This document analyzes AirBnB and its superior performance. It summarizes AirBnB's marketing environment and strategies. Regarding the environment: political/legal issues posed challenges but regulations are changing; the economic crisis increased demand for cheaper accommodations. Regarding strategies: AirBnB's offers authentic local living at lower prices than hotels; extensive digital promotion expanded globally; future success requires expanding customer segments and improving security standards while promoting the brand.

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Student number: 1321972
Marketing: IB2090 (24 CATS)
Choose a British company (other than any airline or airline related organisation OR any firm
which you have mentioned in a previous assignment), which you believe has achieved superior
performance.
(1) Collect data/information regarding this company from published material (online or
otherwise).
(2) Use relevant concepts and models to:
a. describe and critically analyse the marketing environment of this company;
b. identify and critically evaluate the factors in the marketing mix that (in your opinion)
have contributed to this superior performance and identify and discuss those factors
in the marketing mix that are crucial for the long-term future success of this
company.
Word count: 2997
(excluding appendix, bibliography, and titles)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
I. Macroenvironment ..............................................................................................................4
1/ Political and legal factors: legal troubles ..................................................................4
2/ Economic factors ......................................................................................................5
3/ Sociological factors .................................................................................................6
4/ Technological factors .................................................................................................7
II. Microenvironment ..............................................................................................................7
1/ Bargaining power of suppliers ...................................................................................7
2/ Bargaining power of consumers ................................................................................8
3/ Barriers to entry .........................................................................................................9
4/ AirBnB’s competitors ................................................................................................9
III. Marketing mix: .................................................................................................................10
1/ The offer ....................................................................................................................10
2/ Promotion and communication strategy ....................................................................11
3/ The price ....................................................................................................................12
4/ The place ....................................................................................................................12
IV. Future Prospects and critical success factors: ................................................................12
1/ Expanding its customer segmentation .......................................................................12
2/ More security standards .............................................................................................13
3/ Keep promoting the brand and its image ...................................................................14
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................15
Appendix ...................................................................................................................................16
Bibliography ..............................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION
“In the service industry, there things that are deeply human that people want to participate
in”, has said Brian Chesky (co-founder and current CEO of AirBnB company). In 2008, Brian Joe
Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk developed a project of AirBed&Breakfast in San Francisco
(USA), based on the concept of shared economy.
AirBnB is an online marketplace for hosts and guests who want to rent rooms or properties.
It has literally changed the way people travel. We can now rent cheap well-furnished
accommodation, for a short period of time, well situated, and hosted by an individual. I have
decided to study the case of AirBnB mainly because it is a typical example of how the Internet and
the sharing economy have revolutionized the hotel industry.
I have also chosen this firm because it is a really good example of a company that has
experienced and achieved great success in a very short time. The firm has become much more
successful and valuable than many other big companies like Accor, which have already been
implemented in the market for many years. Accor (created in 1967), leader of hotels operators in
Europe and valued at $10bn, has recorded about 8 million nights booked per year. On the other
hand, AirBnB has seen its number of nights booked grow exponentially in four years, reaching
more than 10 million nights booked (Tech crunch, 2012). Today, the company is valued at $13bn,
and has now expanded its community to more than 25 million users (AirBnB, 2014).
Throughout this essay, we are going to analyze how AirBnB has managed to become one of
the fastest-growing travel companies in the UK, and how the different marketing strategies enabled
it to achieve this superior performance and maintain it in the future.
To answer this question, we will first analyze the firm’s environmental factors, and its
positive and negative impacts on the AirBnB’s activity. Then, we will examine the company’s
marketing strategy and the factors that contributed to its success. Finally, we will end this essay by
discussing how some of these factors could drive the company to achieve superior performance.
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BUSINESS’S MACROENVIRONMENT
1) Political and Legal factors: legal troubles
Firstly, in many countries in the world, AirBnB has been confronted by national laws
keeping people from renting their home for short stays (e.g.: less than 30 days). This is mostly the
case in the United States since 2011, where homes rented are viewed as “illegal hotels” according to
the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman (The Telegraph, 2014). This would mainly be
because rented apartment owners do not have to pay hotel taxes, and because of the absence of
safety and heath standards in rented accommodations.
