Marriott has built their reputation as the premier brand in hospitality through authentic and personalized relationships with its customers. Here's how they got there.
Marriott's goal is to drive "loyalty beyond reason" on a global scale, connecting the local experience and stay with the reach of their 30+ brands. For a company of that size, executing omnichannel marketing with consistent communication is tough enough as is. Add a global pandemic to the mix, and things get even tougher.
Watch the video to see Chris Norton, senior vice president, marketing channels and optimization at Marriott talk through how the hospitality giant works with Epsilon to grow customer relationships through thick and thin.
When the pandemic hit, Marriott had to rethink guest communications. It was critical to efficiently (and empathetically) share updates of evolving health and safety measures with guests while staying consistent with their omnichannel messaging. Communications for HVMI are one strong example of how Marriott used the power of AI-driven email to successfully drive loyalty beyond reason and connect with their guests as individuals to increase bookings.
Instead of the cross-border, business or air travel messages they would typically serve, Marriott shifted their messaging to:
Even as recovery began, business travel was much slower to resume than leisure travel. To reach the leisure audience, they created a program to drive brand awareness and bookings for their luxury private home rental brand, Homes & Villas by Marriott International (HMVI). First, Epsilon curated collections of properties and handpicked destinations based on the individual. Then, using Epsilon PeopleCloud Messaging and its powerful AI engine, Marriott served personalized email communications explaining the benefits and safety of choosing HVMI over other rental options.
The team was able to build out a flexible, mobile-optimized email architecture for HVMI (as most of their bookings are done on mobile). This allowed them to create visually compelling, brand-compliant messages easily and at scale.