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The New Airbnb

airbnb.com

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Re: The New Airbnb

#81

Post by zem »

hxw wrote: post #60
knowtheory wrote: post #22

Well, this should go down in the annals of logos which should have gotten some wider impressions before launching. Since nobody else on HN has mentioned it, all of twitter thinks the new logo looks like a vagina. It's hard to unsee.

I can hardly see it when I'm trying too see it. People are reaching.

agreed. i'm reminded once again of hein's "dream interpretation (simplified)":

    DREAM INTERPRETATION
    Simplified.

    Everything's either
    concave or -vex,
    so whatever you dream
    will be something with sex.

Re: The New Airbnb

#82

Post by visakanv »

gkop wrote: post #31

Frankly I did not see this coming [0], I always figured Airbnb would aim to be a universal marketplace, rather than carving out a niche in "authentic", "unique", "truly amazing experiences". Anyhow, I read "belonging" as a coded word for "community", and wonder how Airbnb thinks they are going to culture their own community... Maybe they will make a strategic acquisition? Lonely Planet, for example. Or maybe they wil…

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive (see PG's essay about narrow and deep, applied to Google, to Microsoft, etc.)- I also remember reading an early Facebook employee's note about how Facebook had to start out serving college students specifically before they could go on to serve everybody, and how if they had tried to serve everybody from the start, they'd probably have failed.

It may be that the path to universality is paved with niches. You can't write a book about everything. You write a book about something, and people see everything in it.

Airbnb probably needs to stay sexy/cool for as long as they can before they become the big/unsexy/bureaucratic administrator/utility providor.

(Sorry for length.)

Re: The New Airbnb

#83

Post by x1798DE »

gkop wrote: post #31

Frankly I did not see this coming [0], I always figured Airbnb would aim to be a universal marketplace, rather than carving out a niche in "authentic", "unique", "truly amazing experiences". Anyhow, I read "belonging" as a coded word for "community", and wonder how Airbnb thinks they are going to culture their own community... Maybe they will make a strategic acquisition? Lonely Planet, for example. Or maybe they wil…

>Anyhow, I read "belonging" as a coded word for "community", and wonder how Airbnb thinks they are going to culture their own community...

Yeah, I need a new "community" like I need a hole in my head. Not everything I do needs to be social. I love AirBNB because I can rent something with the amenities of a house wherever I'm going to go. I have no interest in socializing with the owners of that house. I don't care if that's how other people want to go, but if the main focus of AirBNB is going to be on how fun it is to sleep in a stranger's house and then have breakfast with them, I can't imagine that it'll be something I'm interested in.

Re: The New Airbnb

#84

Post by visakanv »

lttlrck wrote: post #43
minimaxir wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've been following the commentary about the logo on Twitter, that is the exact opposite of what people immediately interpret as the symbol.

the exact opposite?

Apparently vaginas and rockets are opposites. Maybe because rockets = penises. Who knows.

Re: The New Airbnb

#85

Post by hsod »

untog wrote: post #34

For so long, people thought Airbnb was about renting houses. But really, we’re about home. You see, a house is just a space, but a home is where you belong. I hope they didn't pay very much for this, it's nauseating.

I recently used AirBnB for the first time, and I gotta say I agree with the sentiment here and I think calling it nauseating is excessively negative.

When I woke up on my first night in AirBnb I thought I was in my apartment for a moment. It felt like home. This was a great feeling-- here I am in the middle of a foreign land where I know nothing and don't speak the language, but when I go back to my place at the end of the night I feel at home.

Re: The New Airbnb

#87

Post by zheshishei »

ssmoot wrote: post #47

I clicked on the link and saw the "Welcome Home" message with a lady sleeping in the background. A second or two later she moved and I realized I'm watching a short video of some lady sleeping. Which felt very creepy. I just thought that was noteworthy since that's not a feeling that comes up all that often clicking on a link for a business's home page. On the new logo: I think it's surprisingly nice. The video intro…

>I clicked on the link and saw the "Welcome Home" message with a lady sleeping in the background. A second or two later she moved and I realized I'm watching a short video of some lady sleeping. Which felt very creepy.

could not reproduce.

Re: The New Airbnb

#88

Post by antonioevans »

bellerocky wrote: post #49
untog wrote: post #34

For so long, people thought Airbnb was about renting houses. But really, we’re about home. You see, a house is just a space, but a home is where you belong. I hope they didn't pay very much for this, it's nauseating.

I certainly can't imagine Don Draper pitching something like this, it is pretty awful.

Don Draper is a fictional character. The reason they used home is to increase auxiliary market share such as home cleaning, key exchange, food delivery, etc services.

Re: The New Airbnb

#89

Post by [deleted] »

raldi wrote: post #68
knowtheory wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize that people still find the "iPad" name awkward, right? Just because the device sells doesn't mean the name isn't bad.

How do they feel about notepads and mousepads and bachelor pads?

[deleted]

Re: The New Airbnb

#90

Post by untog »

visakanv wrote: post #79
untog wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, OK, why do we? I agree. It's silly. Does the rest of America agree? No. Given that this is part of AirBnb transforming to a consumer brand you'd think they'd pay more attention to what their target consumers think. They're a business, after all.

"Hey, let's rent a place. It costs reasonable, the people seem nice, it's going to be fun." "OMG, no, no we can't. The logo looks like a vagina."

Why yes, you're right, that's exactly how brand perception works.
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