................................................................................................................................3

SituationAnalysis..................................................................................................................................................4CompanyAnalysis...........................................................................................................................................4ConsumerAnalysis..........................................................................................................................................6MarketAnalysis................................................................................................................................................9ProductAnalysis...........................................................................................................................................10

CompetitiveAnalysis...................................................................................................................................11SWOT..........................................................................................................................................................................16

Strengths..........................................................................................................................................................16Weaknesses.....................................................................................................................................................17Opportunities.................................................................................................................................................20Threats..............................................................................................................................................................23

TargetAudience...................................................................................................................................................27SecondaryResearch....................................................................................................................................27PrimaryResearch.........................................................................................................................................29

Methodology..............................................................................................................................................29ResultsandImplications.......................................................................................................................30

SynthesisofPrimaryandSecondaryResearch...............................................................................40TargetRecommendations........................................................................................................................41ProblemsandOpportunitiesAssociatedwithTargetAudience..............................................42CampaignGoals....................................................................................................................................................46MarketingGoals............................................................................................................................................46CommunicationGoals................................................................................................................................47RecommendedCreative,Media,andPromotionalStrategies...................................................51CreativeApproach......................................................................................................................................51

MediaStrategy..............................................................................................................................................52PromotionalStrategy.................................................................................................................................54

Summary..................................................................................................................................................................56

References...............................................................................................................................................................57Appendix..................................................................................................................................................................69SimmonsOneViewTables........................................................................................................................69

Questionnaire.................................................................................................................................................75FocusGroup....................................................................................................................................................81

SPSSOutputs..................................................................................................................................................83Photos...............................................................................................................................................................90Charts................................................................................................................................................................91

OstrowModel................................................................................................................................................92

1

ExecutiveSummary

Airbnbwasfoundedin2008bytwofriendsandallowstravelerstorentspacesfrom

hosts,orpeoplewhohavevacantspaceintheirhomes.Whilerelativelynew,Airbnbs

currentworthis$25.5billion(Carson,2015).OverthefewyearsAirbnbhavebeen

operating,theservicehasgeneratedmuchattention.Morethan60billionindividualshave

usedAirbnbin34,000citiesand190countries.Further,therehavebeen2millionlistings

worldwide(AirbnbRecappingDay1ofAirbnbOpen,n.d.).

Inspiteoftheirsuccess,Airbnbstrugglestocommunicateapositivebrandimageto

potentialnewusers.Thisdisconnectislargelybasedonmistrustofthecompanyandis

affectingthenumberofpeoplewhodecidetobecomemembers.OverstepCommunications

recommendedtofocusonstudentsandprofessionals,18to34-years-old,becauseour

researchshowedthatthesetwogroupsusetravelsitestobooktravelaccommodations.

ExpandingintotheChineseandKoreanmarketsprovidesmultipleopportunitiesfor

Airbnbbecauseofagrowingnumberofinternationalanddomestictouristsintheseareas

(TravelChinaGuide,2015;StatisticsKorea,2015).Ourresearchshowedthattherearenot

anysignificantdifferencesseenbetweenstudentsandprofessionalsamongthedifferent

markets,exceptforChina.Thus,theproposedcampaignOverstepCommunications

constructedfocusesontargetingmillennialsinAmerica,China,andKorea.Additionally,the

ChineseandKoreanmarketswillpushAirbnbtodevelopamoretrustingpersonality,as

thesetwoaremostconcernedwiththetrustworthinessoftheservice.

Lastly,theproposedcampaignwillrevolvearoundincreasingthenumberofpeople

whosignuptobecomemembers.Theadvertisementswillincludeinformativeand

emotionalappealsandbeplacedonlinethroughbanneradvertisementsandsocialmedia.

2

Introduction

Whenbookingtravelaccommodations,therearemanysourcesused.Asfoundin

ourresearch,peopletendtolookforaccommodationsthathavegoodsecurityinthearea

andthatareclean,suchasthemultitudeofonlinesourcesavailable,andthisserviceisan

upandcomingformofoneoftheseservices.Airbnbprovidedifferentalternativestohotel

accommodationsduringtravels.HostsofAirbnbrentoutroomsortheirentirehomesto

peoplelookingforadifferentaccommodationwhentravelingtoanewdestination.

Foundedin2008,Airbnbhasgrownsignificantly(AboutUs,n.d.).TheybeganinSan

Franciscoanddestinationscannowbefoundallaroundtheworld(Airbnb,n.d.).Currently,

thereareAirbnblistingsin34,000citiesand190countries(AboutUs,n.d.).Theserviceis

becomingmorepopular;however,therearestillafewchallenge