IMC Project

Table of contents

Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………….2

Market Position ………………………………………………………………………....4-5

Current Branding ………………………………………………………………………...5

Current Targeting ………...……………………………………………………….……..5

General description………………………………………………………………………6

Creative/tagline…………………………………………………………………………..6

Branding congruence…………………………………………………………………...6-7

Branding Objectives……………………………………………………………………..7

Targeting………………………………………………………………………………….7-8

Objectives………………………………………………………………………………...8

Budget …………………………………………………………………………………...8-9

Control/Follow Up………………………………………………………………………..9

Timeframe/Task Outline ……………………………………………………………….9-11

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...11

References……………………………………………………………………………….. 12

Executive Summary

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 The traveling industry has drastically evolved over the years it was first was a luxury that

many just could not afford due to the expenses. Later, websites arose that allowed people to

find discounted hotels and flight packages, and now the era of Airbnb. Now there is a way to

decrease these expenses even more than websites such as Kayak, Travelocity, or Orbitz.

Airbnb has changed the game for many with its technologically advanced application

that allows people all over the world to check availabilities, destinations, and activities all in one

place. This company has a market value of $30 billion and has been dominating the traveling

industry because of its adaption to the new generation’s way of communication: technology

(Thomas). Millennials and Generation Z are attracted to websites and applications that are

simple and contemporary. It is a unique way to provide a community for those who love travel

and those who want to travel more. Although it is new and exciting and many people are

utilizing it all over the world, there are still some growing pains that are associated with the

company.

The marketing campaign outlined in this will cost $67,500 for the year. These costs will

include an overhaul on our current app and website in order for us to implement our new

personalized portfolio system for our current and new customers to use in order to get the most

out of Airbnb. We will be also starting spreading the new system over social media and sending

emails out to our current customer list and potential new customers.

The campaign will be active for seven months. Quarterly reports will be collected and will

focus largely on the growth of new customers and conversation rates from competing

companies. The campaign will be considered a success if the break-even point is greater than

our initial investment.

History of Company

Airbnb started with an email. Joe Gebbia and his roommate Brian Chesky were

exchanging emails when an idea arose after realizing they could not afford to pay their rent.

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This hatched the idea of “turn[ing] their loft into an area that could fit three air mattresses,”

making a designer’s bed and breakfast for anyone who was willing to pay a small price for a

warm stay (Carson). The perfect opportunity arose when a big design conference was coming

to San Francisco, and hotels were getting booked, so the duo created a simple website,

airbedandbreakfast.com, and set up their apartment for those wanting an inexpensive stay

(Carson). Their first guests included two men and one woman who paid $80 to sleep on their

perfectly blown up air mattresses (Carson). After realizing the potential of their idea, they got

together with an old roommate, Nathan Blecharczyk, to begin building an idea into a business

(Carson).

Airbnb failed four launches before becoming successful. Broke and in debt, the

roommates decided to give it another try (Carson). What better time to launch than the 2008

Democratic Convention? They believed a hotel shortage is what would put them on top. The site

was not succeeding so they started selling cereal boxes on the street, Obama O’s and Cap’n

McCain’s, and each one included a limited edition number and unique information about their

company. This marketing strategy helped them put $30,000 toward Airbnb (Carson).

Finally, Gebbia and Chesky were noticed by Paul Graham. He invited them to join Y

Combinator, a company that helps those starting a company with resources in exchange for a

slice of the company. They worked hard on building their business and designing the website.

They even visited the homes of hosts so they can stay with them, write reviews, and experience

what a customer would (Carson). In 2009, Airbnb received a seed investment of $600,000 and

the company skyrocketed (Carson). It was growing so fast that all the employees took over the

apartment, Chesky was living out of Airbnb’s for a year (Carson). By 2011, Airbnb was in 89

countries and had 1 million night booked (Carson).

Although Airbnb was growing quickly, the company had some problems with the growth.

People were getting evicted or fined for renting their places out on Airbnb. Even some cities

started rejecting Airbnb rentals, like New York. Airbnb’s hometown, San Francisco, was not

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happy with the growth; citizens took the initiative to limit Airbnb rentals (Carson). The company

tried helping communities by collecting taxes and giving that the city or giving the cities some of

their data as part of “‘community compact’” (Carson). These problems did not stop the success

of Airbnb. Today, the company allows access to millions of places to stay in over 191 countries

(“About”). The spaces can vary anywhere from apartments, houses, castles, treehouses, and

B&Bs (“About”).