However, the situation is gradually changing in San Francisco. The “AirBnB law” recently
passed, allowing people to rent their apartment no more than 90 days in a year (Cnet, 2014). Some
other countries, like the United Kingdom, also start tolerating it, and politicians even began to
promote the trend of sharing goods and being more connected. Against British law, Eric Pickles has
got rid of the regulation regarding letting homeowners’ properties on holiday websites (The
Telegraph, 2014).
Moreover, regulations such as tourism taxes on online accommodation-sharing services like
AirBnB, recently emerged in some countries like France, and might then hinder the company’s
activity (Factiva database, 2014).
Finally, national organizations like the British Hospitality Association (BHA) are ensuring
that AirBnB accommodations meet safety and health standards. BHA, for instance, requires the
online sharing platform to include these standards to make people’s stays in the UK safer, and to
maintain the UK’s reputation of being safe (Buying Business Travel, 2014).
2) The economic factors
Firstly, with the recent economic crisis (2008), people globally tend to spend less of their
money on travel. Regarding the hospitality industry, they would rather look for cheaper
accommodation or room. With the crisis also affecting companies, business travelers are keener to
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find cheaper rooms or apartments to limit their charges. By offering cheap rents, AirBnB is offering
an alternative solution to people and businesses, and is a good response to the crisis.
Moreover, this 2008 crisis has led to a new concept of “sharing economy”, developed all
over the world. Nowadays, individuals tend to offer and exchange shared assets to other people or
organizations at a very low price. AirBnB is taking advantage of this new trend by matching hosts
and renters, and offering cheap accommodations. According to Olivier Grémillon (head of AirBnB
Europe), “sharing economy is a phenomenon with the potential to transform almost every aspects of
our lives”.
With the initiative of the Business & Enterprise Minister Matt Hancock, the UK government
is now promoting this new trend in order to boost London’s growing technology sector and
entrepreneurship. Nowadays, 25% of the UK population are part of the sharing online economy
(The Telegraph, 2014). It is also booming in other places across the world. Its global annual revenue
is estimated to rise from £9bn to £230bn by 2025” (The Telegraph, 2014).
!
3) Sociological factors
Firstly, the rise of online social networks has had a strong impact on people’s lives.
Nowadays, online platforms and forums enable us to exchange information and communicate with
each other more easily (e.g.: Facebook). We can also share our ideas on forums and our past lodging
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experiences (e.g.: Twitter). Networks are made to facilitate communication and create relationships
between people. For instance, in the UK, 31 million people were connected to Facebook and 15
million connected to Twitter in 2014 (Rose McGrory, 2014)
Moreover, with the recent expansion of the sharing economy, people see opportunities to
make money and have their own business. For some of them, AirBnB also enables them to have a
job and an income. In the UK, 63% of hosts use it to pay their bills, and 44% to pay their own rent
(AirBnB press, 2014). As Brian Chesky said, “there were people and there businesses” and “now
we live with the third category, which is people as businesses” (The Sunday Telegraph, 2014).
4) Technological factors
Created in 2008, AirBnB was born in a technological boom. The innovation of electronic
devices enables the firm to create a new version of the platform on smartphones and tablets, which
gives easier access to the service for its users. Moreover, the recent emergence of applications on
smartphones enabled AirBnB to create its own app and allows people to book apartments more
easily and from anywhere. On the graph below, we can see that the UK smartphone market is quite
important and is strongly increasing. Between May 2010 and May 2011, more than 20 million
smartphones have been sold to the UK population.
!
In addition to this, the Internet creates new ways of communication and information. Its
significant increase of use has also contributed to AirBnB’s success by connecting many hosts and
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renters on the platform. According to Internetworldstats, at the end of 2011, there were around
2.2bn of Internet users, which is about 32.7% of the world population.
!
