I mean, I’d kinda like this sort of schedule for ME… reminds me of ones I’ve seen for cats. Wake up (late). Eat. Nap. Play. Nap. Go out for a wander. Nap in the sun. Play. Come in. Sleep. etc.!! 
@ABGM as I recently moved to a home near the beach and not travelling again until May, this is pretty much how my life really is these days! It’s hard but someone has to do it 
Are you mixing this post with another, by any chance? I don’t see small print on the video that you’re referring to
Hm, let me imagine. Hosts rolling out a red carpet for a sitter walking towards Taj Mahal? Calendar of 14 days, and then corresponding 14 different swimming pools, one per day of the sit?
Or maybe I should not give them tips.
Something like this ?
The sitter wakes in a luxurious en-suite guest room, a sweet pet cat or dog curled up nearby, while a thoughtfully prepared welcome hamper from the hosts sits waiting at the bedside.
Using the hosts’ fancy coffee machine to brew a fresh cup, they enjoy breakfast on the ocean-view balcony, their cat or dog companion happily by their side.
The happy dog looks on as the sitter reading a book, drifts across the infinity pool on a pineapple-shaped inflatable.
Driving to the beach with the dog riding shotgun in the host’s expensive convertible, the roof down and hair streaming wildly in the warm breeze.
They return home - sitter sips a glass of wine—(gifted by the hosts ) watching the sun sink below the horizon while sitting in the jacuzzi on the roof terrace.
I agree. Like @MerryPuppins, I think the video is cute but all cuteness soon vanishes when it’s advertising purposefully addressed to HOs and I know publicity addressed to sitters focuses on the message “travel the world and enjoy luxury accommodation for free”.
Both adds paint pictures which are not compatible and help create false expectations. I guess that’s only natural in the world of marketing, what I find more troubling is that some people working in memberships service seem to base their “knowledge” on these adds.
Ziggy’s post has the pet schedule in large print and “I read this listing” in smaller print above it.
Yes, I think the ‘cuteness’ of the video is tainted by our perception of the company now - which has been hugely damaged by the way they’ve treated their (only) assets - us.
Hahaha, love it! OK… I’ll play too.
I’m a cat person. So I’ll take your luxurious guest suite, with a wall of windows overlooking a tropical oceanfront with palm trees waving gently in the breeze; 2 cats are curled in a heart shape on the end of the bed.
Sitter opens a box of chocolates from the hosts, and the cats play with the ribbon that was on it.
Sitter and cats frolic in a tropical garden shot through with golden sunlight, jumping after butterflies and peeking over rocks together at geckoes.
Sitter stands on lookout point in gorgeous landscape, taking pictures. Sitter ponders interesting artifacts in museum. Sitter buys souvenirs in colourful market.
Cats run to meet returning sitter at door. Sitter picks up cats, smooches and twirls gracefully hugging them. (Hey, it’s AI, you can hang onto and smooch 2 cats at once.)
We’ll take your rooftop terrace too.
Sitter and cats snuggle in big comfy recliner as movie begins on big screen TV in posh home theatre. Soundtrack music fades to loud purring.
We can only hope! You transported me there though on a drizzly day in the Cotswolds, so thank you! 
And this is why unsuitable members keep joining….
But who is the ad selling to?
THS grew big enough to appeal to big investors because the were offering to scale up a completely different thing in the same way that AIrbnb scaled up something that was already happening less formally globally. It created a marketplace for exchanges that were already happening on a much smaller scale.
That model which appeals to both pet-loving-travellers and pet-owning-travellers is amazingly liberating for both. I think a lot of the advertizing radically misses how appealing the model of “hosting” rather than “hiring” is for homeowners in terms of both saving money AND feeling good about leaving your pets with someone trustworthy. It bothers me that they aren’t talking in the ads about how liberating this is for homeowners.
@Marion “But who is the ad selling to?”
Given the voice over accent, I’d guess Americans. That’s where THS’s big push is these days.
I wasn’t thinking of nationality. I really meant type of person. The add was lighthearted but the sitters simply staying home all the time and bath scene of the pampered poodle made it look like PamperedPetParents dot com.
That’s what I thought as well, when watching this. Nothing about the ‘real’ responsibilities of a sit. Just some silly AI - e.g. it both oversells (HOs can expect full-day service) and undersells (petsitting is not about playing chess or yoga with pets; it’s about taking responsibility) what pet& housesitting is about.
You’re right but there’s more… new or prospective HOs don’t seem to be able to very easily get a handle on how the system works, sitters however seem to be better able to grasp the basic idea. I can’t quite work out why there’s such a difference …. yes marketing misdirects at times but there’s such a big difference in understanding it needs further investigation.
I feel like your post is hitting on the points behind my thoughts. Right now, the model of swapping pet care duties for lodging is a new idea for most people — like AirBnB once was. These ads are “concept” and “brand awareness” ads. Their sole purpose is to start to introduce a problem & a new solution, & make the viewer want to learn more:
- You’re a pet owner. Sometimes you have to go away & need pet care
- Finding good care that won’t traumatize your pets (and you) is hard
- Hey…what if you could go away & your pets were happy & stress-free, so YOU can be happy & stress-free???
- We have a new & unique solution! Come check it out!
And that’s about as much as an intro ad for a new kind of service can/should start with.
It feels like people want these ads to be tutorials, covering all the use cases & proper ethos of the service from every angle, including fixing long-standing behind-the-scenes issues that we struggle with. But that’s TMI when you’re simply trying to introduce viewers to this alien concept & get them thinking, & you have 30s-1m to do it.
The purpose of the ad is to plant a seed big enough to get people to check out the site so they can learn more. Once they’re there, they can start splitting us into sitters & hosts & educate people on the finer concepts of the service & how it works — but these ads aren’t the right tool for that job (IMO, anyway).
I am not sure about the exact HO user journey (if the platform actually gives them hints on how to use it), but I think that having the “Find a pet sitter” and “Find a house sit” in the top of the platform is leading many HOs on the wrong path, thinking they need to search for sitters.
I think for HOs the main call to action should be “Create a listing” as this is the main means of how matches happen. While it could still give them an option to “Browse sitter profiles” somewhere. That would be much more helpful to get them started.
I had several HOs strugling with the basics when it comes to invites and confirming sits.
Then with the overal expectations, even with sitters there seems to be a bit of disconnect when it comes to the exchange apparently. I had some new HOs mention they had calls with people that didn’t even ask about the pets. As TS marketing is going for quantity over quality (I don’t mean luxury sits here, but just having all members set up with the right expectations) I doubt that things will get any better.
I think you could be onto something there as the key word is ‘find…’ implying that HOs have to actively search for a sitter as opposed to attracting a sitter with a decently put together listing. It’s subtle but that one word ‘find’ from the start sets HOs off on the wrong path… 
Good points; and for all the info on the site, I also wonder how much help HOs actually get to help them get set up. Thinking of all the listings without proper photos, for example, let alone once you actually get talking to applicants. Is there no basic step-by-step to create their listings? Or do so many people just not read? 
“Struggling with the basics” reminded me of one sit where there were no photos of the house; I took a chance because I wanted the location, and they did later include some; after I applied I heard nothing for a week or so and was just ready to pull my application and look elsewhere, when they messaged “Are you still coming?” ..wut? 
They really had no idea how it worked!
(In the end it worked out; I explained some things to them, we had a video call, the house was great, the pets were great, everybody was happy. whew)