Positioning Grid Plot

Our Mission: May’s mission is to provide a funky, fresh, and celebrational experience for those looking to alleviate stress, relax, reconnect, and have fun.

Our target client: The ideal clients for May’s Rentals are women ages 25-55 with an income moderately higher than the nation average cost of living within the US. More information on this is provided here.

Positioning Statement: May’s Realty offers fully online transactions at a moderately affordable cost. We focus on urban, adult vacationing that features design as accommodation appealing enough to even ‘spend the night in’. Our full-functional units allow groups to spend quality time together, without the overwhelming cramp and clutter getting in the way.

Points of Contact: Accurate, high-quality listing photos, fast and helpful responses, quick and easy transactions, constant communication before, during, and after the stay, clean and stocked properties. These are the points of contact (whether they be direct or indirect) that will help set May’s Rentals apart from other vacation hospitality offerings and services.

Modes of Communication: All listing photos will feature May’s brand logo (which is broken down and explained here). May’s will also have a full-functioning independent website (apart from Airbnb and other third-party rental listing services) explaining our brand and our mission. The priority is to provide good service to our renters, as well as beautifully crafted offerings that uphold our brand image.

(PowerPoint Makeovers: The Airbnb Pitch Deck| The Beautiful Blog).

The image above shows a pre-developed positioning grid plot for Airbnb that was found online. This grid plot is being shown first, as it is important to understand where Airbnb falls among alternative vacation rental listing sites. This is because May’s Rentals (especially in the early stages of operation, prior to extensive expansion and growth efforts) will focus its marketing and listing efforts and cost allocation on the Airbnb platform (Lile, 2019).

This positioning grid plot ranks Airbnb against competitors on the factors of affordability (high vs. low cost) and online vs. offline transactions (Lile, 2019). The actual transaction between hosts and renters takes place directly through the Airbnb site. This allows many users to feel a sense of safety and trust, as these payments are proven to be easy and highly secure (Woodward, 2024). Features like this put Airbnb very high into the online access scale, opposed to competitors that complete transaction offline. Competitors shown to the left of the graph may have competitive advantage over Airbnb listings, as they (on average) are more affordable than booking with Airbnb (Lile, 2019). Airbnb can counteract this by having more promoting diversity, innovation, and higher quality within their offerings.

The two positioning grid plots shown above were generated on behalf of May’s Rentals. These graphics depict where May’s Rentals stands amongst other groups of hosts/listing within the Airbnb website. The first plot compares listing forms on the scale of ‘family-focused’ to ‘adult-focused’ and ‘a place to stay’ vs. ‘design/appeal’. May’s Rentals falls closer to the ‘adult-focused’ end of the scale; however, it is not as adult-centric as couples getaway listings because while the properties may not necessarily appeal to families, they still have the ability to host families. May’s Rentals ranks high on the ‘design/appeal’ scale, as their primary brand is centered around funky and fresh designs, including features, such as themed rooms. This is something that listings within specific target groups of guests do not necessarily feature, so ‘a place to stay’ refers to places that serve the basic needs of their clients (they are safe and clean but not particularly visually appealing or aesthetically decorated).

The second plot positioned May’s as being very ‘urban’, opposed to ‘rural’ on the scale. May’s properties will be featured in cities (focused on the East Coast), which sets them apart from other listings that are featured within rural areas. As May’s properties will be decorated featuring cool, themed designs, they will be a very inviting space for guests to potentially take pictures in or spend a night in to celebrate amongst one another. However, since they are likewise features in urban areas, there is a lot of things to explore, as well as extensive night-life options, which is why May’s Rentals is positioned towards the center point between ‘outdoor-centric’ and ‘indoor-centric’. ‘Outdoor-centric’ refers to listings proposed to those who are looking to explore the great outdoors during their stay (spending minimal time, primarily sleeping, within the property itself). ‘Indoor-centric’ refers more to those who need this space as a peaceful getaway, such as May’s target client of old-time friends turned mothers looking to spend a weekend away from their children.

These graphs primarily depict how May’s Rental listing will stand out as a brand amongst other listings on the Airbnb site, which are typically not branded as a line of properties, but mainly tied to the host’s profile themself.

The above positioning grid plot highlights some of the key desires/frustrations identified by May’s ideal client sample group. Affordability is always wanted, as many clients within the target group have children, and others still remain in the beginning stages of their career. However, it is not the top priority, as renting from May’s can be seen as a splurge or may be reserved for special occasions/gatherings. In addition, the quality of May’s properties (especially aesthetically speaking) is higher than other traditional offerings. In addition, May’s targets clients with a moderate level of disposable income for purposed, such as vacationing/funding a stay with May’s! May’s properties also offer more space and private common spaces than other hospitality forms, such as hotels. May’s properties will primarily be apartment or condominium offerings, making them less spacious than single-home or duplex offerings, but more spacious and independent than hotel offerings.

Data directly collected from May’s Rentals’ ideal client sample group can be viewed here.

See all references for this content here!