Percentage of Internet users in the world population
THE ACTORS OF THE MICROENVIRONMENT
1) Bargaining power of suppliers:
Although the suppliers (the hosts) are the ones who set the rent’s price on AirBnB, they are
constantly confronted by other competitors in the market. Therefore, their price-setting power is
quite weak as they have to adapt their price to that of the market. Furthermore, even if AirBnB
charges its suppliers a 3% commission on their payout, those will still need the AirBnB service
platform to promote their offer, as it is the leader of the online rent sharing and attracts more than
25 million guest users.
On the other hand, AirBnB will always need the best offers on its platform, and in the best
locations, in order to attract customers and satisfy their needs. Therefore, suppliers have some
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power in the sense that the company should first attract its suppliers before its consumers. That is
why AirBnB now has more than 600,000 listings worldwide.
!
AirBnB’s suppliers locations in 2014
2) Bargaining power of consumers:
Consumers’ power is very strong because the success and the reputation of the company
depends mainly on them. For instance, many guest users are sharing their experiences of their stay
with AirBnB on different forums and social networks. Price, location, and quality of the service will
then be the three main factors that will determine their satisfaction and any negative reviews will
strongly impact the brand image.
However, the more the business grows and becomes powerful, the lower the consumer’s
power is. Indeed, when the AirBnB’s attractiveness increases, more hosts and guests tend to use the
AirBnB platform as it is more likely they will find guests (for hosts) or find the right
accommodation (for renters). That is why the most popular services always attract the best offers.
As we can see below, the number of customers who use AirBnB is predicted to significantly
increase to 51 million by 2018.
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!
3) Barriers to entry:
It is quite difficult for a start-up to enter a rent-sharing market where there already exists a
big leader like AirBnB. As it attracts most of the hosts and guests on its platform, a new entry in this
kind of market would require high marketing costs and the marketing budget of AirBnB. For
instance, AirBnB has recently raised $500 million in capital, which makes a total of $820 million
raised from the beginning (Tech Crunch, 2014). Obviously, it is impossible for a new start-up to
raise this amount of capital. Therefore, barriers to entry are very strong for new entrants.
4) AirBnB’s competitors: how does AirBnB position itself in its market?
Nowadays, AirBnB’s main competitors are traditional hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, and other
big rent-sharing websites (like HomeAway, Wimdu, or 9flats).
Compared to tradition hotels, AirBnB proposes a different offer to its guest users. First, an AirBnB
accommodation offers a particular authenticity and personality as guests lodge in a country’s typical
house. According to AirBnB, about 85% of the UK guests want to “live like locals” (AirBnB Press,
2014) rather than classic hotel rooms. Consequently, an AirBnB room also allows guests to get a
well-furnished accommodation at a lower price than hotels. A study conducted in 2013 by
priceonomics.com platform service (Digital Trends, 2013) has shown that by choosing an AirBnB
accommodation, renters save on average 49.4% of what they would have spent on a traditional hotel
room.
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!
AirBnB advantages compared to Hostels and Hotels (August 2014, guesty.com)
Among other online rent-sharing platforms, HomeAway group is the main competitor of AirBnB
and have a revenue of $350 million (Le Figaro, 2014). Created in 2004, HomeAway (including
Abritel and Homelidays) now offers 1,000,000 apartments on its platform, in 190 countries. It also
only charges hosts on their payout, which makes it more profitable for guests. However, this
company principally targets families and groups who rent vacation accommodations, whereas
AirBnB attracts a wider segment of customers.
THE MARKETING STRATEGIES
1) The offers: how do they differ from that of its competitors?
As I said above, AirBnB’s offers are simple and authentic, and allows guests to live as locals
when they travel. As Brian Chesky said, “when you come to any city in the world we make you feel
like you belong” (The Telegraph, 2014). AirBnB’s accommodations are also quite cheap compared
to traditional hotel rooms. Furthermore, the company has well internationalized its offers as it is
now listing more than 600,000 rents in 34,000 cities (AirBnB, 2014). In 2012, the firm also decided
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to set up branches in 11 new popular cities across the world. Finally, originality plays an important
role as AirBnB offers a huge variety of accommodation. Among its listings, we can find islands,
boats, manors, castles, igloos and also tipis.
