Globalization has created abundant opportunity for growth and expansion in the hospitality industry. But this huge influx of business and leisure travel to and from China, India, Russia, Brazil and Dubai in the Middle East has brought with it not only new travelers, but also fierce competition for this new, burgeoning class of international travelers from familiar and new entrants into the sector.
This surge of fresh, brand-conscious travelers is forcing hoteliers to rethink and redefine the way that we serve and communicate with these highly lucrative travelers who bring with them hotel stay needs, and expectations for services and amenities that are greatly influenced by their native cultures. Creating a satisfying and consistent experience for these guests makes the “one size fits all” approach to product development and brand messaging completely obsolete.
This situation poses some very complex challenges for hospitality brand professionals who know all too well that managing global brand positioning and messaging has never been an easy or inexpensive undertaking. And the challenge is particularly pronounced in the franchise model that is common to the hospitality sector where different corporate structures, cultures, languages, relationships, contract provisions and proximity (disparate locations) make coordinating and maintaining consistency in the verbal and visual expression of a brand very difficult and seemingly impossible. Couple that with an explosion of communications channels (social media, mobile, etc.) and communications preferences and you have the potential for total chaos and customer confusion.
The good thing is properties know the value of brands. That is, after all, why they fly the flag of a particular brand. They understand that they benefit greatly from the global brand recognition generated from the corporate brand organization and they know that that brand equity translates to customer preference and a competitive pricing advantage if done correctly.
However, this relationship must be a “give and take” arrangement. The new breed of global traveler expects the consistent hotel stay experience inherent in a brand, but informed by the expertise and essence of the local environment. The challenge is to provide properties the ability to “localize” the brand in its communications without diluting the umbrella brand message. This can only be done effectively by making it as easy and as cost-effective as possible for properties to create local marketing materials that promote the uniqueness of the property.
Marriott International uses marketing automation to solve this problem.
Defined broadly as the use of software to automate marketing tasks such as creative development, campaign management, lead generation, etc., marketing automation has allowed Marriott to meet the local/global branding challenge.
Using a proprietary web-based, multi-function portal, Marriott empowers its 3,700 properties around the world to create professional, brand-compliant and localized communications materials. The system which is integrated with multiple Marriott information systems enables property sales associates to leverage core intelligence and create sales collateral and electronic communications in up to 28 different languages using corporate-approved in-language content and culturally relevant brand images.
In addition to being able to create materials, the system also allows the global brand organization to glean from the local properties distinctly local offers and announcements that provide high value to our guests. Using an automated submission process, properties can easily leverage our powerful global marketing channels like Marriott.com, branded social media properties (Facebook and Twitter) and our award-winning Marriott Rewards program.
By centralizing digital asset management, offer submission, social media administration, marketing collateral creation and print sourcing into a centrally accessible, secure, 24/7 solution, we empower associates around the world to create unique experiences for our guests and to help ensure that each distinct Marriott brand communicates in its unique voice in a consistent, professional manner – all with local flair. And in doing so, the company is able to deliver the right message consistently at the right time to the right audience while saving in excess of $10M annually in production fees.
About the author
Steven Brier is a senior manager in the Global Marketing Solutions & Support team at Marriott International, located in Bethesda, Maryland. Steven is responsible for providing marketing support to 15 brands, which make up 3,700 hotels in 74 countries and territories. Currently, he is primarily responsible for the strategic planning, development, support and oversight of the BrandWorks marketing automation application and the Marriott Digital Asset Management System. Prior to joining Marriott, Steven held marketing positions at Washington Gas, Verizon Communications and Intelsat, Ltd. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Colorado State University and is a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) and Certified ScrumMaster (CSM).
