In 2008, two guys inflated an air mattress in their apartment in San Francisco.
They offered accommodation to conference visitors who couldn’t find hotel rooms. That was the beginning of Airbnb.
When the company went public in 2020, its valuation was higher than Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental. Combined.
And they still didn’t own a single hotel room.
How is that possible?
The simple answer is technology or the sharing economy. But that’s the wrong answer.
For over a hundred years, the hotel industry had been optimising for the same thing: Predictability.
The same pillows. The same breakfast buffet. The same key card.
Quality meant: no surprises.
Airbnb saw something else.
Many travellers didn’t just want to stay in a city.
They wanted to feel it. Wake up in an apartment in Montmartre, not in a hotel near Montmartre.
Have a story to tell. Not just a receipt to file.
Airbnb wasn’t primarily selling accommodation. They were selling belonging and experiences.
Most companies compete with better products. The best ones compete with what the product means and represents.
I often come back to this question when I work with sales strategy: What is the deeper change the customer is buying?
The hotel chains answer the question:
“Where am I going to sleep?”
Airbnb answers the question: â
What do I want to experience when I travel?”
Two guys with an air mattress understood that.
đ What are you really selling?
Here you can read about what your customers are actually paying for.
