Airbnb's Experiential Campaign - by Lauren Wallender

AIRBNB’S HELLO LA 3

    Airbnb’s Experiential Campaign
                         by Lauren Wallender
OVERVIEW:
    Airbnb is a U.S.-based travel-
arrangements web service that matches          “The reason we picked five pop-ups was
travelers with people willing to rent their    to enable locals in those neighborhoods
homes. Different from the traditional hotel      to interact without having to leave. It
stay, renting through Airbnb offers              wouldn’t have done L.A. justice to do
travelers a less touristy and more personal          one big event: we looked at the
experience. The traveler can scour several           geography and saw that as an
online listings to select a specific                          advantage.”
neighborhood within a city at a more              -Emily Joffrion, Director of Airbnb’s
desirable price range. Los Angeles alone               Consumer Communications
offers 9,439 listings and 60
neighborhoods.
    In the fall of 2013, Airbnb launched a 5-day campaign called “Hello LA.” The event
celebrated Los Angeles’ most interesting people, places and experiences. Airbnb
designed 5 pop-up houses in conjunction with celebrity hosts. 26 events occurred at the
pop-up homes over the span of 4 nights. Some events were open to the public while
others were available on a reservation basis.

OBJECTIVE:
    Hello LA was a massive effort to delve into a prominent marketplace. The campaign
strived to bring brand awareness and earned media exposure in a key emerging Airbnb
market–namely, Los Angeles. The campaign concerned the following publics: Los
Angeles residents, prospective travelers to the area, and press.

2   AIRBNB’S HELLO LA

  STRATEGY:
  The “Hello LA” campaign consisted of many interactive aspects, both physical and
  virtual. In an effort to attain its campaign objectives, Airbnb utilized social media, a
  promotional contest, celebrity relations and media relations.

   Social Media

  Airbnb utilized social media to publicize the Hello LA event. On Facebook, Airbnb
  created an event page for Hello LA. As illustrated in the image below, the event page
  essentially offered a one-page flyer listing all the events’ detailed times and locations.
  Events occurred daily at the five pop-up installments, some occurring at the same time as
  others. Since there was so much happening, the flyer neatly organized all the event
  details. The flyer is interactive in that you can click on any of the five images for day-to-
  day event details.

Promotional Contest

Airbnb not only used Facebook to announce the
event, but also to engage the online community. In
particular, a promotional contest was conducted
through Facebook. The contest sought active
participation from locals who were asked to submit
short, 10-word love letters to Los Angeles. To enter
a submission contestants could either comment
directly on the call for entry Facebook photo or post
somewhere in the social media sphere with the
hashtag #helloLA. The lucky winners enjoyed an
overnight stay at any of the 5 pop-up locations.

AIRBNB’S HELLO LA 3

STRATEGY (continued):

 Celebrity Relations

Five celebrities designed and hosted the pop-up listings in iconic places around the city.
Celebrities included James Franco, Angelica Huston, Moby, Molly Sims and Lake Bell
(along with her mother, designer Robin Bell). Hosting further entailed celebrities to offer
their insider guide to Los Angeles and to curate playlists. The five celebrities also made
appearances at their venues during the events.
 Media Relations

Prior to the event’s September 27th launch, Airbnb raised awareness to the local
community through press releases via online and traditional media outlets. Several of the
press releases modeled Airbnb’s official release that ran on September 23rd, 2013. The
press release disclosed event details and directed readers to the event’s webpage. Local
media outlets such as The Los Angeles Times announced the campaign and unveiled
images of the celebrity-designed pop-up installations.

4   AIRBNB’S HELLO LA

RESULTS:

 Facebook’s Promotional Contest

On October 1st, Airbnb announced the five winners of the promotional contest via the
company’s blog. In addition to the winners, the blog post includes a word cloud of all the
compiled entries, which amounted to over 1,500. Those that participated engaged and
contributed to the narrative. The visual element, shown below, showcases the most
frequently used words used to describe Los Angeles. Some prominent words include
“love,” “dreams,” “home,” and “weather.”

 Celebrity Relations

The project gave celebrities the opportunity to be multi-dimensional artists, showcasing
their creation in an approachable, engaging forum. The celebrities’ ties to the pop-up
installations also propelled the event to further notoriety. Tabloid publications such as
OK! Magazine published slideshow images of celebrities from the Hello LA event.

     James Franco and Lake Bell posing in front of “Hello LA” signage

AIRBNB’S HELLO LA 5

 Media Relations

Prior to the event’s launch on September 27th, media content consisted primarily of press
releases, publicizing the event’s details. Due to the campaign’s success, Hello LA
garnered extensive media attention following the event. For example, Elle magazine
published a feature article titled, “Talking Style, Design and Sleeping in Playgrounds
with James Franco.” Other notable headlines appeared in the LA Times, Los Angeles
Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter. According to the analytics provided by Civic
Entertainment Group, the marketing agency behind Hello LA, the campaign reached
nearly 42 million media impressions in total.

CONCLUSION:
        Ultimately, Hello LA was a marketing initiative set by Airbnb to expand brand
awareness to Los Angeles and to earn media exposure. The campaign achieved both
objectives.
        The Hello LA campaign leveraged Airbnb’s reputation for providing the “most
interesting” accommodations by highlighting the most interesting people, places and
experiences in Los Angeles by providing consumers the ability to book a celebrity-
designed, pop-up listing, and attend their choice of 26 events, spotlighting the best of
what’s local in LA, including chefs, designers, musicians, and more.
        Furthermore, the campaign demonstrated the experiential ethos of Airbnb:
connecting people and unique neighborhood experiences. As suggested in the event’s
tagline, participants were given the chance to experience Los Angeles like never before.
This opportunity even extended to long-time LA locals, or Angelenos. Hello LA took the
experiential medium to a new level by giving consumers access to hyper-local L.A.
experiences in uniquely designed and unexpected environments.
        Airbnb’s engaging in the local community of Los Angeles built strong community
relations and goodwill. As discerned in the book PR on the Net, “Goodwill can be banked
and used to bolster company’s credibility in times of need or crisis” (Holtz 230). In light
of recent zoning law crises, Airbnb has faced legal struggles in cities such as New York
and Los Angeles. Community events such as Hello LA can build community equity,
which is key in improving Airbnb’s relationship with the local community and other key
audiences.

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                                     Works Cited

“Airbnb.” Civic Entertainment Group. Web. http://cegny.com/#/airbnb/

“Hello LA Events.” Facebook. Airbnb, n.d. Web.

       https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/app_531225853615172

Holtz, Shel. Public Relations on the Net. New York: AMACOM, 2002. Print.

Murdock, Andy. “Hello LA: 10-word love letters to Los Angeles.” Airbnb. Airbnb, 1

       Oct. 2013. Web. http://blog.airbnb.com/10-word-love-letters-to-los-angeles/

Solis, Brian. Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build,

       Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons,

       Inc., 2011. Print.