Marriott acquires Starwood Hotels and Resorts

Marriott’s Acquisition of Starwood Hotels Beefs Up Advertising Might

Marriott International is expanding its business and hotels, as they are acquiring one of their rivals Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. This will make Marriott International the world’s largest hotel company and will help expand their ad spending. This combination will obtain 30 hotel brands in its portfolio. According to data from WPP research firm Kantar Media, “Marriott International Inc. spent an estimated $96 million on measured media in the United States in 2014. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, meanwhile, spent an estimated $55 million on measured media in the United States last year. This analysis by Kantar Media includes ad spending on traditional media and online display, but it does not include the other fast-growing digital ad formats such as online video or mobile.” The Marriott CEO, Arne Sorenson, said he liked Starwood’s marketing and mix of international properties. As Starwood may help Marriott appeal to the younger generation of travelers, they have been really successful at attracting younger travelers. The article also states that Starwood was among the first companies to use Instagram’s “Carousel” ads option and has embraced the use of social media for marketing purposes. The difference between the use of hashtag among guests for Starwood’s and Marriott’s preferred guest/loyalty program was about a 52,000 difference with Starwood having a total use of 55,000 posts on Instagram alone.  “From a marketing perspective, that means more robust data available on travelers.” According to James Fox, the chief executive of branding firm Red Peak Branding, “If they can leverage that in interesting ways and reward loyalty in interesting ways, that’s going to give them a real competitive advantage against the other hotel chains.” 

Besides giving the hotel chain a competitive advantage, Marriott is also a name well recognized in the hotel industry. The brand name and quality of the hotel allows more customers to return and re-book rooms at Marriott hotels around the world.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/marriotts-acquisition-of-starwood-hotels-beefs-up-advertising-might-1447708026