Situation
Market position

Airbnb focused on what it is that a tourist desires and noticed a trend that the tourist or

traveler is seeking an “authentic” experience. Airbnb noticed an opportunity since the tourist

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experience has been so commoditized, staged and altered in order to satisfy the tourist. Airbnb

saw this as an opportunity for not only tourist but hosts as well. Airbnb claims that by supplying

tourists with local’s home, they are essentially providing guests with an “authentic” experience

that it unobtainable from packages sold in from the hotel (“About”). They have also noticed that

Airbnb succeeds in the niche market of booked hotels due to a concert, convention, or event in

a particular city. This also expands to activities, restaurants, and sites in that area (“About”).

Current Branding

Airbnb’s current branding is the notion of belonging. Their mission statement is to make

people around the world feel as if they could “‘belong anywhere’” (Gallagher). Brian Chesky

stated that he has heard too many times that guest’s say they do not want to be tourists

(Gallagher). They want to fit in and engage with people, culture, and the area. The company

created what is now their logo and decided to make “Belong anywhere” the company’s official

tagline instead of just part of their mission statement (Gallagher). Airbnb is something much

bigger than travel; it is a community “bringing people together” by using technology (Gallagher).

The Airbnb symbol, also known as Bélo, is supposed to resemble a heart, a location pin, and

the letter “A” in Airbnb (Gallagher). It stands for four things: people, places, love, and Airbnb

(Gallagher). It is a place where people meet and belong.

Current Targeting

Airbnb is currently targeting the millennial demographic specifically. They have chosen

this demographic because they realize that they live for the moment in spontaneous ways. They

also target millennials by the use of the hashtag feature on social media sites. They use this

marketing tool on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Campaign Descriptions
General Description

Our campaign for Airbnb is all about finding the experience that best fits you. You want

to meet new people, experience local life, and feel as if you are living as one with the locals?

What better way to accomplish your desires than to pick up your electronic device and begin the

process of your tailor-made portfolio. We do not want everyone to have the same … because

we know every person is unique in their own way. We all have likes and dislikes and even

places we just HAVE to see. Why make your options so limited? So, pick up your device, sign

in, and fill out the questionnaire that will help us understand your interests and passions to find

the perfect destination and the most fitting place to stay. Want to go hiking in the mountains?

Your answers will help us find you that little cabin right by the trails so you can have the most

fulfilling experience. After your site seeing and adventures, take a break to experience local

restaurants, nightlife, concerts, and so much more. Share your previous experiences with your

friends and family on Airbnb and social media so they can see the adventures, memories, and

reviews of everywhere you went. You can even plan trips and save them for the future if it is not

quite in your budget right now. Start planning and experience the world in ways you never

thought you could.

Creative/Tagline

“Meet Local. Experience Local. Live Local.”

Brand Congruency

The brand congruence of Airbnb has the same voice all around. No matter what one

chooses to experience, we want them to feel as though every activity, place to stay, and the

restaurant was chosen to their liking and makes them feel as if Airbnb has done it again. The

company strives to find the perfect match for every person in a unique way and we want the

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consumer to feel as if Airbnb gets them. We want our consumers to feel as if they fit in every

place they travel to. Our tagline explains it all. Airbnb’s mission is to have travelers meet new

people in a new city, experience that city with food, excitement, and action, and to live locally as

one of the people. Travelers will use Airbnb wanting more memories, life, and experiences.

Branding Objectives

Airbnb is already targeting to a niche crowd and succeeding, but one thing our new

campaign is trying to do is draw in even more consumers using some new methods. We really

focused on creating a new method so consumers can have a more personalized experience

along with a way for them to share the experience with friends and family. The purpose is that in

revamping the way customers book places to stay, we hope to draw in more people who are

looking for more than just a place to stay, but a place to experience.

Targeting

The target demographic we are trying to reach is consumers in the 18-30 year range.

Consumers in the 18-30 year range right now are considered millennials. With that being said,

millennials are the most technology-dependent generation and are also the most likely to travel

to experience new things. So with our app design, millennials will be able to go on adventures

and take the vacation they've always wanted without the hassle of doing extensive research into

the trip. Almost all of the millennials like to share their experiences with all their friends on social

media. With the updated portfolio option on the app, our hopes are that more people start to

actually use hashtags or tag Airbnb so when people see a unique or interesting place, they now

Airbnb is where to find it.

Objectives

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 Our main objective is to attract more consumers to Airbnb by allowing them to create a

portfolio that establishes what they are looking for in a vacation or just a place to stay. The

portfolio also has a set of questions so it can determine the different personality types of

consumers. Doing this will allows Airbnb to match them with the best location and the correct

crowd type for their personality. Another thing we are looking for is to try and have consumers

capture their experiences so they can not only share with friends and family but also share to

Airbnb. Therefore the next time someone books a place there, they can see what to expect and

confirm whether or not that the place they want to experience.

Media Objectives

We plan on advertising on all social media platforms to reach all millennials. Also since

Hulu seems to generally be watched by millennials and has a plan that incorporates

commercials, we will partner with them to run some of our ads during popular/trending shows.

Lastly, we will incorporate our new tagline (#MeetLocal.ExperienceLocal.LiveLocal) in

advertisements and hashtags so it can be the trend every time someone visits a destination

using Airbnb.

Budget

In 2018, the average firm was expected to allocate 41% of their marketing budget to

online marketing tactics and this rate is expected to grow 45% by 2020 (“Blog”). Since Airbnb

is not a traditional brick and mortar business, we can allocate more funds towards our mobile

marketing campaign. Our goals are to increase sales among men and women between 18-30 by

30% and website reservations by 20%. When determining our budget, the type of mobile tools

we want to utilize is taken into account such as a mobile-ready website, a free application, and

mobile advertising. Maintaining social media accounts is an estimated $3,000-$5,000 per month

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(“Blog”), which equals around $36,000-$60,000 per year. Development of our landing page will

cost about $100 per hour, equaling $1,500, and design will cost around $1,000 totaling about

$2,500-$3,500. Email marketing can be projected at $250 per month with an average return of

$38 per dollar spent according to the (Data and Marketing Association). The total price for our

email campaign would be around $3,000-$4,000 per year. We expect our mobile marketing

campaign to cost us around $67,500 per year. If we were to implement our campaign we expect

to execute our objectives of increasing sales of men and women between 18-30 by 30% and

increasing website reservations by 20% which will in turn help fund out new campaign while

increasing overall brand awareness by 50%.

Control/Follow Up

The process of evaluating how well this campaign has done can be measured by simply

comparing the number of homes being booked through Airbnb before our campaign and then

six months after. We would continue to monitor the number of consumers using the application

and also on average how many of them are actually booking places to stay.

On top of looking at application usage, we would also do surveys through the app which

ask detailed questions on how the consumers like the new portfolio option. The survey would

also allow them to describe how they like the destination choices made by the portfolio along

with any tips or suggestions they would do to the application.

Overall in completing the analyses described above, it should show how well the

application is doing while also helping it to continuously develop into the best possible

application for Airbnb consumers.

Timeframe/Task Outline

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 Our marketing campaign will last 7 months. Our launch date for the campaign will begin

May 1 and end December 1st. We choose these dates based on the information shown below:

(“Equity Clock”)

1. Goals

a. Increase sale among men and women between 18-30 by 30%

b. Increase the number of people who make reservations on our online app while

browsing by 20%

c. Improve product awareness by 50%

2. Leverage all of marketing assets/tools

a. Landing page- Create an easy to use the page to lead more conversions. Our

page will capture lead that will allow us to market to them in the future, we can

also use an analytics system to see what channel they have accessed our

landing page from.

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 b. Email- Send emails out to our current customers about what is new at Airbnb and

how we can better their traveling experience

c. Social media accounts- We have a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

We need to let our followers know what is new.

i. Focus on Facebook/Instagram for running ongoing ads and to promote

our new portfolio system.

3. Follow the analytics

a. Use google analytics and Facebooks analytics to track our campaign to see what

channels the consumers are using the most.

b. Invest more heavily in the pare we are doing well in

Conclusion

In conclusion, our campaign of “Meet Local. Experience Local. Live Local.” is all about

the consumer. We want them to experience a new, unique, and exciting trip every time they

book with Airbnb. Our goal is to attract all people: different age groups, ethnicities, and travel

habits by building a portfolio that fits their personality and travel requirements, for the present

and the future. Although we have been focusing on the 18-30 age groups, we want to still attract

everyone. With around $36,000- $60,000 as budget towards our social media marketing

campaign, we can achieve this goal. We expect our marketing campaign to last around 7

months out of the year as we believe that will increase our sales by 30%, reach targeted group

through social media and e-mail, and let us invest in more of what we are doing well in.

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 Reference list
"About Us." Airbnb Newsroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"Blog." How Much Should You Budget For Marketing In 2018? N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2018.

Carson, Biz. "How 3 Guys Turned Renting an Air Mattress in Their Apartment into a $25 Billion
Company." Business Insider. Business Insider, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"DMA - Data & Marketing Association - The DMA." Thedma.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2018.

"Equity Clock." Margin Debt Continuing Its Trend of above Average Gains. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr.
2018.

Gallagher, Leigh. "The inside Story on Airbnb's Search for Its Mission-and Brand." Fortune. N.p., 22
Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"Hashtag You're It." Hashtag You're It. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

"How Airbnb Started - Infographic." Adioma. N.p., 10 Aug. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.

Thomas, Lauren. "Airbnb Just Closed a $1 Billion round and Became Profitable in 2016." CNBC.
CNBC, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2018

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