Skift Take
Airbnb has actually been a smart public relations practitioner throughout the years, and the volume of press releases the business produces every year is legion. Brian Chesky’s yearlong digital wanderer stint lines up with the business’s brand name story and marketing method.
Dennis Schaal
Online Travel This Week
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky hasn’t been shy in the past about acknowledging that public relations, and a torrent of resultant press stories have been instrumental in building the Airbnb brand name– and he’s squandering no time at all continuing with that formula in 2022.
Chesky, who has roughly 405,000 Twitter fans, tweeted Tuesday that he will be living in Airbnb properties throughout the year, relocating to another city or town every couple of weeks, in a quote to highlight the “decentralization of living,” where millions of Airbnb guests he forecasted will head abroad or otherwise far from home to live and work in 2022.
From July through December 2021, 20 percent of nights booked through Airbnb were for stays of one month or longer, Chesky tweeted, and stays of one week or longer comprised nearly half of all nights reserved.
“In 2022, I believe the greatest trend in travel will be people spreading out to countless towns and cities, remaining for weeks, months, or even whole seasons at a time,” he tweeted.
The digital nomad CEO, who said he’ll return to his online in San Francisco frequently enough during the year, tweeted that his worldwide trip– Atlanta is the very first stop– will “be fun, but more significantly it will assist us enhance the experience for people who can now live anywhere.”
Lots of destinations work with social media influencers to promote the appearance of their food, cultures or neighborhoods, however Chesky will undoubtably fill that function on his own this year, amassing social networks and press attention, as he hops from listing to listing based upon his concerns of protecting great Wifi and adequate work and living area, along with walkable communities where he can take in the regional ambiance.
Hey, Airbnb, other booking platforms, airline companies, locations, and media attire such as The New York Times don’t have a patent on generating buzz based upon adventures such as these. In 2011, Starwood Hotels proclaimed it would move its CEO and senior management to Shanghai, China to live and work for a month.
While Chesky is looking for to stress the concept that travel and living are being redefined on Airbnb through digital nomadic wanderings, Starwood at the time was promoting the ascendancy of China and the hotel chain’s dedication to what was its 2nd biggest market.
If coming away from his year of living in Airbnbs with lots of learnings about how to improve the Airbnb experience is the objective, Chesky is certainly not the ideal individual for the task. Real, some hosts might not acknowledge the name Brian Chesky when they accept a reservation and invite their brand-new VIP visitor, but lots of will.
Also diminishing the authenticity of the experience, as a few of the twitterati have actually pointed out, will be what occurs when the Airbnb CEO requires to get in touch with customer care to resolve a problem with a host or home. Chesky will definitely not need to wait the numerous hours that regular Airbnb guests need to deal with when something goes awry with their reservation.
However the Airbnb CEO’s living the brand name, and getting out there in the boondocks, will certainly produce a lots of free media.
In Quick
Expedia to Advertise in the Super Bowl February 13
In a rather bold relocation, Expedia is slated to run a costly ad during the February 13 Super Bowl, which will be televised on NBC TELEVISION. Sibling brand Vrbo, which provides trip rentals, will tout its products during the pre-game broadcast. Wall Street Journal
Sonder Is Set to Go Public Wednesday
Hotel and short-term rental operator Sonder is slated to see its stock sign, SOND, begin trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday. Sonder and Gores Metropoulos II revealed Tuesday that they had close on their special function acquisition company merger, the precursor to Sonder becoming a public company.
Google Maps Most Downloaded Travel App
Google Maps was the most-downloaded travel app in 2021, according to Apptopia, but when it came to online travel bureau brand names, it was Booking.com that took leading honors. Skift.