Airbnb just launched a new corporate brand identity as part of a broader overhaul of  its website and apps.    Yes, the visual identity and its link to a brand’s identity is very important.   As in any critical business decision, a combination of emotion (“gut” feelings and having a clear perspective) and data should inform the decision, and not by gut alone.   The co-founder of airbnb, Nathan Blecharczyk said:

We wouldn’t want to design a logo that caters to the lowest common denominator. This was a yearlong undertaking for dozens of people, it’s something meaningful, and no one pauses to really understand that.

Let’s calculate the approximate effort involved.  At least 12 team members with each team member at an average cost of $150K per year, translates into $1.8 million of valuable resources deployed for developing many ideas, sketches, before finally deciding on the “best” logo.    Ignore why airbnb felt the urge to change the logo in the first place, since the implementation costs of a new visual identify usually far exceeds its development – triggered by industry/company at an inflection point, arrival of a new CMO who feels the need to make a visible first impression (changing the logo, shuffling the roster of marketing and creative agencies, are often easier than changing the more important ROI trajectory or improving marketing-sales alignment).

In a P2P community-driven business such as airbnb, a crowd-sourced design and evaluation of logo could have provided many advantages:

1. Outside-in:  Both hosts and renters, if influenced by the logo (and it is a valid “if”), have  opinions and perspectives on airbnb’s new visual identify and could have been willing co-creators of the visual identify.  Remember that in a switchboard business model such as airbnb’s, supply (hosts) and demand (renters) fuel revenues, and airbnb is only the enabler with a wonderful technology platform and user experience.  What matters is the the meaning and associations, if any, attached to the visual identity by hosts and renters.
2. Lower costs of development:  Instead of expending close to $2 million, one an envision spending $50K or much less
3. Better final solution:  More hearts and brains, with a diversity of perspectives and experiences, lead to a final solution.
4. airbnb has influence and final say:  Even in a crowd-sourced approach, airbnb’s marketing team (and all employees) have the opportunity to participate and influence the evolution of the ideas, and internalize the meaning of the new visual identity.  This notion is powerful, if one of the goals of the change in the visual identify is to trigger a mutation of the organizational DNA.
5. Insights from listening:   Just listening to the conversations among hosts, renters, and employees during the co-creation provides a wealth of insights about what matters (now and in the future) to the key constituencies to power future airbnb’s technology and product roadmap, improve customer/user experiences,  customer support operations, i.e., how to deliver on the brand promise and the future meaning of the visual identify.