Since the completition of the Marriott and Starwood merger this year there have been questions surrounding what the company plans to do with the variety of brands within each company. It has been revealed that Marriott International has reorganized its 30 brands into two categories that it says help consumers sort through the plethora of choices according to price and experience and is planning on keeping all 30 for the forseeable future.
Revealed in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg News, the two categories, Classic and Distinctive, were outlined by Marriott Global Brand Officer Tina Edmundson, who previously was Starwood’s senior vice president of brand operations, luxury and lifestyle before the company was acquired by Marriott International in a US$12 billion merger this year.
The company describes the Classic brands offering “time-honored hospitality for the modern traveler”; the Distinctive brands are for “those who lean toward memorable experiences with a unique perspective.” The company at this point doesn’t plan on removing any of its brands or move individual properties from one category – say, an Autograph Collection hotel that is categorized as Distinctive Select but is more like a Distinctive Premium hotel – to another.
“We thought long and hard about how you serve up 30 brands in a meaningful way—one that helps consumers infer both price and experience,” said the Tina Edmundson in the interview, who spent 18 years working with Starwood earlier in her career.
Under the Classic Umbrella, Marriott has positioned hotels suh as the Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton and Courtyard Hotels. Under the Distinctive umbrella you can find hotels such as the W Hotels, EDITION, Westin, Autograph Collection and Moxy Hotels.
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