Re: Airbnb
Fiona van Iersel
MSc Marketing — King's College London
Module: Marketing Strategy and Planning (7QQMO515X)
Date: 9 March 2025
https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=741854

Re: Airbnb
Submitted: 9 March 2025 8:56 PM

Hahaha great team work! Loving this discussion, Anastasia, Stefano, and Andrea! I agree Airbnb is the ultimate ‘doing first’ poster child—Brian Chesky literally threw an air mattress in his spare room, called it a business, and figured it out as he went. That’s peak “Let’s just try this and see what happens” energy (McGrath, 2013).

Stefano, you make a great point—Airbnb eventually evolved into a ‘thinking first’ machine, using data-driven expansion to optimize listings and pricing (Guttentag, 2019). Andrea, your COVID-19 pivot example is spot on! Airbnb switched gears overnight to focus on local and long-term stays (Dolnicar & Zare, 2021), which screams agile marketing at its finest (McKinsey & Co., 2023).

So, what Im wondering is ….did Airbnb just stumble into greatness, or did they accidentally create one of the best hybrid ‘doing first/thinking first’ models? 🚀



References

• Dolnicar, S., & Zare, S. (2021). COVID-19 and Airbnb – Disrupting the Disruptor. Annals of Tourism Research.

• Guttentag, D. (2019). Progress and Prospects for Airbnb: A Research Review. Tourism Management.

• McGrath, R. G. (2013). The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business. Harvard Business Review Press.

• McKinsey & Co. (2023). Agile Marketing: How Brands Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World.