AirBnB Presents BirdBnB And Spoofs Competitor HomeAway

Disruptive travel phenomenon AirBnB have launched their first national campaign BirdBnB and it looks like they are spoofing competitor HomeAway.

The Home to You AKA BirdBnB campaign includes online, TV, print and in-cinema. For the creatives a team of artists replicated 50 Airbnb listed houses into birdhouses.

I have the gut feeling that the HomeAway CMO does not like the rivalry, and that might just be an understatement.

AirBnB Presents Home to You – Birdbnb

So what’s the deal? Let’s explore the campaign, the birdhouses the video.

Watch the full film and behind-the-scenes footage at Birdbnb

Airbnb birdhouses

Home to You – Airbnb welcomes the Ultimate Traveler

About the campaign Amy Curtis-McIntyre, CMO at Airbnb explains:

We created these birdhouses inspired by real Airbnb homes and the accompanying film as a metaphor for the hospitality about which our company is built: Our hospitality is completely individual and designed by our hosts who know that making people (or birds!) feel at home anywhere in the world comes from warmth, intuition and an attention to detail.

We love the world’s real travelers and this is an invitation to travel in a new way. The campaign is grounded in the insight that birds are the ultimate traveler. The work of the artists resonates with how much care the hosts put into their places.

Is Airbnb spoofing HomeAway?

HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples might not be amused by the “coincidence.” His HomeAway brand logo is…. indeed, a bird house.

Next to the birdhouse affair, I can image that the campaign claim “Home to You” is also on the edge towards HomeAway.

I checked Brian’s Twitter account, but could not find a word about it.

My Opinion

Birdbnb made me smile. It’s a bold move by Airbnb to pull this stunt in their first national campaign.

However, we have seen how rapper Kanye West insulted Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh but got home with an ass whooping.

So talking about birds: sticking feathers up your butt, doesn’t necessarily make you a chicken…

If you want to punish Airbnb, your next trip could be in a hotel provided by Booking.com

If you like the campaign, credit goes to agency Pereira & O’Dell.

What About You?
How do you rate Birdbnb? I’d love to read your ideas in the comments.

Follow & Share
Want more stories on breaking with the status quo? See our category Trends & Innovations, join us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, RSS and get our weekly E-mail Newsletter for updates and free bonus content.

About the Author
Igor Beuker is an acclaimed trendwatcher & pro speaker, serial entrepreneur, marketing consultant and board member at several disruptive media, technology and entertainment firms. Book Igor as keynote speaker, follow Igor on Twitter or contact him via LinkedIn.