Sweden and Airbnb hone in on ‘Home’

June 12, 2017

The recent collaboration between Sweden and Airbnb has come up as a good specimen of how two parties can achieve desired and fair results in a partnership. The campaign was set by Sweden to promote tourism in the country and Airbnb has served as an efficient platform for it. Both Sweden and Airbnb have been successful in gaining market presence and appealing the tourists with this win-win strategy

Have a look at the complete promotional video here.

Celebrating ‘Freedom to Roam’

VisitSweden.com — the official brand to encourage travel and tourism in Sweden and Airbnb leagued together to trigger off a campaign to promote the country as a tourist destination. MDC Partners backed by Swedish Creative Agency, Forsman and Bodenfors unveiled the country’s Constitutional Principle, ‘Freedom to Roam’ by outspreading it beyond Sweden, to the entire world.

Airbnb is a well-known online marketplace enabling people to lease or rent accommodations around the world. Homestays is one service that makes it distinct from others. It caters to a vast group of tourists. Sweden was trying to tap on open-minded travelers and was able to share a similar target group with Airbnb at this level.

‘Allemansrätten’ which otherwise means ‘freedom to roam’ is a right bestowed on all the citizens of Sweden. It allows them to access any part of their country freely (except private residence or property). In return, all they ask to pay is respect. Declaring natural resources as their monument, Sweden liberates its public land and destinations to all its visitors and welcomes them to make their way in any part of their land without any boundaries. You could hike, camp and spend your time among huge mountains, nearby lakes, within deep forests and under the stars — all for free. You can even relish some of the yearly customs of picking up berries, mushrooms and flowers and relax in the ‘Swedish nature’.

To have a look at the destinations, visit this page on Airbnb.

The strategic development of the campaign has been done with the clear objective of uplifting the presence of both Swedish destinations and Airbnb in the tourism market. The idea of Sweden as a ‘home’ by promoting the constitutional principle ‘freedom to roam’ was able to align with the unique brand identity of Airbnb when compared with other tourism brands.

What made the campaign a success?

Smart marketing strategies driven by value-based concepts made the campaign click with the audience.

1. Unity is Strength

With the help of co-branding, both the groups were able to offer a fresh and new version of their service to the similar kind of target group. The concept of ‘home’ in the campaign as a tourist accommodation blended well with the identity of Airbnb. Airbnb offered its platform and reputation to connect to a part of their target group that they had been catering. In this process, both the parties provided strength to each other by sharing their resources while achieving the objectives.

2. Vacations with Homestays? – It’s Airbnb

When it comes to vacation rentals and home stays, Airbnb is all we hark back to. Visit Sweden stresses on introducing the entire country as a ‘home’ for its tourists. It observes Airbnb as a perfect partner to align with the campaign’s ideology. Both the concepts blend well in the campaign. This also makes the Airbnb audience experience a similar connection towards Sweden.

3. If travelling was free…

We all might overwhelm hearing about free accommodation offers as a tourist. Tourism has always occupied our minds with the notion that it’s an expensive affair. By giving a right to travel around the entire country free, it establishes a shift in perception of the people.\.

4. Consumers are real assets

Although, there goes a huge effort in the strategy and launch of this campaign, none of the parties have initiated any monetary exchange from either side. This means, both Sweden and Airbnb have displayed high interest in gaining tourists without any straight monetary benefits. This is an impressive act of valuing consumers more than money.

5. The Citizens of our country are our Superheroes

Apart from the natural habitat, what Sweden has represented as its asset is the human resource. Country’s leading entrepreneurs, photographers and the first Swedish woman to climb Mt. Everest have supported and endorsed the campaign. In their interviews, they share their experiences and thoughts on how they feel close to nature.

6. With Freedom comes responsibility

Sweden openly conveys its concern towards nature. It shows how along with granting freedom, it also keeps reflecting on its responsibility towards the biological system and its resources. Sweden lies in Scandinavia that is known for its sustainability. Ecotourism is a package that comes with some duties tied with it.

Government chooses to look through a new lens

Unlike bureaucratic Governments of several other countries, Sweden presents an intelligent move by noticing web media as an excellent platform to promote its assets and destinations. Today, the audience conducts a huge amount of research and bookings through the online tourism platforms. Sweden smartly grabs this opportunity to target and fetch out its audience by teaming up with an International and renowned tourism brand.

To know more about Sweden, visit the official tourism and travel website of Sweden

Takeaway: Co-branding is a smart strategy that creates a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Sweden and Airbnb were able to gain significant publicity with this campaign. The idea of the campaign was creatively one of its kind. By choosing Airbnb as a platform and using its reputation, Sweden can experience an acceleration in its presence in the market. Airbnb will witness an equal enhancement in the number of consumers. This could be an inspiration for other organizations as it fulfils goals of both the collaborators.

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May 24, 2023