Airbnb / Hello Stranger
Transporting people through immersive sound and storytelling.
Over 45% of interactions on Airbnb successfully involve a host and guest who don’t speak the same language. And when language isn’t a barrier, hosts and guests connect across religion, politics, and race. This understanding led to the development of Hello Stranger, a podcast designed to take people place that are unexpected.
The podcast relied on environmental sound design to help transport people and was supported by articles and social media that helped drive people to Airbnb to explore travel.
The team got funding to produce a limited series as a prototype. Below are a couple of the stories captured.
Introducing, Hello Stranger
Sometimes we find ourselves somewhere we didn’t plan to be. Hello Stranger is a podcast about the transformation that occurs when you surrender to the unexpected.
Episode 1:
We sent one of our writers alongside a partner to a small rural village hours outside of Tokyo to capture a story that we’d previously covered in an issue of Airbnb Magazine—When Alzheimer’s stole her husband’s memory and constricted her life, Michiko Katsuse opened her doors to what came to be known as The Ninja Mansion — and flourished. (Photographs by Cait Oppermann for Airbnb Magazine)
Episode 2
Given our tight timeless and limited budget, we wanted to capture a story that was very close to the Airbnb brand—The 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California's Butte County was the most destructive wildfire in California history. Airbnb hosts opened their hearts and homes to displaced families and animals, aiding in rescue and recovery efforts. (Photographs from Wikipedia and Getty.)
Role: Concept, Design, Strategy
Created in partnership with Airbnb, Brendan Francis Newnam and SoundMadePublic
Airbnb Team: Michael Smith, Yara Khakbaz, Harrison Watkins, Aaron Davidoff, Dillon Petrillo, Marguerite Carter