1. What were the principal reasons for the rebranding from Airsorted to Houst?
“The rebrand marks a significant step in the evolution of our business, and recognises the growing number of platforms now used by owners to secure short- to mid-term lettings for their properties. It also lets us stand out more in a category that is quite conservative in terms of visual branding and transactional in terms of service.”
2. A number of companies whose brand names also started with ‘Air’ have recently rebranded to no longer have it in their title – is this simply a coincidence, a conscious decision to diverge from the Airbnb brand or have they influenced your decision themselves?
“For us, the primary reasons were related to the wider market opportunity of other platforms combined with wanting to stand out in the category. We have a great relationship with Airbnb and it understands the significant contribution we make to its supply side.
“Thinking about how the market will evolve over the next few years, it simply made sense to future proof the brand and stand for something on our own. I am not sure of the thinking from other companies but I suspect they are seeing the same things we are and reacting accordingly.”
3. Now that you have rebranded to Houst, how will your service differ if at all to when you were known as Airsorted?
“Initially, the changes will be at a visual identity level, but we see the rebrand as so much more than this. We have set ourselves the ambitious challenge of defining great modern hosting.
“To do this, I believe we need to be seen as an essential partner to our hosts rather than just a service provider. This means we will work a lot closer with them.
“From a customer success level, we aim to better understand their goals and help deliver these, and from a product and tech point of view we want to understand their wants and needs and deliver truly innovative solutions.”
4. Does the name Houst have a particular significance that you would like to convey?
“We wanted a name that reflected our bold ambition to define great modern hosting. Airsorted became Houst by combining the words ‘house’ and ‘host’ together. It’s a completely new word which leaves us free to define hosting on our own terms.”
5. What are your plans as a company over the next year and beyond in light of the name change?
“We think there is a huge opportunity to unify the industry and position Houst as the global home of hosting. This will mean we will acquire some of the small to medium size players in key markets alongside continuing to build strong partnerships with our hosts.”
