Latest / Marketing Made Simple with Fexingo: Branding, SEO, and Digital Strategy for Beginners / How Airbnbs Brand Redefined the Travel Category
Transcript
- Lucas: If I say 'travel brand,' what comes to mind first? Luna: Honestly? Airbnb. Not Marriott, not Delta, not even Expedia. It's weird, because Airbnb is barely twenty years old, and most people think of it as a booking site, not a brand you 'travel with.' Lucas: Right. And that's exactly the shift we're talking about today. Airbnb didn't just become a big company in travel. It redefined what the category means. It turned 'travel' from 'where you sleep' into 'how you live somewhere else.' That's a brand achievement, not just a product one. Luna: So we're talking about category design. But I think the fascinating part is how they did it without ever saying 'we're a travel company' in the early days. They leaned into belonging. Lucas: Exactly. The 2014 'Belong Anywhere' campaign was the first real articulation. Up to that point, Airbnb was just a cheaper alternative to hotels. But that campaign reframed the entire value proposition: it's not about saving money, it's about experiencing a place authentically. They used real hosts and real guests in the ads, shot in a documentary style. No polished hotel lobby shots. Just someone making coffee in a stranger's kitchen. Luna: And that emotional hook is what separated them. Hotels sell you a room. Airbnb sold you a story. The brand became the enabler of that story. Lucas: But I want to jump ahead to what I think is the most interesting recent move: the 'Airbnb it' campaign from 2024. That was a real risk. For years, the brand was built around the idea of belonging — soft, inclusive, almost spiritual. Then they come out with a two-word imperative: 'Airbnb it.' It's punchy. It's a bit cocky. Luna: And it's a verb. That's the holy grail of branding — becoming a verb. Google it. Uber it. Now Airbnb it. But what was the actual creative? I remember the Super Bowl ad. Lucas: The Super Bowl ad was brilliant because it didn't show a single home. It showed people doing things — cooking pasta in Italy, learning pottery in Mexico City, surfing in Bali. The tagline wasn't about accommodations. It was 'Go anywhere. Feel like you belong.' They literally didn't show a bed. The product was the experience, not the space. Luna: That's a category redefinition in thirty seconds. They're saying: we're not a home rental platform, we're a way to have experiences. And that opened up a much bigger market. Suddenly they're competing with tour operators, local classes, even restaurants to some degree. Lucas: And it wasn't just advertising. The product itself shifted. Airbnb Experiences launched in 2016, but by 2024 it had become a significant revenue driver: cooking classes, walking tours, photography sessions hosted by locals. The brand narrative and the product roadmap were completely aligned. Luna: But let's talk about the visual identity. Airbnb's logo — the Bélo — is interesting. It's supposed to represent people, places, love, and the 'A' of Airbnb. But they've iterated on that. In recent years, they've moved toward a more expressive, almost artisanal visual system. The app icon changed, the color palette got warmer, and the photography shifted from polished to raw. Lucas: Yeah, they intentionally made it feel less corporate. If you look at their brand guidelines from 2023, they talk about 'making the brand feel like it was created by the community, not by a design agency.' That's a really smart move. They commissioned local artists in different cities to create their own versions of the logo for specific markets. So you'd see a hand-painted Bélo on a wall in Tokyo or a mosaic version in Barcelona. It made the brand feel local, even though it's global. Luna: And that ties back to the core message: belonging. They're not just telling you to belong, they're showing you that the brand itself belongs in different places. The visual identity is a proof point. Lucas: I want to bring in a comparison. Think about how traditional hotel chains brand themselves. Marriott has multiple sub-brands: Ritz-Carlton for luxury, Courtyard for business, Residence Inn for extended stays. Each has a different promise. Airbnb has one brand for everything — from a $30 a night couch to a $10,000 a night villa. That's incredibly hard to pull off without diluting the brand. Luna: It's a tension. How do you maintain 'authentic local experience' when you're also listing a penthouse that costs more than a hotel suite? Airbnb's answer has been to focus on the host, not the property. The brand promise is about the person hosting you, not the square footage. Lucas: And they've doubled down on that in their host