However, we can still question the quality and security of AirBnB’s offers. Most of its
accommodations do not include any safety or health standards (e.g.: smoking detector, alarm). And
compared to traditional hotels, the service and customer’s comfort are globally lower. This has then
led to a few complaints from dissatisfied guests and has a bad impact on the brand image.
2) Promotion and Communication strategies
Being an online based company, AirBnB focuses mostly their promotion on digital
advertising. To expand its audience and target worldwide customers, it has created partnerships with
some social media companies to promote its brand and increase their number of listings. For
instance, in 2011, to improve brand awareness, the company invested in Google Display
Advertising, providing the best overview of the platform to its customers, with properties’ images
and ad campaigns of their rent offers (ThinkWithGoogle, 2011).
The firm also used Youtube TrueView ads to introduce AirBnB’s service. In more than 100
Youtube video adverts, it explained to its users the way the service works. This has allowed the
company to reach and attract more Youtube users (SearchEngineWatch.com, 2011).Thanks to these
Google and Youtube partnerships, the number of nights booked has increased from 800,000 to 2
millions in the year of 2011 (EyeForTravel, 2011).
Furthermore, big news like its recent capital raising of $500 million have been published in
most of the online business platforms like TechCrunch or BusinessInsider, and traditional British
economic newspapers. This attracts more consumers on the platform as they are aware of the recent
company’s activities.
Finally, online social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram have also
helped AirBnB to promote its brand. Since these big social platforms are used by many people in
the UK, using their online services is a good strategy to attract people and promote the brand.
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3) The price: how is the consumer’s price sensitivity?
Today, with a huge worldwide hospitality service, constituted by the traditional hotel
industry and expanded with the arrival of new rent-sharing platforms, customers now have access to
a lot of offers at different prices. Therefore, consumers would tend to be very price-sensitive.
However, as I said in the microenvironment part, an AirBnB accommodation is cheaper than a hotel
room. AirBnB’s consumers would pay only half of a traditional hotel room’s price. Moreover, the
company has the ability to always adapt to its consumers budget and purchasing power, with its
different offers and a huge variety of prices.
4) Place: Where do users have access to the service?
AirBnB’s offers are mainly sold on the Internet. Firstly, the most common online place is its
own platform where customers have access to the offers and every informations about the company
(e.g.: contact, help...). Furthermore, partnerships with other online companies also allow AirBnB to
sell its offers to new customers. For instance, as I say below, partnership with the Concur Company
enables consumers to have direct access to AirBnB’s offers through the Concur platform.
FUTURE PROSPECTS: “CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS”
1) Keep expanding its customer’s segmentation by creating special services
AirBnB’s profitability largely depends on its number of users. In order to expand its
community, AirBnB should target a wider variety of potential customers, and attract them through
partnerships with powerful and influential organizations.
Business travelers, for example, represent about 10% of its clients. The company has
recently shown some interest in expanding into this consumer market. To target them, AirBnB has
made a partnership with Concur company (travel and expenses management service) which is now
used by more than 70 of the top Fortunes 100. AirBnB is now able to provide a different service
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through a recent innovation, that only shows business travelers the right accommodation with
amenities corresponding to their needs.
Nowadays, according to Tim MacDonald, executive vice president at Concur, “business travelers
are increasingly taking advantage of a new generation of suppliers like AirBnB”, (Internet Retailer,
2014).
!
2) More security standards would improve customers’ stay
The main difference between AirBnB accommodation and other hotels is the level of health
and safety regulations met. Indeed, the hotel industry focuses a lot on its clients’ comfort by
constantly improving the service, whereas AirBnB does not include safety standards in its priorities
(Hotel News Now, 2014). Therefore, its lack of regulations has led to many complaints from guests
due to problems during their stays.
Improving the quality of AirBnB’s offers by imposing new safety standards (e.g.: fire safety)
in hosts’ apartments should now be the new challenge of the company. It will allow the firm to
improve its brand image, which will attract more consumers. Moreover, in the UK, the British
Hospitality Association has an important role by making sure traditional safety standards are met by
AirBnB’s hosts.
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3) Keep promoting the brand and its image
Finally, AirBnB will keep being the leader in its market only if it keeps promoting its brand
image. To increase the size of its community, AirBnB will have to strengthen its advertising, and
increase its marketing budget to find new ways of promoting the brand.
