Airbnb Campaign Challenges You to Live Somewhere, Even if It’s Just for a Night

Is it just us, or do selfie-sticks make you want to tackle their owners (because that would be a good pic!)? Airbnb loathes them just as much, which is pretty obvious in its “Live There” campaign. Airbnb recognizes that travelers want more than sightseeing littered with tour buses and long lines; people want the full experience. They want a deeper connection with the place they’re visiting—to be something more than a selfie-snapping tourist. In fact, most younger U.S. travelers don’t want to be considered tourists at all. This sentiment is at the heart of Airbnb’s “Live There” campaign. The “Don’t Go There. Live There.” spot from agency TBWA\Chiat\Day urges viewers: “Don’t go to Paris. Don’t tour Paris, and please don’t ‘do’ Paris. Live in Paris.”

According to Airbnb CMO Johnathan Mildenhall, Airbnb’s goal is to combat “the modern tourist industry [that] kind of shepherds travelers through this exhausting conveyer belt of rather crowded experiences. Increasingly there is a growing ground flow of traveler demand for experiences that are not like the typical tourist experiences that actually reflect what it’s like to live in local places.”

The “Live There” campaign also includes some print and OOH pieces, but maybe most importantly, updated features to the app which truly help users live local with guidebooks created by locals. Airbnb guidebooks are unlike Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor recommendations that almost always point to the popular, and typical, places; they put you in the local hotspot.

The spot’s closing narrative definitely makes us want to get out and live a little: “Wherever you go, don’t go there. Live there. Even if it’s just for a night.”