Airbnb Goes Grassroots With 'Us vs. Them' Damage Control Campaign
We might almost feel bad for Airbnb
thanks to its appearance in an endless stream of negative headlines if the company–and its ideological partner Uber–weren’t also responsible for so many think pieces about “the sharing economy.”
If the news is so bad, then why is the company’s estimated value somewhere around $10 billion–which is, as The New York Times reminded us today, more than the total worth of Hyatt Hotels Corporation?
The answer, as far as we can tell, involves the appeal of staying somewhere for cheap and a strategy focused on casting the company’s legal struggles as a case of “The People” versus “The Man”–said man in this case being New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman.
Schneiderman wants the names of all 15,000 Airbnb hosts in New York so he can punish cheaters–but the company has spun his argument as an attempt to “protect the big hotel chains” at the expense of the little man,...
WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.
Subscribe today!
To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber
Already a member? Sign in