What’s a hotel company doing in the creative marketing space? Marriott is not only the largest hotel chain in the world, they have now stepped into the creative marketing space alongside the likes of Arnold, Droga5, Grey and Ogilvy to name a few. With heavy hitters like the ones listed above, why in the world would Marriott want to enter an already crowded space with renown agencies? Well, if I try to think like Bill Marriott, (which I don’t), and I want to continue to be a major player and grow my market share in the travel and hospitality market (which I am not), the answer is quite simple — customers.

 

We view this as the opportunity to be the world’s largest producer of travel-related content.

– David Bebe, Marriottt’s vp of creative, content marketing and global marketing Source: Adweek

 

If those of us on the outside really think about this bold, strategic move; let’s gather some quick data to help us understand why this is happening. Marriott has 18 brands, 3900 properties, in 70 countries. Travelers ages 40 and under are almost 50% of their business. In other words, they are reaching a lot of people every day, and those people expect immediate, digital information to flow their way every moment of their day. If I was the largest hotel chain in the world and I wanted to reach my digitally-savvy customers more effectively and with more relevancy, naturally content marketing is the way to go, right? Enter theglobal creative and content marketing studio.

Adweek reports that Marriott will be focusing on several areas to encapsulate a full user experience. In a way, Marriott is not competing with these other award winning agencies, they are likely just emulating some of the processes and creative production values normally only seen in high-end digital agencies. Having worked in both the digital agency world and in corporate marketing, I can see why they want to give this a try. Most likely nobody else in his or her competitive space has been bold enough to try this or has been shortsighted and didn’t see the value. I have to tip my car to Marriott International; they are once again innovating at a level never seen before in the hospitality market.

Yourbrandexposed.com is designed to look at digital with an eye into the future using a creative, innovative marketing perspective. We’re a consultative and tactical resource for companies looking to leverage the power of digital, social and content marketing strategies.

Scott MacFarland

Web: www.Yourbrandexposed.com

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Email:Yourbrandexposed@yahoo.com


Related article: Hotel Innovation

Sources:

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marriott-launches-global-creative-and-content-marketing-studio-160443

http://investor.shareholder.com/MAR/marriottAR13/2013-in-review/factsheet.html

https://www.marriott.com/marriott/aboutmarriott.mi

http://investor.shareholder.com/MAR/marriottAR13/2013-in-review/movie.html

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140804110028-19519738-marriott-leading-the-way-with-innovation?trk=mp-reader-card

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