When Your Marketing Strategy Names the Competitor: What the Airbnb vs. Vrbo Rivalry Teaches Us
**this blog post is NOT about telling you to directly make fun of a competitor, but rather how to use strategic communications to position yourself within a market.
In most industries, brands follow an unwritten rule: don’t say the competitor’s name.
Yet one of the most interesting marketing battles in the travel industry ignores that rule entirely. In several recent campaigns, Vrbo has built advertisements that explicitly reference its largest competitor, Airbnb.
From billboards placed near Airbnb’s headquarters, to commercials implying Airbnb guests must share space with hosts, to their own campaigns that compare Airbnb-specific locations, Vrbo has taken a bold communications approach: direct comparative marketing.
Whether it’s brilliant positioning or risky strategy depends on how you look at it.
The Challenger Brand Strategy
Vrbo is significantly smaller than Airbnb in the short-term rental market. Airbnb holds roughly 44% of global market share, compared with Vrbo’s roughly 9%, but, which branding is more memorable? If you were to ask me, Vrbo would immediately come to mind because they directly use grievances from Airbnb customers to drive their own campaigns (yay free content!).
In communications terms, Vrbo is a classic “challenger brand.”
Challenger brands often rely on a simple tactic: Position yourself directly against the category leader.
It’s a strategy designed to accomplish two things quickly:
Borrow awareness from the market leader
Frame the conversation around a single differentiator
Vrbo’s chosen differentiator is privacy.
Their campaigns emphasize that Vrbo listings are entire homes only, while Airbnb listings can oftentimes include shared spaces with hosts (or in some cases, guests waking up to the host on the living room couch (yes that was me that happened to)).
The Billboard That Said the Quiet Part Out Loud
One of the most visible moments in this rivalry came when Vrbo placed a billboard near Airbnb’s San Francisco headquarters that read:
“Think of us as Airbnb’s hotter, cooler, friendlier, long-lost twin that never has hosts.”
The message was cheeky and confrontational; a deliberate attempt to frame the comparison in the consumer’s mind, to ask, “which would you prefer?”.
The campaign quickly spread to major cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Airbnb responded publicly by calling the ads “confused” and “desperate,” suggesting the campaign only increased visibility for Airbnb itself. This is a core risk of comparative marketing, but again, this is a major grievance for Airbnb users so Vrbo is actively solving that issue for consumers – and being loud about it.
The Double-Edged Sword of Naming the Leader
Now, there are of course always caveats to a strategy as bold as direct comparison marketing. Using this approach allows for accelerated brand positioning because you’re inserting your brand name right next to a large corporations already established name; you are taking the guess work out of differentiation for your audience, you’re giving it to them directly; and a bold approach such as this has a high chance for media attention and conversation, whether positive or negative (any press is good press, right?).
BUT
This type of boldness can also just reinforce the dominance of the competitor, especially if you are only highlighting one of their features rather than telling consumers about all of yours; the comparisons you make have to be accurate, no guess work; you become defined by the leader and will likely have to work incredibly hard to rectify a mistaken link between you both, if things go south.
In Vrbo’s case, this strategy triggered a formal advertising challenge. Regulators found that some ads implied Airbnb always requires guests to share space with hosts, which isn’t true because there are also Airbnb listings that are private properties.
Vrbo ultimately agreed to modify some of the claims.
The Communications Lesson
The Airbnb–Vrbo rivalry is a case study in strategic positioning, and a reinforcement that communications is a strategic tool.
Vrbo’s messaging is simple:
Airbnb = sharing space with hosts
Vrbo = private homes
Whether or not the distinction holds up perfectly in practice is almost beside the point.
The real objective is to anchor a perception in the audience’s mind. Because once a comparison becomes the dominant narrative in a category, every future conversation about the product starts with that framing.
Now, when people are searching for holiday stays other than hotels, “that company that has commercials about not staying with strangers” comes to mind.
The Bigger Takeaway for Brands
For most organizations, especially smaller ones, the real lesson isn’t about vacation rentals.
It’s about strategic clarity.
When a brand is trying to compete in a crowded space, the most powerful communications move isn’t louder messaging.
It’s clear positioning.
Vrbo didn’t just run ads.
They defined the conversation.
**this blog post is NOT about telling you to directly make fun of a competitor, but rather how to use strategic communications to position yourself within a market.
