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In a mix of game-show glitz and marketing flash, Airbnb is offering customers the chance to spend a night in a Paris museum, stay in homes that look like movie settings, or sleep among eight Ferrari racing cars.
Those and other chimerical listings are part of a splashy new campaign from the short-term rental giant, which wants to portray itself as a company that sells experiences and not just hotel stay options.
At an event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, CEO Brian Chesky announced 11 temporary listings — Airbnb is calling them “icons.”
The San Francisco company got the idea for the promotion after seeing the response it got to a Barbie-themed home in Malibu, California, which was listed last year with a hit movie about the Mattel fashion doll. The formula is the same: tie the promotion to a pop-culture product, celebrity or event.
And don’t be boring.
“We have historically not been known for building anything. We’re a platform,” Chesky said in an interview. “I think it’s really great to show what it looks like when you can suddenly step into our vision and our imagination. “I think it will keep Airbnb top of mind.”
Unlike the rental platform’s typical listed properties, Airbnb is practically giving away its own “icons.” Chesky said the company will invite people to fill out a profile and explain why they want one of these listings, and Airbnb will pick about 4,000 winners over the course of the year. He said winners will be able to book special properties or events for free or for less than $100.
One of the exotic opportunities is an overnight stay at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Chesky said Airbnb recruited Mathieu Lehnure — he designed the torch for this summer’s Paris Olympics — to convert the museum’s upstairs cloakroom into a bedroom.
“By the way, you have the flashlight in the bedroom,” Chesky said. “You get the whole museum to yourself. It’s truly Night at the Museum. It gets even better as you step out of the bedroom onto the terrace, you have the best seat in the house for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which will be over the River Seine.
For those who prefer an American setting, Airbnb is listing a home in New Mexico that resembles the one from the 2009 Pixar-Disney animated film, “Up.” Chesky said Airbnb paid for 8,000 balloons to be created and replicated from scratch. The helium filled balloon is used by the central character in the film to blow up the house.
The Airbnb version won’t fly, but Chesky said guests will be able to watch the New Mexico house being lifted by crane 50 feet above the ground.
“I think when we pick it up we probably won’t put them inside the house for safety reasons,” he said.
Some of the listings will be one-off events, including a sleepover at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, a living room performance from rapper Doja Cat and an evening with comedian Kevin Hart in their members-only lounge. An “up” house and a mansion that looks like the “X-Men” from Marvel Comics will be available for three or four months in New York. According to Airbnb, the Minneapolis home owned by Prince that was featured in the movie “Purple Rain” will be available for one year.
The company would not disclose how much it spent securing the rights, decorating the properties and paying the celebrities involved. Airbnb made $4.8 billion in profit last year and ends 2023 with about $6.9 billion in cash. It is enough to repeat the “Icon” campaign.
“These are the 11 starters. We have a lot more in development,” Chesky said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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