Airbnb’s Brillant Co-Branding

1. Airbnb and Audi R8, Desolation

 Advertising Agency: Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco

Audi’s unique promotion offers the chance to book their isolated Rondolino Residence in Death Valley Nevada through Airbnb, and have the exclusive use of a high performance Audi R8 to drive freely across the surrounding desert terrain unconstrained by any speed restrictions.

The tongue-in-cheek story of a family who took up the offer was brilliantly directed by Craig Gillespie and makes for highly rewarding viewing.

2. Airbnb and Visit Sweden Tourist Board

Advertising Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors, Gothenburg Sweden

‘The Right of Public Access’ is enshrined in Sweden’s Constitution. With the exception of private and military owned property, this freedom to roam across the country at will is available to everyone, locals and visitors.

To highlight this advantage of open access travel in outdoor exploration, the ‘Visit Sweden’ Tourist Board took the bold step of listing the entire country on Airbnb. This is the first collaboration of its kind in the world and a laudable Airbnb innovation.

3. Airbnb and Art Institute Of Chicago, Van Gogh’s Bedroom

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago

Lovers of art could book a unique night’s stay at the gallery in a life-size reconstruction of Van Gogh’s bedroom. Using Van Gogh’s three paintings of his bedroom in Arles as references, the room was built with painstaking attention to every detail.

The campaign won six Cannes Lions and a Cannes Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix for creating incremental attendance of 133,000 visitors at the institute and generating $2 million in additional ticket sales.

Jury president Jonathan Mildenhall said; “Creative effectiveness is about impact and this idea created a positive impact on the brand’s audience and public engagement, the brand’s business and the creative community through its creative excellence.”

Leo Burnett also won 4 Gold, Silver and Bronze Clio awards.

4. Wall Street Journal, Vincent Van Gogh Rents Out His Bedroom

The campaign generated more than 500 media impressions and $6 million in earned media. The booking of the room’s first scheduled series of nightly accommodation, costing only $10 per night, sold out in minutes of Airbnb announcing their availability.

5. Airbnb and Royal Dutch Airlines, The Airplane Apartment

Design Agency: Tank.NL, Amsterdam

A grounded KLM jet liner at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, was transformed into a vast accommodation space with a luxurious master bedroom, private cinema, two kitchens and several bathrooms and made available to book for three nights.

To be able to win a free stay, interested parties had to submit a persuasive 100 word justification to Airbnb.co.uk. to motivate their eligibility. The commercial is about the experiences of successful prizewinners of the promotion.

Further expansive brand collaboration involved KLM’s travel guide featuring Airbnb accommodations at more than 600 worldwide destinations and the airline’s homepage highlighting details of unique Airbnb venues.