Vrbo Keeps Taking Jabs at Airbnb With New Ad Campaign to Recruit Hosts

22.08.2024 - 04:41 / skift.com / Brian Chesky / Ariane Gorin

Expedia’s short-term rental platform Vrbo is trying to attract hosts with a new line of ads that offer the same promise it advertises to renters: a stress-free alternative to competitors like Airbnb.

The short-term rental platform has expanded its “Relax, you booked a Vrbo” branding campaign into a new line of ads appealing to hosts, centered around the slogan: “Relax, you host on Vrbo.”

And while none of the new spots explicitly mention industry titan Airbnb, Vrbo continues to take veiled shots at its biggest competitor, poking at key differences between the two platforms – like Vrbo’s stated tendency to attract longer-term guests and its fledgling OneKey rewards program.

One ad features a man and a boy relaxing in a fishing boat on a lake and invites hosts to “sit back and attract repeat guests” at their properties, thanks to Vrbo’s rewards program for travelers, OneKey, “a rewards program you won’t find on any other platform.”

The program allows users to collect OneKey cash by booking through Expedia and its subsidiaries Hotels.com and Vrbo. That cash can be used to pay for future bookings across all three platforms.

Indeed, Expedia sees its OneKey program as a potential boon to Vrbo’s growth. In an earnings call earlier this month, Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin said Vrbo had seen improvements in growth in the second quarter, and cited OneKey as part of the reason why. She noted that 30% of Expedia or Hotels.com travelers who earned OneKey cash went on to try Vrbo for the first time.

Expedia didn’t respond to emailed questions from Skift on whether OneKey has been shown to bring in more repeat guests, as the new ad claims.

Meanwhile, Airbnb has long been considered an outlier in the hospitality industry for its lack of a loyalty program, but the company has shown little urgency in launching one. CEO Brian Chesky told Skift earlier this year the company could “probably” start up some sort of rewards program in the future, but he ruled out using a traditional points- or subsidy-based system. Chesky has said that building a more personalized platform is more effective at building loyalty than a rewards program.

Another new ad builds on Vrbo’s attempts to define itself as a platform for longer-term stays – appealing to hosts searching for steadier, lower-maintenance guests.

The ad script notes how “other vacation platforms offer a flurry of guests coming and going,” as the camera pans over spilled popcorn and orange peels scattered in the grass. But the narrator promises Vrbo guests stay at properties “significantly longer,” so hosts “can take your mind off it and relax.”

The camera zooms out to reveal the litter isn’t surrounding a trashed and busy vacation rental property, but is scattered around a picnic