Airbnb 4Q2021 financials show a net profit of $55M on revenues of $1.5B which were up 38% from 4Q2019, while sales and marketing expenses were down by 44%.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company now looks at the role of marketing as one of "education", not to "buy customers", and that PR is its "most important channel", citing the more than 500K media articles published about Airbnb in 2021.
Mr. Chesky also said that in 2022 Airbnb will continue to put most of its marketing spend into brand-building, and that some "big" product innovations will be coming this year.
