Airbnb x Duolingo
The best holidays don't rewrite you.
They translate you.
Role: Creative Direction · Art Direction · Concept Development · Campaign Strategy · Experience Design · Media Strategy · AI Creative Direction (Assisted by Giles)
SELF-INITIATED
Travel has never been easier.
Feeling like yourself somewhere new hasn't.
Created as a partnership between Airbnb and Duolingo, You, Translated. is built around a simple thought: learning enough of the language to still feel like yourself when you travel.
The campaign starts before the airport, introducing another culture through the routines people already have at home. A coffee. The morning paper. Music on the way to work. Small encounters that make somewhere unfamiliar start to feel a little closer.
Deliverables:
Integrated Campaign · Experiential Activations · OOH · Social & Motion · Environmental Design · Digital & CRM · Media · Customer Journey
Pre-launch
A Little Taste of What's Coming
The campaign starts before people reach London.
Stations and routes into Waterloo begin to change. The clues continue into the city, with the Metro appearing in Italian, departure boards pointing somewhere unexpected and glimpses of Florence appearing along the way.
No Airbnb. No Duolingo. Not yet.
Launch
The Place Where Travel Begins
Two weeks later, the clues lead to an Italian neighbourhood café in the middle of Waterloo.
It's a chance to try the idea for real. Order a coffee, attempt a little Italian and spend some time somewhere that feels strangely removed from the station surrounding it.
01 · The City Opens Its Doors
Restored Italian doorways appear across the station barriers, turning the everyday commute into the entrance to the experience.
Each doorway is different, taking its cues from the homes and neighbourhoods you might find once you arrive.
02 · A Familiar Place, Somewhere New
At the centre of Waterloo sits an Italian neighbourhood café that looks as though it's been there for years.
Weathered materials and warm lighting soften the station around it. Even the flooring blends into the existing concourse, deliberately blurring the point where Waterloo ends and the café begins.
03 · Life Happens Naturally
The details help sell the illusion.
During the day, a local pulls up on his scooter, chats to the owner in Italian, grabs his coffee and heads off again.
Nothing announces that this is part of the experience. If you happen to notice it, even better.
04 · Let People Find the Brands
Airbnb and Duolingo stay deliberately quiet inside the café.
Visitors discover who's behind it once they're already inside, leaving the Italian neighbourhood itself to do most of the talking.
05 · Where Next?
Every purchase comes with a receipt that unlocks Airbnb offers and Duolingo lessons connected to the destination.
So the coffee might be temporary. The Italian doesn't have to be.
National Rollout: Different City. Different Destination.
The idea changes depending on where it lands.
Birmingham becomes Tokyo, using the city's jewellery-making heritage as the starting point for a Japanese workshop. Manchester heads to Buenos Aires through its music scene.
The destination changes, but the principle stays the same: start with something people already know and use it to introduce somewhere they don't.
Hero OOH: The Best Version of You Travels Too
The hero campaign pairs the same person at home and abroad.
A jewellery designer works at her bench in Birmingham, then again in Tokyo. A musician discovers new sounds in Manchester and Buenos Aires.
Different language. Different city. Still them.
Media Strategy: Put It Where Travel Is Already on People's Minds
Initial placements focus on cities and transport routes with strong connections to each destination, including Waterloo, the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express.
The creative can then change by location, using the destination most relevant to the people seeing it.
phase 2
Real Stories Take Over
Once people start travelling, their experiences give the campaign somewhere new to go.
Language milestones and little moments abroad become part of the creative. Ordering something successfully. Starting a conversation. Realising halfway through that you've stopped translating everything in your head.
The sort of things that probably won't make the holiday album, but might be the bits you remember.
Beyond the Campaign Launch
Podcasts and creator partnerships give You, Translated. room for longer conversations about what it actually feels like to find your feet somewhere new.
Travellers can also share their own experiences through #YouTranslated, giving the campaign a growing collection of real stories from people using language while they're away.
