HomeExchange

Brand Strategy · Corporate Identity · Logo Refresh · Campaign Development · Creative Direction · Social Media · Digital Marketing · Content Strategy · Brand Activation

Travel, Reimagined

The idea behind HomeExchange was simple, radical, and completely human: instead of paying for hotels, swap homes with someone on the other side of the world. Travel more. Spend less. Make real friends. See the world the way locals do.

The idea was extraordinary. The brand, when we met, was ready for a refresh.

The Challenge

HomeExchange had something rare, a genuinely meaningful value proposition and a passionate, global grassroots community built around it. But the concept of home exchange was still unfamiliar to most people, and the brand wasn't doing enough to explain it, normalize it, or make it feel safe and aspirational.

The visual identity was dated. Awareness was low. Growth had plateaued. And there was a fundamental fear to overcome, the idea of letting strangers into your home, that no amount of paid advertising alone could solve. What was needed wasn't just a rebrand. It was a story worth telling, told in a way that moved people.

The Work

I came in as a contracted Creative Director, and ended up owning the brand and all creative needs across the company for several years. HomeExchange was fully remote and deeply global, which meant the work happened everywhere. Including Iceland, where I worked alongside the marketing team on a full brand activation to raise awareness among local Icelanders, one of the more memorable creative experiences with the company.

Brand Strategy
We began with brand strategy, digging into who HomeExchange was, what it stood for, and what made it genuinely different from the handful of competitors in the space. The answer wasn't features or pricing. It was meaning.

Logo & Identity Refresh
The existing logo and visual system were refreshed, keeping the warmth and accessibility that the grassroots community loved while bringing the brand forward into something polished, confident, and globally credible.

"Giving Travel Meaning" Campaign
The strategic and creative centerpiece of the engagement. This campaign reframed home exchange not as a transaction but as a philosophy, a belief that travel should be about connection, discovery, and genuine human experience. The strangers you invited into your home became new friends. The places your family explored became part of your story. The fears dissolved into memories.

Content & Social Media
We took the HomeExchange community's own enthusiasm and experiences, the original, authentic content that already existed, and amplified it. Member stories, family adventures, unexpected friendships formed across oceans. The social strategy was built on one insight: the best advertising for HomeExchange was the truth of what its members were already living.

Global Brand Activation
The Iceland activation brought the brand to life in one of the world's most sought-after travel destinations, creating awareness among local homeowners and positioning Iceland as both a destination and a source community for the platform.

The Partnership

For several years, I worked closely with the HomeExchange team as creative director/designer, a brand ambassador, someone who genuinely believed in what they were building, and a home exchanger myself.

The Outcome

The brand became something people understood, trusted, and wanted to be part of. Membership grew. Global awareness expanded. The concept of home exchange moved from niche novelty to a legitimate travel alternative, and during my engagement with the company, it was acquired.

The work we did together, the brand clarity, the emotional resonance, the campaign that gave travel meaning, helped make HomeExchange an attractive, credible, and valuable company in the eyes of acquirers. The acquisition allowed the brand to grow further, reach more people, and share its unique vision of human travel with a wider world.

It's one thing to make a brand look better. It's another to be a part of making it worth acquiring.