Airbnb, Inc. Marketing Plan

Airbnb, Inc.

Marketing Plan

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary        

Situational Analysis        

Company Analysis        

Company and Marketing Objectives        

Screening Criteria        

Company Resources        

Present Marketing Strategy        

Political and Legal        

Competitive Analysis        

Customer Analysis        

Demographic Data        

Market Analysis        

Who is the target market?        

Problem and Opportunity Summary        

S.W.O.T and Key Factors from Situational Analysis        

Strengths of Airbnb        

Weaknesses of Airbnb        

Opportunities of Airbnb        

Threats of Airbnb        

Target Market        

Positioning Strategy        

Other Core Strategies        

Product        

Product Life Cycle        

Channels        

Sales building blocks – techniques        

Price        

Promotion        

Hospitality Forecast and Airbnb future        

Conclusions:        

Bibliography        

Executive Summary

        Airbnb, Inc was built because of a risky idea and the company has continued to take risks as they have grown since 2008. That tendency of taking a risk has grown the company from eating dry cereal to survive, to being worth around $10 billion. Airbnb will continue to take that risk and succeed with their outlook toward customer service and providing the “sharing community” that Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk dreamed up. Opportunities for expanding brand awareness are what the company will focus on now with more advertising by mainstream media and word of mouth. As more users descend on the Airbnb website, the amount of cities and countries will grow so that even if rates are not raised, the sheer quantity of rentals will allow Airbnb to make a profit. Because Airbnb does not determine the cost of the rental for each host, there is a wide variety of products available along each step of the price spectrum which is Airbnb’s greatest strength. That strength will be used to put more capital into expanding brand awareness.  

Situational Analysis

        To begin the marketing plan we provided a detailed analysis of the hospitality market that Airbnb is currently in. Below we assess the company, their competitors, and the hospitality environment. We have included the S.W.O.T. analysis to enable Airbnb to see what areas need attention and how to move forward towards a market increase goal.

Company Analysis

        Airbnb started in 2008 in San Francisco, CA, as a means for its company's founders to pay the rent by sharing space in their apartment. Using air mattresses, they got conference participants to rent the space, when there was no more room in the city's hotels. This began the model for the perfect solution of bringing together host providers and renters. Over the years it has grown into a billion-dollar corporation using a popular concept of “sharing economy”. The objectives of the company started simple, its mission as stated by Paul Graham, a Y Combinator cofounder: "It's better to have 100 people love you than a million people that sort of like you." (Thompson, 2013)With this idea in mind, the company set out to enter the huge market opportunities in the business travel industry.

Airbnb focused on the business traveler in the beginning of its inception. They used the rapid development of the peer-to-peer online market to defy the traditional business rental services. In effect, Airbnb took sharing and renting to a new level by capitalizing on the growth of Internet social media trends. Details about the success and challenges Airbnb face in the future are discussed below.

Company and Marketing Objectives

        The founders of Airbnb are constantly evaluating the company’s progress and looking for new ways to expand the company’s listings overseas. They also are thinking of moving towards a trend of full experience travel, not just business travel rental services. To do this Airbnb will need to determine how they fit in this type of market. Can Airbnb be all things to every traveler? This is the risk Airbnb is willing to take moving forward however; it goes without saying that building too quickly can be risky. Key for Airbnb is not to lose the competitive edge it currently has. The renting marketplace has become very competitive. Consumers have more ability to search the Internet and find competitors offering similar services provided by Airbnb. What Airbnb will need to do is change the way the consumers think of travel.

Screening Criteria

        In its early years, Brian Chesky would visit each host home taking photos and spending time with the people. By doing this he grew to understand the experience consumers would have by using this type of service for travel. It's this personal feel the company hopes to continue as it reviews its goals towards the future. Creating screening criteria, Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky can look into possible opportunities to see how they can accomplish goals without losing its competitive position.

Some methods are: