This year's WrestleMania is just days away, but the WWE's marketing campaign for its biggest premium live event of the year was kicked into overdrive months ago.
In February, three days before the Super Bowl, with all eyes on Las Vegas, WWE tried to snatch some of the NFL's spotlight for itself.
The sports entertainment company held a press conference in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena, just down the road from the stadium where the Super Bowl was being played, to promote WrestleMania XL, a two day event in Philadelphia that begins Saturday. It plugged appearances by top stars including Cody Rhodes and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who recently became a board member for WWE's parent company, TKO Group. The free event, which was live streamed on Peacock, was a bid to grab the attention of the thousands of football fans in town, and potential viewers nationwide.
Thousands showed up for the event which didn’t include any wrestling, but The Rock did slap Rhodes across the face, garnering 15.7 million views across all of WWE’s social media platforms in less than 12 hours. More than 4.7 million people watched the event live, making it the most-viewed outside the ring event in WWE history, according to the company. The press conference had more than 100 million views in less than 12 hours.
WWE released its WrestleMania XL video on the day of the Super Bowl. That video has amassed more than 5 million views and counting on WWE's account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Jason Cielsak, president, Pacific Rim, at brand experience firm Siegel+Gale, says that the way the WWE crafts its WrestleMania messaging makes fans eager for an event where many of the storylines that have been evolving over the year are resolved in the ring.
“It is a master class in marketing steeped heavily in storytelling and drama that many of the major sports leagues and even television writers could learn from,” Cielsak said.
The Rock's participation in WrestleMania XL, given his longstanding ties to WWE and his movie star status, is a considerable asset.
“The benefits to WWE are numerous and help position the organization as a credible entertainment entity, luring “future Rocks” seeking global stardom,” Cielsak said.
WWE has also been using its professional relationship with two of the company's biggest social media personalities, Logan Paul and Pat McAfee, to promote WrestleMania XL. Paul, WWE's current United States champion, a co-founder of Prime beverage company, podcaster and YouTuber, uploaded a video on X with his reaction to the WrestleMania XL press conference. Paul currently has 23.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 6.8 million followers on X.
McAfee, who rejoined WWE's Raw commentary team and co-hosted the WrestleMania XL press conference, recently interviewed The Rock on his self-titled television show on ESPN. A clip of the video posted to McAfee's X account has more than 3 million views.
The promotional buildup to WrestleMania benefits not only the company, but also localities where the event is being held. Last year, WrestleMania 39, which was held at SoFi Stadium, generated $215 million for the Los Angeles region, according to a study done by Applied Analysis. WWE said that broke its prior record from a year earlier, when WrestleMania 38 had a $206.5 million economic impact for the Dallas/Arlington region.
WWE says that since 2016, WrestleMania has generated more than $1.2 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event.
Shares of TKO Group Holdings, Inc., based in based in Stamford, Connecticut, are up almost 7% this year.
FILE - Wrestling fans, under a Wrestlemania sign, watch a WWE Monday Night RAW event, March 6, 2023, in Boston. This year's WrestleMania may be just days away, but the marketing run up to WWE's biggest premium live event went into overdrive months ago. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
FILE - Wrestler Carmelo Hayes, top, tangles with Akira Tozawa during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, March 6, 2023, in Boston. This year's WrestleMania may be just days away, but the marketing run up to WWE's biggest premium live event went into overdrive months ago. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
In a mad mix of game-show glitter and marketing flash, Airbnb is offering customers a chance to spend a night in a Paris museum, stay in houses mocked up to look like movie settings, or sleep surrounded by eight Ferrari racing cars.
Those and other chimerical listings are part of a splashy new campaign by the short-term rental giant, which wants to portray itself as a company that sells experiences and not just alternatives to staying in a hotel.
CEO Brian Chesky announced the 11 temporary listings — Airbnb is calling them “icons” — at an event Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The San Francisco company hit upon the idea for the publicity caper after seeing the response to a Barbie-themed house in Malibu, California, it listed last year in conjunction with a hit movie about the Mattel fashion doll. The formula is the same: link a promotion to a pop-culture product, celebrity or event.
And don't be boring.
“We're not historically known for making anything. We're a platform,” Chesky said in an interview. “I think it's really great to show what it looks like when suddenly you can step into our vision and our imagination. I think it's going to keep Airbnb top of mind."
Unlike the rental platform's typical listed properties, Airbnb is practically giving away its “icons.” Chesky said the company will invite people to fill out a profile and explain why they want one of the listings, and Airbnb will pick about 4,000 winners over the course of the year. He said winners will be able to book the featured properties or events for free or at prices under $100.
One of the exotic opportunities is an overnight stay at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Chesky said Airbnb recruited Mathieu Lehanneur — he designed the torch for this summer's Paris Olympics — to convert the clock room atop the museum into a bedroom.
“By the way, the torch is in the bedroom with you,” Chesky said. “You get the entire museum all to yourself. This is literally night at the museum. It gets even better because you step outside the bedroom on to the terrace, you have the single best seat in the house for the opening ceremony" of the Olympics, which will take place on the River Seine.
For those preferring a U.S. setting, Airbnb is listing a house in New Mexico detailed to look like the one from the 2009 Pixar-Disney animated film, “Up." Chesky said Airbnb paid to build the house from scratch and attach 8,000 balloons to mimic the helium-filled ones the central character in the movie uses to make the house fly.
The Airbnb version won't fly, but Chesky said guests will be able to watch a crane lift the New Mexico house 50 feet off the ground.
“I think we maybe won’t have them inside the house when we lift it, just for safety reasons,” he said.
Some of the listings will be one-time events, including the sleepover at the the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, a living room performance by rapper Doja Cat, and an evening with comedian Kevin Hart in his members-only lounge. The “Up” house and a mansion in New York made to look like the one in “X-Men” Marvel comics will be available for three or four months. A Minneapolis house owned by Prince that was featured in the film “Purple Rain” will be available for a year, according to Airbnb.
The company won't say how much it spent to acquire rights, dress up the properties, and pay the celebrities involved. Airbnb made a $4.8 billion profit last year and ended 2023 with nearly $6.9 billion in cash. Enough to repeat the “icons” campaign.
“These 11 are the beginning," Chesky said. “We have a lot more under development.”
FILE - Sebastian Vettel steers the Ferrari Formula One SF70H racer at the Ferrari Fiorano private test track in Maranello, Italy, Feb. 24, 2017. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including a night at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, in a splashy new marketing campaign. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini, File)
FILE - Comedian Kevin Hart is seen at an NBA basketball game on Oct. 26, 2023, in Los Angeles. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including a one-time evening with comedian Kevin Hart in his members-only lounge, in a splashy new marketing campaign. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
The house in Minneapolis which appeared in musician Prince's film "Purple Rain" is shown on April 1, 2017. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including the Minneapolis house, for a limited time in a splashy new marketing campaign. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
FILE - Doja Cat arrives at The Daily Front Row's 8th annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards, April 28, 2024, at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including a one-time living room performance by rapper Doja Cat, in a splashy new marketing campaign. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - The Orsay museum in Paris is shown on Oct. 16, 2014. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including the Orsay, for a limited time in a splashy new marketing campaign. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - A visitor looks through the clock of the Orsay museum, overlooking Paris, Oct. 16, 2014. Short-term rental giant Airbnb is listing 11 iconic locations, including the Orsay, for a limited time in a splashy new marketing campaign. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
