Cannes Lions 2016: Brian Chesky bets on Airbnb's capability to unite the world

Airbnb Co-founder's vision is to close cultural gap, and enjoy the pleasure of being a category creator

e4m by Srabana Lahiri
Published: Jun 21, 2016 8:20 AM  | 5 min read
Cannes Lions 2016: Brian Chesky bets on Airbnb's capability to unite the world

Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb.com, shot straight into the hearts of delegates at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2016, with candid stories from the brand’s history and an appeal for building trust among human beings, which is at the core of his business.

Recounting the circumstances under which Airbnb was born in San Francisco in October 2008, he related how he and co-founder Joe Gebbia – both short of money- turned their living room into a bed and breakfast, accommodating three guests on air mattresses and providing home-made breakfast. Interestingly, one of the very first three people who they entertained at home was an Indian!

In conversation with Joanna Coles, Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan & Hearst Magazines, Chesky talked about the struggle to raise funds, mounting credit card debt, selling breakfast cereal for that year’s Democratic national convention, where they came up with ‘Obama Oats’ and ‘Cap McCains’ for the ‘Breakfast for Change’, and finally the chance to make money when someone agreed to print them 1000 cereal boxes for free.

The venture almost hit rock bottom, noted Chesky, taking pride in the fact that today, 1.3 million people across the world now sleep in an Airbnb home every night. In fact during the festival days at Cannes alone, 5100 people are reportedly sleeping in Airbnb accommodation.

ALL ABOUT PEOPLE

The magic of Airbnb has always been about people, said Chesky. “Our very first tagline was ‘Travel like a human’ and it did not just advertise the brand. We believe that people are fundamentally good and that whenever you go, wherever you go around the world, you shouldn’t be an outsider.”

 “I don’t think we are in the business of providing places for people to sleep. I think that we are in the business of providing amazing trips for people where they feel that they can belong in a city,” said Chesky. On the future of travel, Chesky said, “In many ways, travel is inherently connected to the future. I think that the future will be very mobile. Not talking of smartphones, but a future when we travel and live in various cities. In fact, almost 20% of our business today is from trips that are 30 days or longer. This is a huge trend. In the future, it will not be as much about ownership as access. It would be really about the memories and moments that people want to have together. This is going to change so many things in the world.”

On politicians’ tendency to build walls between places, Chesky said, “Anyone who is trying to put up a wall or barrier between countries and cultures, is going to be on the wrong side of history.”

On allegations of racism, and that it’s harder for a certain kind of people to book a room, he said,When we designed Airbnb, it didn’t really occur to us that this should be something we should design for. It is a problem, and so something that we do want to revisit. The approach I would take is to treat it as a design problem. Obviously, I am not going to solve this 400-year-old American problem or a global issue on my own. We want to allow the community to participate, in designing the system… We want to unleash the creativity of people all over the world. One of the reasons I am here at Cannes is I always believed in the power of creativity to completely change the world, and it’s not trivial. It is actually incredibly important because it unleashes so many people’s thinking. We want to turn this into a platform, and invite any creative agency, any brand to be able to do something like the highly successful Van Gogh bedroom experience where we recreated the artist’s bedroom and let people stay in it. People wanted to have an intimate connection with the brand. There is almost nothing more intimate than sleeping in someone’s home or sleeping in a space. It was the most popular thing that we ever did, and we would love to open this up to any creative person who wants to take it to wherever they want and do some really interesting things. Perhaps we can see a night in a shark tank, stay at a sports stadium, like the Chicago Bulls… we want to just open this up. For this, we just launched the website nightat.withairbnb.com.”

Take-aways from the session

“Chesky had simple ideas, and he executed them simply. What I take away from the session is everything that he said is simple, logical, makes sense… nothing is complicated. I think if you complicate it beyond a point, you become very operational. The success is in the simplicity and the clarity of vision. That’s my big take-away,” said Satyaki Ghosh, ‎Director - Consumer Product Division at Loreal India. Ghosh has stayed in Airbnb accommodation in Paris and Greece, and had a good experience.

‘Gangs’ T Gangadhar, MD of MEC India, said, “I thought the Brian Chesky session was delightful. It was an honest and passionate recount of how Airbnb came to be – it came straight from the heart. Being a regular Airbnb user, the session really resonated with me.”

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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur

The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:15 PM  | 1 min read
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With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.

The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.

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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out

The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:07 PM  | 1 min read
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Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."

The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."

COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.

Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.

He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.

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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 11:48 AM  | 1 min read
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e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.

According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.

As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.

A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.

Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.

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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall

The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 10:54 AM  | 1 min read
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Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.

“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.

“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."

"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:39 PM  | 1 min read

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:38 PM  | 1 min read

KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias

Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 24, 2023 3:35 PM  | 1 min read
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KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.

Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy

Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.

Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."

Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."

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