Airbnb's Ambition to Be a Superbrand That Defines a Generation

Airbnb is going to rule the travel world someday as it expands its consumer base, host locations, and volume of digital products, because it's evolving into a full-scale global movement. That's Airbnb's plan anyway, or so it seems for anyone who attended the annual Airbnb Open 2015 conference last week in Paris. Brands become a movement when they transcend the product/consumer relationship by establishing a platform with a higher purpose, whatever that may be. Customers become devout followers, in the biblical sense of the word, with a shared sense of purpose and aligned vision toward a collective goal. If that sounds a little too fervent, then you weren't at Airbnb Open 2015. More Coverage of Airbnb Open How Airbnb Used Its Community Following Paris Attacks Understanding How Airbnb Empowers Hosts With New Business Travel Strategy Jonathan Mildenhall, chief marketing officer at Airbnb, evangelized about the future of the room sharing company in no uncertain terms during his keynote. He began by rallying the audience into frothy exuberance with a request for everyone to get up and dance to Whitney Houston. https://twitter.com/Airbnb/status/665222106582421504 The upwards of 5,000 Airbnb hosts in the big tent were o