For instance, on the 17th of November, AirBnB unveiled its first business magazine called
“Pineapple”. This will basically represent another efficient way for the firm to inform its users
about news and features, and attract more people.
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CONCLUSION
Throughout my analysis of the company’s marketing, we have seen that many of AirBnB’s
business environment factors, both inside and outside its market, have strongly influenced the firm’s
activity and operation. The firm has got a huge opportunity especially with the increase of the
sharing economy and the rise of online social networks. We have also analyzed how the firm has
developed its marketing strategy to achieve such successful performance in the UK since its
creation in 2008. The business attracts everyday more users to its platform. However, some
challenges are crucial for its future performance. The quality of its offers is yet to be improved, and
the company always needs to attract more worldwide users by improving the promotion of its
service.
AirBnB has also expanded the sharing economy culture on a global level. As Brian Chesky
said in a recent interview, “the biggest revolution will be in the biggest asset of all”. This new
concept has given birth to new companies based on this idea of sharing assets, like Uber (car-
sharing platform created in 2009). By encouraging entrepreneurial spirit, people can now run their
own business, and earn money easily and very quickly. Basically, the world has entered a new era
of micro-entrepreneurs.
We cannot be absolutely sure about the future of AirBnB, but we can forecast a bright future
for it. The sharing economy concept could be a response to current economic problems. As we
know that about half of AirBnB’s hosts depend on the rent to live (McKinsey&Company,
November 2014), this new idea will allow people to get a new job and receive incomes. According
to Brian Chesky, it could “provide tens of millions of jobs or income streams” in the future.
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Appendix:
Strengths:
- Service itself
. People can travel at lower cost as AirBnB’s rents are cheaper compared to hotels. Guests
save money.
. Simplicity and Authenticity: being lodged in an individual’s apartment makes them live
like locals.
. A large variety of offers (manors, castles, boats, islands...) to satisfy most of guests.
- Promotion
. Develops new ways of promoting the brand (mainly online): Google and Youtube
partnerships, brand awareness on social platforms
- Position among other online rent-sharing platforms
. Leader in its market, which allows it to attract the best offers from hosts, and be more
likely to satisfy its consumers’ needs (brand loyalty)
- No working capital
. The company has no assets to sell, or inventory to stock. It facilitates AirBnB’s cash flow.
Opportunities:
- A huge market:
. After the economic crisis, customers are looking for cheaper rents (lower purchasing
power)
. Rise of the sharing economy trend (there is no limit to it)
- Sociological
. Rise of the online social networks creating new ways of communicating and sharing
informations.
- Technological innovations
. Innovation of smartphones, tablets (and other new electronic devices) have allowed
AirBnB to create new versions of its service. It gives an easier access to informations to its
clients (e.g.: AirBnB app)
- Legal issues
. In the UK, recent legalization of renting apartments for short periods of time
- Segmentation
. More segments of people show now some interest in the concept of shared rents (e.g.:
business travelers). This can expand AirBnB’s community.
Weaknesses:
- The Offer’s security
. Safety and health standards in apartments are not often met.
- The offer’s quality
. Customers’ comfort is not guaranteed. If a customer is not satisfied, it will strongly damage
the brand image.
Threats:
- Legal issues
. In countries (like USA), laws do not allow people to rent their apartment less than 30 days.
- Marketing costs
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. With the huge number of competitors (especially hotels) and the arrival of new entrants,
marketing costs are likely to rise.
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Images References:
AirBnB CEO: Cities are becoming village, available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/
archive/2014/06/airbnb-ceo-cities-are-becoming-villages/373676/
AirBnB expands into business travel, available at: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/airbnb-
expands-into-business-travel/
Comparison between AirBnB, Hostels and Hotels, available at: https://www.guesty.com/blog/
airbnb-vs-hotels/
Pineapple Business Magazine, available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/airbnb-is-releasing-a-
magazine-2014-11?r=US
The War on AirBnB, available at: http://mises.ca/posts/blog/the-war-on-airbnb/
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