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Update: Marriott's Post-Merger Brand & Loyalty Plans

Column: industry Tag: Marriott Published: 2017-02-20 11:55 Source: Author:

"We're going to keep them all," Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said of his company's brands, which number 30 now that Marriott's acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts is complete. Meanwhile, he reiterated Marriott's commitment to work with owners and franchisees to distinguish the brands from each other.

Sorenson said Marriott has been in talks with Sheraton owners since late last year about where the brand should go, what brand standards should be set for the future and how they should be implemented. "I suspect, however, we will see in 2017 that some of the hotels that are most obviously at the bottom end of the brand—in other words they didn't meet whatever standards were in place already and they don't meet any likely standard that we end up with—that we'll see that renovations actually occur in some of those or some of those actually leave the system."

The company also is shifting its boutique-style Element brand toward extended stay. The brand is piloting a communal concept in which four guest rooms share a kitchen, living room and dining room.

Loyalty Developments

On Day One after the merger between Marriott and Starwood, Marriott enabled loyalty members to link their Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards accounts. The company plans to fully combine the programs in 2018, and up in the air is which payment card provider the company will work with.

"We've got two co-brand credit card partners, SPG with Amex, and JPMorgan Chase Visa for Marriott Rewards," said Marriott CFO Leeny Oberg. "We obviously are in discussions with both of those companies." One of the agreements expires in 2018, and the other in 2020. "We're very excited about, frankly, the possibilities there but wouldn't be in a position to be able to quantify anything at this point," she said.

Marriott Rewards recently updated its app, broadening the reach of Mobile Key from 25 properties to more than 500 and expanding its Mobile Requests to more than 4,000 hotels.

Marriott tested its Mobile Requests for a year before the broad rollout, VP of global loyalty Thom Kozik told BTN. The pilot allowed Marriott to pre-populate a list on the app with the requests for which guests typically call down to the front desk. That service-request list is customized not only to each hotel—think extra water in Las Vegas—but also to the guest. "Over time, you'll see the app get more personalized," Kozik said. "If you've never requested hypoallergenic pillows, that comes off the list and is replaced with something you request directly." Additionally, a built-in chat window connects directly to the front desk.

Marriott's app also now features destination-specific articles from Marriott's digital magazine, customized to travelers based on their previous hotel searches and upcoming trips. Kozik said Marriott is changing how it interacts with its members. "We're really shifting to recognize, first and foremost, booking is only one of the things you do with us," Kozik said "that as a traveler, we've got a tremendous amount of context about where you're at in your current journey."

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