Ch 4 The Marketing Enviroment

 
                                                                     Airbnb

Airbnb contribuiting to Americas Recession.

“Every little thing counts in a crisis.” 
Jawaharlal Nehru

For some people, Airbnb was just a business that claimed to solve the economic crisis but it created more problems than solutions. Opponents cited the cases of vandalism to user's homes and the porcentage of rental contract demands.
But after ''Fortunes Magazine'' showed up with real case studies of people that used Airbnb to deal with mortgages and avoid foreclosure from the banks. The travel network was more like a ''life saver'' for thousands of hosts like Debra Gutsi who abandoned her job to take care of her ill grandmother and that saved her house from foreclosure, or like Michael Board who currently is paying his house mortgage in a 30 % rate monthly.
Recession hit hard between 2007 and 2010, millions were victims of this economic recession. However, in 2008 Airbnb lunched in the market early enough to help others hold on to their homes.

                                         Users that saved their homes with Airbnb in the recession


Airbnb and Amazon- Technological factors.

Airbnb uses tech tools like iPhone and Android applications to track its users activities and forward them to their main website. They have signficant technology demands and use Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing to increase productivity and to scale quickly with low capital requirements. AWS allows Airbnb to rent 200 computers and charges them only for the time of the usage. In this way, companies like Airbnb can reduce their capital expenses by paying the rental server expense over time instead of paying up front. Amazons also offers Relational Database Services (RDS) which Airbnb chose because it reduces the database administrative overhead. Cloud computing servers like AWS made Social-Tech companies like Airbnb become more efficient at a low cost by adjusting to companies' needs.

Airbnb Legal Factors

Legislators debate Airbnb legibility on issues regarding the violation of rental closures and laws. Subletting apartments violates most rental agreements. Most tenants do not get in trouble, but many are fearful that any moment they can get involved in law suits from their landlords. However, Airbnb makes it clear that they do not take responsibility regarding these actions.

Ch. 3 Ethics and Social Responsibility

''A man does what he must.. in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures.. and that is the basis of all human morality.''John F. Kennedy

The guiding principles of Airbnb are trust and honesty. With a social marketing oriented business, Airbnb must show its costumers that its morals and ethics are a major priority. The travel network's most important objective is to build up relationships between "hosts" and "guests." The company encourages members to preserve a commitment of honesty and trust with each other. The reason is simple: when people rent their place, they are taking a risk by welcoming strangers, and they are expecting someone who was raised with respect, honesty and trust. It is important because they are sharing their home. Without ethical behavior Airbnb could go out of business very easily.

Taking Responsibility  

In spite of its impressive statistics, such as $112 million of founding, Airbnb experienced a series of ups and downs that almost ruined the company's reputation. In 2011 EJ, a host, blogged about an incident with a guest who ransacked her apartment. This attracted the attention of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog, which spread the news to everyone in the community.
Unfortunately, the company did not see coming the potential magnitude of these consequences. The ethical decision was to take action after this incident by investigating the claims and reimbursing her for any damages.  EJ's case among others made Airbnb extend their guideline in the code of ethics. On July 1st, the corporate board took social responsibility by offering $50,000 of insurance policy,in order to prevent unfortunate incidents like these and to regain the user's trust.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage 
Airbnb's objective plan was very standard: get the right costumers for their market place, enroll users, inspire others besides tourists, and raise their popularity into different locations.Airbnb has no chicken and the egg problem!Their competitive advantage is based on their network effects to buyers and sellers, both of them make the traveling network a unique way to make money from both sides. With a good brand, they can count on a strong community of people who trust them. How did their marketing team figure out how to do it?They started by launching ads, using platforms and channels to stream videos in Youtube and Google by using online services like True View. Their objective was focused on the geographic location of their costumers and by using these tools they got about 750,000 clicks on their True View Videos.“Google has been tremendously cost-efficient because of the scale. When we see something is working, we scale it up, and when something is not, we optimize it, or we turn it off. The tools are definitely the most powerful,” Blecharczyk ( founder) said.After all  Airbnb does not pay for every played video -- they pay just the ones that have been on for a certain period of time. Thumbs up! Airbnb, I hope you can be pet friendly as well.

Ch. 1 Overviw of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

HISTORY:

The great pioneer idea that changed the way of traveling, Airbnb was started in 2007 by Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecher when they offered their place to frustrated visitors who could not find an hotel room in town. They saw the opportunity and realized how many people were aiming for a more affordable and enjoyable stay during their visits to new places. Later on the three pioneers embarked on their way to success!
What started in a small apartment in Chicago, now is in 192 countries, with houses,  mansions and even entire Islands all over the world. With the promising income for hosts and the desirable rates for guests, Airbnb shows a new spot on the horizon.

MISSION:

Airbnb connects hosts that are willing to rent their space with guests that want to give it a try. Besides building up friendships, they get to choose their place based on their preferences, by exploring their destination and culture choice, with the nice help of their special tourists guides and chefs as a hosts, all including in the package. This additional money entrance for users make of this site a really interest option of business that can also save some money to our pockets.

(Source: http://www.airbnb.com/home/goldenrules)