Airbnb Marketing Plan _ Sample

Airbnb Marketing Plan _ Sample

• 1.
  AIRBNB MARKETING PLAN Confidential     Airbnb Marketing Plan By Leeann Hardwell Professor Proboll Marketing Management 649 December 13, 2013
• 2.
  AIRBNB MARKETING PLAN Confidential     Executive Summary The share economy is a growing sector in the Travel and Tourism industry. Airbnb has established an online travel accommodation website as a viable option for travelers looking to save money and still enjoy a memorable vacation. With the increase in Airbnb hosts and guests, the company will find a need to expand the development of mobile applications to offer more travel features. Meeting the needs of a global clientele will help maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. An expansion in the Airbnb website and mobile application will increase traditional and online advertisement. The expansion will help increase product awareness, host recruitment, and overall online bookings with the targeted segments. In recent years, the company has encountered negative publicity and the brand image came under attack as a risk to both hosts and travelers’ safety. This threatened the foundation of the Airbnb’s service; as a result Airbnb responded by increasing transparency and implementing more safety regulations for users. The continued increase from users testaments will assist with reestablishing the brand as a trusted, affordable, and valued travel and tourism website. Increasing advertising efforts will provide the exposure that will allow Airbnb to increase revenue and develop a positive brand positioning. An advertising budget of $405,730 is proposed, as well as an initial investment of $850,000 for marketing implementations. Additional capital investment from outside sources of $1,500,000 will be needed to carry the campaign and outreach efforts to completion. A larger staff will be attained to assist with the campaign, PR efforts, and growth of the Airbnb platform. The campaign will be monitored for consumer feedback and employee satisfaction throughout the six-month campaign period. The campaign will run from January to June 2014. An emergent strategy will adjust the features of the campaign that prove inefficient, such as the termination or expansion of marketing tactics. The “Who? What? Where” Internet campaign will use banner advertisement to draw traffic to the website from related sites, such as National Geographic, Forbes and Lonely Planet. Direct mail efforts will be used to provided discounts and travel gifts as incentives for new bookings. Airport banners will establish brand recognition for frequent fliers to the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Lastly, further penetration into social platforms such as Facebook and blog forums will strengthen brand awareness. Airbnb provides a service that increases social interactions between people on a global basis. Fostering communication between employees, hosts, and travelers will be a major goal for Airbnb’s new implementations. With the functionality of the services limited to safety, city guides, and housing listings; Airbnb will need to diversify product offerings and improve on services to negate any loss of the Airbnb.com competitive advantage. i
• 3.
  AIRBNB MARKETING PLAN Confidential     Table of Contents BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................................1 COMPANY PROFILE.................................................................................................................1 BRAND PROFILE ......................................................................................................................2 INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT .....................................................................................................3 EXISTING MARKETING PLAN ...............................................................................................3 ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES .........................................................................................3 MARKETING GOALS AND STRATEGIES .............................................................................4 SWOT MATRIX .........................................................................................................................6 SWOT IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................6 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................10 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS .........................................................................................................10 POLITICAL ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................11 LEGAL AND REGULATORY ANALYSIS ............................................................................12 SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS ............................................................................................13 TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS .............................................................................................13 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS/ TARGET MARKET ANALYSIS .................................................14 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................16 MARKETING STRATEGIES ...................................................................................................17 MARKETING MIX ...................................................................................................................18 MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ..........................................................................20 TARGET MARKET ..................................................................................................................20 MISSION ...................................................................................................................................20 MESSAGE ................................................................................................................................20 METHODS ................................................................................................................................21 MARCOM BUDGET ................................................................................................................22 MEDIA CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION ......................................................................23 MARKETING CAMPAIGN MEASUREMENT ......................................................................25 MARKETING EVALUATION AND CONTROLS .................................................................26 FORMAL MARKETING CONTROLS ....................................................................................26 INFORMAL MARKETING CONTROLS ...............................................................................27 APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................28 CREATIVE BRIEF ...................................................................................................................28 CREATIVE ...............................................................................................................................31 RESPONSIBILITIES LIST ........................................................................................................34 ii