Marketers need to be fearless
When Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky approached Jonathan
Mildenhall about taking on the CMO role at Airbnb 18 months ago,
Mildenhall said he was a bit skeptical. He was, after all, working with
one of the greatest storytellers and one of the most visible brands in
the world—Coca-Cola.
"Our vision for Airbnb isn't just ambitious. It's historic. We want to
be the next global super brand," Chesky told Mildenhall when the two
first met. With that, the Coke exec was sold.
Joining the Airbnb team meant that Mildenhall would have the chance to
take a new brand and build it from the ground up. Speaking at the
National Advertisers Masters of Marketing Annual Conference in Orlando,
Airbnb's CMO shared his strategy and some challenges he's faced on the
road to building a super brand that now operates in over 190 countries
and more than 34,000 cities.
In his new role, Mildenhall said he knew he needed to look to some of
the leading brands in the world, citing Apple, Starbucks, Nike, Disney
and Virgin as sources of inspiration. But copying these leaders wouldn't
do a startup like Airbnb any good. "We couldn't use anyone else's
playbook. We had to create our own," Mildenhall said.
Airbnb had an inherently unique and difficult challenge in that the
idea of staying in a stranger's home, or allowing a stranger to stay in
your home, is scary. What if someone steals your jewelry, harms you,
provides you with dirty accommodations? These serious questions spurred
Mildenhall's marketing strategy.
That led to the brand's very first international TV campaign, "Never a
Stranger." For the spot, the CMO said he deliberately cast a single
white female who wants to travel the world alone as the lead.
Airbnb's CMO spoke about turning a startup into a super brand.
When Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky approached Jonathan
Mildenhall about taking on the CMO role at Airbnb 18 months ago,
Mildenhall said he was a bit skeptical. He was, after all, working with
one of the greatest storytellers and one of the most visible brands in
the world—Coca-Cola.
"Our vision for Airbnb isn't just ambitious. It's historic. We want to
be the next global super brand," Chesky told Mildenhall when the two
first met. With that, the Coke exec was sold.
Joining the Airbnb team meant that Mildenhall would have the chance to
take a new brand and build it from the ground up. Speaking at the
National Advertisers Masters of Marketing Annual Conference in Orlando,
Airbnb's CMO shared his strategy and some challenges he's faced on the
road to building a super brand that now operates in over 190 countries
and more than 34,000 cities.
In his new role, Mildenhall said he knew he needed to look to some of
the leading brands in the world, citing Apple, Starbucks, Nike, Disney
and Virgin as sources of inspiration. But copying these leaders wouldn't
do a startup like Airbnb any good. "We couldn't use anyone else's
playbook. We had to create our own," Mildenhall said.
Airbnb had an inherently unique and difficult challenge in that the
idea of staying in a stranger's home, or allowing a stranger to stay in
your home, is scary. What if someone steals your jewelry, harms you,
provides you with dirty accommodations? These serious questions spurred
Mildenhall's marketing strategy.
That led to the brand's very first international TV campaign, "Never a
Stranger." For the spot, the CMO said he deliberately cast a single
white female who wants to travel the world alone as the lead.
The campaign embraces Mildenhall's belief that brands, both startups
and traditional companies, need to use these questions and concerns to
their advantage. "As a marketer I think it's really, really important
that you lean into the uncomfortable truth," Mildenhall said.
Airbnb has also formed strategic partnerships with larger, more
established brands to help boost its credibility and to build trust in
the service's safety. Since the beginning of 2015, Airbnb has partnered
with KLM to create an overnight experience in a KLM plane, and American Express.
Mildenhall also noted that it's important for brands to be fearless,
especially traditional companies. "The thing that drives organizations
is a fear of losing what you already have. Try and experiment without
fear," Mildenhall said. Take the brand's recent "Is Mankind?" spot,
which drew a few parodies
along the way. A version of the ad included the copy "mankind,
womankind, transkind, humankind," sparking Caitlyn Jenner to send
Mildenhall's team a handwritten note applauding their leadership and
fearlessness.
"I want to commend you on the beautiful spot 'Is Mankind?' As I am
learning everyday, the transgender community is so grateful for people
to share their stories," Jenner wrote.
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