Learn The Challenger Brand Tactic Vrbo Uses to Position Itself Against AirBnB
This post looks at how and why Vrbo uses a well-known challenger brand tactic to position itself within a market dominated by one company: AirBnB.
I love watching Hulu because of all the commercials I get to see. Recently I caught a thirty-second streaming commercial by Vrbo.
In the commercial, Vrbo—a homeshare rental platform—squares up to market-leader AirBnB the way a challenger brand might.
Traditional challenger brands have big ambitions with limited resources. Their mission is to progress the category in favor of the customer. And their vision for an improved future is what fuels the work.
In marketing, it requires intentional compare-and-contrast messaging work.
Industry leaders are usually referenced or named. Apple used this exact same tactic in their revered 2006 “Get a Mac” campaign, where Apple directly compares a Mac to a PC.
And that’s what we see in Vrbo’s commercial. Every word and image is meant to highlight the up- and downsides of choosing one brand over the other.
With AirBnB rentals, guests may share rental spaces with the rental owners.
But Vrbo boasts a differentiated homeshare experience—one where guests have the whole vacation home to themselves.
Watch:
Here’s the commercial transcript:
The thing that’s different about a Vrbo vacation home? You always have the whole place to yourself. No stranger at the dinner table making things awkward. Or in another room taking up space. It’s just you and your people. Because why would you ever share your vacation home with someone you wouldn’t share your vacation with? <Endcard: Only your people. Vrbo.>
Is Vrbo a challenger brand?
Vrbo is clearly going toe-to-toe with AirBnB in this commercial. And AirBnB is the clear market leader in the homeshare space.
But is Vrbo a challenger brand?
Not in the traditional sense. As I said, challenger brands tend to have David-size-resources to shake up Goliath-sized-establishments.
And in 2015, Vrbo was acquired by Expedia. The brand received a major cash injection to reassert and reposition itself in the homeshare market. …And to give Expedia a stronger foothold in the vacation rental space).
Vrbo underwent reconstructive surgery in 2019.
Vrbo logo before and after their 2019 rebrand.
So their access to resources disqualifies them from being a challenger brand in a traditional sense.
Plus, we know it’s not a pure vision for good that drives their work—so much as it is Expedia expanding and repositioning itself in the larger vacation rental market.
But if that’s the case…
Why did Vrbo use this tactic?
If Vrbo doesn’t fit the classic challenger brand profile, why were they so confident to use a challenger brand tactic? Especially at such a scale?
1. It quickly positions them in the minds of customers.
One of the fastest ways to introduce an unknown brand to the market is to verbally position it next to a well-known brand.
The tactic is particularly effective for brands with names that don’t gesture toward any specific market category.
Like Vrbo.
By referencing the AirBnB experience, Vrbo is telling customers who they are and what they do in less than 30 seconds.
It gives them direct access to the patch of mental real estate they’re trying to plant their brand flag in.
2. They are challenging the status quo.
Vrbo may not fit the mold for a traditional challenger brand. But they are challenging the status quo of the homeshare market.
They’ve got a differentiated value proposition that no one else in the market can tout. They only offer host-free experiences.
And The Challenger Brand Project proposes that there is a natural path for non-challenger brands to step into the challenger brand position:
“Challenger brands today are more often focused on what they are challenging (about the category drivers, or the customer experience, for instance), than who they are challenging.”
Take a closer look at the Vrbo commercial and you’ll see Vrbo never actually names AirBnB in the spot. This, too, is similar to Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ campaign.
Apple didn’t name a specific competitor, but rather, the processor that powered competitor PCs (personal computers) at the time.
3. The commercial ties back to an unwavering brand positioning strategy.
Calling out a competitor the size of AirBnB takes confidence.
But it’s easier to do when you’ve got a long-term brand positioning strategy you’re working from.
A good brand positioning strategy has a clearly defined audience and a differentiating feature you know there’s demand for.
Vrbo has both.
As part of their 2019 rebranding and repositioning strategy, the company set its strategic sites on an audience segment that exists in the larger homeshare market: family and friend groups looking to book a vacation home they can have all to themselves.
Specifically: families traveling with kids and pets, and friend groups who need multi-room lodging.
And so they redesigned their entire booking experience with that audience in mind.
A screenshot of Vrbo’s booking interface before their rebrand.
The Vrbo booking interface after the rebrand. In the new booking flow they made sure that it was easy for their target audience to filter search results based on their specific needs, including user reviews, cleanliness, and most importantly–if the home allowed pets.
What it takes to make it work
This is all to say: Vrbo’s use of the compare/contrast tactic in their commercial is more than a tactic.
It’s a reflection of a differentiated experience that was years in the making, carefully shaped for a very specific audience segment.
It’s the outcome of total alignment at the executive level, wherein positioning goals are spoken about freely at all levels of the organization.
This is showcased in their Q3 2021 earnings call—2 years after their rebrand, and a year before this commercial came out:
“We are neither Airbnb nor Booking.com. We don’t care about having the most listings, but rather about being the best place for family travel.”
Final takeaways
Vrbo’s strategic decision to employ compare/contrast advertising reflects a deep understanding of its desired market position and the importance of brand differentiation.
By highlighting their differentiated value prop, Vrbo not only challenges the status quo but also cements its place in the consumer’s mind. The tactic is not just about taking on the giants; it’s about clarifying their vision for customers seeking a distinct homeshare experience.
So while Vrbo may not fit the classic challenger brand mold due to its resource-rich background, they embody the challenger spirit by focusing on what they can uniquely offer to its customers.
This bold move reminds us that in marketing, the clarity of your message and the courage to directly address the customer’s needs can set you apart, even in the face of industry titans.
Getting started
If you need help kicking off your brand positioning initiatives, check out The 5 Commandments of Brand Positioning, which will give you a basic framework to reference in your work.
If you’re looking for someone to jump into the ditches with you and sort things through, I can help with that.
Contact me on LinkedIn or send me an email at ashley@peoplethebrand.com.
We’ll set up some time to connect and I can learn more about what you’re trying to accomplish!
