CEO of Airbnb: The brand promotes 'education' rather than 'sales'

Brian Chesky, the CEO and founder of Airbnb, stated during a conference call with investors that the company wants to "educate" people through its advertising rather than use it to increase sales.

The travel rental platform decided around the time of the pandemic to allocate a larger portion of its advertising budget to brand-building initiatives as opposed to short-term sales campaigns. It has been shown that this strategy is effective.

Speaking yesterday at the company's full year results for 2023, Chesky claimed that results were being driven by Airbnb's "full-funnel" strategy and that the company was drawing in new business from its robust top-of-funnel activity.

He claimed that their marketing strategy differs greatly from that of their rivals. Additionally, he mentioned that Airbnb viewed advertising as more of an educational tool than a sales tool.

He referenced the firm's recent ad campaign, "Get An Airbnb," which aims to "educate" viewers about the benefits of booking a trip with the company. According to him, this is the company's "most successful" digital advertising campaign to date, and it has now been implemented on television.

He mentioned Airbnb's partnership with Mattel to create the Barbie Dreamhouse in time for the movie's release as another example of how it is "staying relevant in culture."

According to the firm, marketing expenditure as a percentage of revenue is expected to stay mostly stable in 2024. It made $9.92 billion (£7.90 billion) in revenue in 2023 and spent $1.73 billion (£1.35 billion) on sales and marketing. Its annual income increased by 18%.

The increasing efficacy of Airbnb's marketing expenditures across various platforms and demographics was highlighted. It said that while small increases in marketing spending in its high-return channels would not be ruled out, they would be "marginal."