community. They have a host advisory board, they host host gatherings, they produce content featuring hosts. The brand story is co-authored by the community. That's a level of brand intimacy that hotels can't replicate because the hotel employee is just an employee. The host is a stakeholder. Luna: Let's talk about a challenge, though. Trust. Airbnb has had high-profile safety incidents, discrimination issues, and regulatory battles. How does the brand survive that when the promise is 'belong anywhere'? If guests don't feel safe, the whole pitch collapses. Lucas: You're right. And they've handled it unevenly. The 2020 'Made possible by hosts' campaign was a direct response to trust issues — they put host stories front and center to humanize the platform. But the real test is product-level changes: verified ID, guest guarantees, 24/7 support. The brand narrative can only paper over cracks for so long. Luna: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe a new strategy for your own brand, or a new way of thinking about your business — we want to mention something. This show is entirely ad-free, because we think that keeps the conversation honest. And that's possible because of listeners who choose to support it. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference. If you've gotten value from the episodes, and you want to help keep them free from sponsor interruptions, you can toss something into the tip jar at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, no perks, just knowing you're part of keeping this independent. Luna: And that's really it. So back to Airbnb's brand tension. I think one of the smartest moves they made was to double down on experiences as a separate brand line. It's not just 'book a home and maybe an experience.' Experiences have their own identity, their own app integration, their own marketing. Lucas: Right. And they've used data from bookings to fuel that. If you book a home in Paris, the app will suggest a croissant-making class hosted by a local baker in your neighborhood. That's contextual personalization that reinforces the brand promise. It's not a generic upsell. It's 'you're here to belong, here's how.' Luna: And that's where the brand becomes a system, not just a logo. Every touchpoint — search, booking, check-in, post-trip — reinforces the same idea. The brand is the experience of using the product. Lucas: Let's talk about the risk of overextension. Airbnb is now moving into more categories: they've experimented with Airbnb Luxe, they've added Airbnb for Work, they've even talked about Airbnb City — a branded residential concept. At what point does the brand become too stretched? Luna: I think the risk is real. The 'belong anywhere' promise works when you're talking about a vacation. But if you're selling a luxury villa for $5,000 a night, the 'belonging' narrative feels different. And business travel? 'Belong anywhere' sounds nice, but do you really want to belong in a meeting room in Cleveland? There's a mismatch. Lucas: And yet, they're doing it anyway. The business travel segment is huge. They've added features like centralized billing and compliance tools. The brand has to accommodate that without sounding like a soulless corporate tool. It's a tightrope. Luna: So what can other brands learn from Airbnb's playbook? I'd say three things. One: define the category you want to own, not the product you sell. Two: make your brand a platform for your community's stories. Three: align your visual identity and product experience with that narrative. Lucas: I'd add a fourth: be willing to evolve the brand as the market changes. 'Belong Anywhere' worked for the startup phase. 'Airbnb it' works for the mature phase where you need to drive action. The brand grew up. And they managed to do it without losing the emotional core. Luna: But they stumbled along the way. There was a period around 2020 when the brand felt a bit lost — they were pivoting to long-term stays, they had to lay off staff, the IPO was delayed. The brand narrative got muddied. They recovered by going back to the host stories. Lucas: That's a key lesson: when you're in crisis, go back to your founding narrative. For Airbnb, that's the hosts. For a lot of brands, it's the founder's original insight. Don't invent a new story in a crisis. Re-anchor in the old one. Luna: And that's why Airbnb's brand is so durable. It's rooted in a real human need: connection. Not just a place to sleep. As long as they keep that front and center, the brand can stretch — up to a point. Lucas: Exactly. The category is 'travel as belonging.' The product is just the vehicle. And that's the kind of brand thinking that turns a rental website into a cultural movement.