Airbnb offers over 2 million homes globally that relies solely on strangers trusting each other. While that is a feat in itself, aggressive travel and accommodation options had intensified the market in Asia – reinforcing the conventional travel of packed tourist destinations that Airbnb fights against.

While the previous campaign for Airbnb increased awareness for the brand, few Asians really understood what the inherent value of an Airbnb experience was.

The challenge was to create a story of an authentic Airbnb experience. To captivate audiences so they would journey with the brand, and be immersed in a narrative that could demonstrate what makes Airbnb different. We wanted people to not just know about Airbnb, but understand that when they travel with Airbnb they actually experience life like a local.

The film tells the story of a solo female traveler's memories of the time she spent in Paris. Her memories are seen through an animated world set entirely on a Zoetrope. In this animated world, we see her travel away from the touristy Eiffel Tower areas, and with suggestions from her local host, she discovers a different side to Paris. One that’s filled with locals and local favourite hideaways. It’s in this Paris, she discovers a hidden flea market, a charming vintage carousel filled with local kids and families, she makes her way to a secret underground bar where she meets locals and ends up spending a typical Parisian evening before ending the night with supper at a neighbourhood café. The film showcases the experiences a traveler can have when they stay in local neighbourhoods with Airbnb.

Across the campaign period from 9 September to 16 November 2015,  'A Different Paris' was delivered to our target audience in China, Japan and Korea, via digital display banners, digital video and mobile as the main forms of reach to generate awareness and engagement.

Following are the local and international publishers for each country: 

China: Tencent, AOD

Japan: Google, Yahoo! Japan, VeleT, AOL Platform, Adello, Unruly

Korea: Daum, Naver, Nate, SMR, Dawin, Google, Adello, Unruly, SBS, KBS, MBC, and other CATV (e.g. tvN, OCN, etc)

Media spend was broken across Digital Display (18%), Digital Video (53%) and Mobile (3%) to drive online engagement. 

Spend on others and non-working costs (26%).