Ad of the Day: Airbnb Builds Birdhouse Versions of 50 of Its Most Intriguing Listings

It's the allure of Airbnb, but also its biggest stumbling block—its rental listings are not impersonal hotel rooms but actual people's homes. Some travelers embrace this, knowing they'll experience a private space that's naturally more interesting and personalized. Others—well, they'd say that staying in a stranger's house is a little bit creepy, isn't it? In its first integrated national campaign, the self-described "community-driven hospitality company" naturally embraces the broader definition of "home"—i.e., anybody's home can be your home, too, if you have a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world. Pereira & O'Dell in San Francisco communicates this creatively by using the metaphor of migratory birds, who call many places home. The agency had artists build birdhouse versions of 50 of the most intriguing Airbnb listings worldwide, and is displaying them from today through Sunday in New Orleans at Audubon Park's Tree of Life. This agency, which excels at long-form feel-good video—look no further than its Skype campaign—shows off the project in the clip below, which mixes footage of the birdhouse construction with voiceover mediations on the emotionally expansive nature of travel. "What makes a home feel like a home to you?" a man asks. "When someone's individuality and personality is reflected in the design of a house," a woman replies. Each Airbnb listing is presented not merely as a property but as a story—which it surely is. (Just don't ask about the horror stories.) Appealing to a sense of adventure and creativity is smart. And the birdhouse idea, if a little precious, meshes conceptually with the one-of-a-kind nature of the listings. Footage of all the sketching and building also provides a canvas on which Pereira & O'Dell can work up an emotional piece of film—bringing in songwriter Zach Shields to sing his song "Home to You" in a somewhat random but rousing finale. "We created these birdhouses inspired by real Airbnb homes and the accompanying film as a metaphor for the hospitality about which our company is built," says Amy Curtis-McIntyre, CMO of Airbnb. "Our hospitality is completely individual and designed by our hosts who know that making people (or birds!) feel at home anywhere in the world comes from warmth, intuition and an attention to detail. We love the world's real travelers, and this is an invitation to travel in a new way." The campaign will be running on TV, in cinemas and online. CREDITS Client: Airbnb Agency: Pereira & O’Dell Chief Creative Officer - PJ Pereira VP & Executive Creative Director - Jaime Robinson Associate Creative Director - Rafael Rizuto Associate Creative Director - Eduardo Marques Art Director - Rafael Rizuto Copywriter - Eduardo Marques VP, Client Services - Gary Theut Account Director - Marisa Quiter Senior Account Executive - Jen Wantuch VP, Strategy - Nick Chapman Director of Strategy - Molly Cabe Associate Strategist - Beth Windheuser Associate Strategist - Sara Lezama VP, Media Strategy - Joshua Brandau Associate Media Director - Jasmine Summerset Media Strategist - Liz Wood VP, Production - Jeff Ferro Senior Broadcast Producer - Susan Crimley Senior Broadcast Producer - Elisa Moore Senior Integrated Producer - Victoria Whitlow Senior Interactive Producer - Erin Davis Director of Business Affairs - Kallie Halbach Production Co: Tool of North America Director – Alma Har’el Director of Photography – Edu Grau Executive Producer – Danielle Peretz Executive Producer – Brian Latt Line Producer – Christopher Leggett Editorial Company: Therapy Studios Editor – Lenny Mesina Assistant Editor – Thomas Tedesco Editorial Producer – Allegra Bartlett VFX: The Mill Title Design/Motion Graphics – Erik Buckman Lead Artist – Tara Demarco 2D smoke artists – Tim Robbins, Robin McGloin, Scott Johnson Producer – Jessica Ambrose Color: Company 3 Colorist: Beau Leon Producer: Liza Kerlin Sound: Sound Designers: Dror Mohar, Branden Spencer Mix: Dror Mohar Independent Artists: Production Designer/Lead Artist - Joshua Stricklin Colorist – Grace Alie Miniature Prop Artist – Brooke Ashe Miniature Expert – Paul Wendling Birdhouse Specialist – Mike Bowen Ornithologist – Carolyn Atherton Singer and songwriter – Zach Shields

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Airbnb Builds Birdhouse Versions of 50 of Its Most Intriguing Listings

Pereira & O'Dell gets crafty

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd