Insurate is breaking through the market with a sophisticated algorithm that revolutionizes occupational insurance as the industry becomes increasingly competitive. Our innovative Safe-Tier™ technology appraises companies using historical prices, machine learning, and predictive modeling of workers' compensation claims. This new approach to evaluating risk enables Insurate to reward safe companies with reasonable premiums and provide agents with valuable insights and data to help them grow and develop.
To support agents and promote them as critical parts of our policyholder's value chain, we engaged with top agents across the United States to gain their perspective on the insurance sector and how our new products would impact the industry. These interactions allowed us to establish Insurate as a reliable and credible company within the insurance market.
We then launched our product by supplying agents with educational material on Safe-Tier™ technology, providing them with a better understanding of how it can help their businesses and act as an improved alternative to traditional providers. To introduce Insurate to a larger audience, we developed a CDP-based targeting engine leveraging first and third-party data that identified the top 20 agencies per state and multiple ICPs that isolated the top producers within each agency. We then created a 360-degree dashboard that served as a single source of truth –monitoring and analyzing our growth and sales activities across multiple channels through the first touch and throughout policy quoting, binding, and renewals.
To arm our targeting engine, we developed stories focusing on influential agents who had worked with Insurate and created channel-specific playbooks to inform execution. We spread content across various channels, including our website, social media, paid advertising, emails, and blog articles.
Our mission was to streamline the recruitment process for agents by deploying an automation platform that could guide them through onboarding. These efforts resulted in several hundred agencies and thousands of individual producers getting appointed and submitting millions of dollars worth of policies at our product launch.
The professional host industry is expansive, comprising several sectors, including old-time businesses like property managers and hotels and newbies like host management companies and multifamily establishments. Since its inception, Airbnb has predominantly catered to hosts offering rooms in their homes or managing properties part-time. The platform, however, has grown exponentially over the years, becoming home to a dynamic community of over 2 million stays each night, and several of these hosts have become established professional businesses requiring different solutions than before.
To meet the changing needs of these professional hosts, Airbnb developed a brand new concept – Pro Host – to represent the complete ecosystem it has to offer, making it easier for businesses to increase their visibility and create delightful guest experiences on the platform.
To support this effort, we invested in demand generation. We created multiple narratives about professional hosts who have succeeded in listing their unique properties on Airbnb and experienced growth and spread them across various channels, such as the Pro Host website, social media, paid ads, emails, and blog articles.
We then went one step further and enabled automation by developing a dynamic platform that educates and provides insights to professional hosts through an integrated marketing campaign, showing them how to launch and build their businesses on the platform. To support this, we constructed detailed data profiles, allowing us to craft personalized interactions with each host, leading to enhanced engagement.
A year since the launch of Pro Host, the segment saw an increase of 1.48x year-on-year in gross booking value, amounting to a staggering $10.3 billion, and with over 87.4 million nights booked, it also became the most profitable host category with the highest contribution of growth margin at more than 50%.
Following extensive research and customer journey workshops, our marketing team uncovered the need for many hosts transitioning from side gigs to full-fledged enterprises to consider Airbnb as a valid partner to assist them with running and developing their businesses. Additionally, these hosts faced the challenge of being competitive when Airbnb rose in popularity.
We aimed to challenge these perceptions and define Airbnb as the top-of-mind platform to help professional hosts succeed. To achieve this, we chose to focus on the host community, giving them guidance and education and offering communication platforms to display the potential of the professional rental industry.
By executing these initiatives, we were also able to circulate key messaging about hosting, creating greater familiarity with tools directed at the professional host sector. Each event allowed Airbnb to increase awareness of recent policy updates and create unique interactions with Airbnb management, boosting brand affinity and enhancing mindshare. Our ongoing event platform strategy spanned APAC, North America, Latin America, and EMEA, focusing on tentpole activations on a global level and regional events in conjunction with our sales team.
Furthermore, to amplify the impact of the strategy, we implemented a powerful combination of Airbnb executive and guest keynote speakers, small-group and individual work sessions, discussions to provoke thought, convenings of the Pro Host Advisory Council, and engagement with the Story Studio to tell a variety of host stories.
The Pro Host Marketing team embarked on a journey to identify and synthesize the collective knowledge held within Worldwide Sales, Product, Design, and Research teams about Airbnb ProHost. This extensive category includes hundreds of millions of nights and thousands of properties from different professional hosting segments, such as SMBs, Enterprise-scale hosts, Hotels, Long-term stays, and Real Estate Companies.
This journey spanned North America, Asia, and Europe, during which a multi-faceted team engaged in numerous brainstorming and listening sessions to uncover critical insights related to the career paths of professional hosts, what motivates them, their pain points, the role of Airbnb in their development, and the cultural differences between verticals and regions. These insights have greatly informed the branding, messaging, user experience, research studies, content development, CRM logic, and nurture and retention campaigns associated with Pro Host.
As a significant component of Airbnb Pro Host, the property management software providers have connected millions of properties to the platform. With its considerable presence in the hospitality industry, the Innovation Council gathered the Founders, CEOs, CTOs, CFOs, CMOs, and other operational leaders. This initiative aims to honor their contributions to the community, solicit feedback, and craft a comprehensive roadmap for the platform, primarily geared towards professional hosts.
The first gathering of this program took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, initiated by Pro Host Marketing and facilitated by Airbnb executives from the Product and Sales departments. Apart from constructing a bright future for the industry, we highlighted the advantages of Airbnb by offering accommodation via our Lux sub-brand and facilitating various activities and tours via Experiences.
This special event featured several Airbnb and software executives' presentations and small-group discussions concerning critical topics, product displays, and feedback sessions. Creating personal relationships with Airbnb and other software providers was an extraordinary chance. The event was a significant milestone that paved the way for more executive-level activities across all professional hosting divisions.
Founded in 2011 by two clean energy activists, Mosaic has quickly risen from a scrappy crowd-funded lending platform to the category leader in clean energy finance. To establish the brand’s newly established leadership position, we executed a comprehensive rebrand across all channels, including developing a library of still photography and video assets, website development, customer acquisition tools, and a visual identity refresh. The exercise also supported a new content strategy to support a re-marketing program to improve conversions and customer engagement.
Challenge: How can we demonstrate that transitioning to solar power can be easy and painless? How can we challenge the popular misconception that solar energy is expensive and unattainable?
SolarCity, the most prominent residential and commercial solar energy provider in the U.S., set a goal to provide millions of households with more affordable and eco-friendly electricity. Despite rapid growth in the industry, most consumers did not fully understand the convenience, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of solar energy.
The solar energy industry was in it’s infancy - even though SolarCity held 42% of the residential solar market, it contributed to only 1% of the US's total energy production and had lower than 10% recognition amongst consumers.
Solution: Restructure the brand's messaging architecture, focusing on an alternative to 'traditional' energy. Arouse interest in stories that show a society fueled by sustainable energy. Focus on the benefits and future of clean energy to provide a positive outlook. Highlight that this technology is not just a product or a commodity, but a means to a brighter tomorrow.
We altered the color palette, typography, photography, and identity elements to represent simplicity and show how clean energy can be part of our everyday lives.
All in all, the work included an above-the-line and digital ad campaigns, revamp of the website, a redesigned custom customer acquisition process and the re-branding of the company's physical headquarters, retail locations and vehicles. The SolarCity creative team was responsible for the brand and creative strategy from conception to implementation, with assistance from Arnold Worldwide and Hello Design.
Can the virtuous act of an environmental crusader trigger a response from the universe?
When a shadowy organization attempts to cover up widespread water contamination, only Sophie, and Helios, stand in their way.
Launched at SolarCity’s annual leadership summit, OneTeamOneDeam, this short film tells the origin story of Helios, who symbolizes the company's quest for excellence and truth. The SolarCity creative team conceived and wrote the story in its entirety. Costume design and production was done in collaboration with LJ Shannon and Culprit Creative.
In 2015, SolarCity publicly committed to powering over 1000 schools in developing countries using our technology. To illustrate the program's mission and impact, we created the following :30 spot from a recent trip the SolarCity creative team took to Kenya and Mali.
‘Connections’ highlights the launch of Amazon’s display advertising business. The narrative reveals Amazon’s multi-platform advertising solutions in the context of the Amazon shopping experience. The spots were aired during Adweek 2013, on Amazon.com and on various social media sites. Created and produced by Amazon’s creative team.
My team drove the successful collaboration between Amazon, IMDb, and Universal Pictures to develop an ambitious campaign for the film adaptation of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. We seized Amazon's Gateway to implement a comprehensive approach that would cover the entire release cycle of the movie, from the premiere to the Blu-Ray/DVD. The endeavor delivered a 25% boost in unaided awareness for the theatrical version and an 80% lift for the home entertainment version, as well as being recognized with a Best Integrated Display Campaign prize from the thinkLA interactive awards.
We identified an opportunity to improve Windows 7 adoption rates through an advertising campaign focused on educating customers through how-to videos hosted on Windows.com. By providing customers with resources illustrating the power of Windows 7 and Windows Live+, we created a strategy to help them get started with their cloud. The campaign led to 1.3M additional downloads and trials of Windows7.
We launched the Kindle Fire advertising platform with several concepts employing the device's sight, sound and motion functionalities. The resulting product allowed consumers to create a highly personalized and engaging experience within the ad. We translated this concept across platforms and screens for a true multiscreen solution.
The campaign focused on bringing the story of The Monuments Men to life through a fully immersive tablet experience on Kindle Fire. We engaged with potential audiences by revealing the historical significance of the Monuments Men. The concept was developed in partnership with Sony, The Monuments Men Foundation and Amazon’s creative team.
In anticipation of Forza’s latest game release, we developed a comprehensive digital strategy encompassing a global website re-design with an integrated social platform for the extensive gamer community. This approach incorporates the total user experience to extend gameplay from virtual to reality.
Previously known as Ascentium, Smith was appointed as the primary digital agency for T-Mobile. We managed the user experience and creative strategy for tmobile.com, ensuring that all its transactional features were correctly architected, designed, and tested. We successfully implemented the 'smarter smartphone' campaign and created a promotional platform for all their Android phones.
When Precor's nationwide dealer network experienced a decline in sales, they embarked on an effort to shift their business online. Smith, formerly Ascentium, completed a comprehensive re-brand of Precor’s consumer and commercial lines of business, launching a fully integrated e-commerce and digital marketing platform.
Leading up to Black Friday, Amazon’s creative team collaborated with Sony Music and their labels to create an immersive touch-point experience on the Kindle advertising platform in order to promote various best-selling artists across multiple genres. Consumers could sample multiple audio tracks, view music videos, browse images dedicated to each artist, and buy single tracks and full albums directly from the ad.
Web publisher wet paint.com had the best kind of problem: exponential growth. They needed to catch up with their own whiplash-speed expansion when they went from social networking hub to hot destination for 10 Million+ fans of TV, fashion, and gossip. They asked Smith, formerly Ascentium, to rethink the online expression of their brand to fully convey the glamor, freshness, and excitement of the Wetpaint entertainment experience.
