Interesting trend as hospitality company morphs into media owners – Marriott International is forming a new global content studio to publish, distribute and share filmed content across film, television, online, digital and print distribution platforms. This is so it can focus on next-generation travelers and drive new business, it says.
It is also clearly an indication that Marriott is putting its bets on content marketing to acquire new customers. The rising costs of customer acquisition have hit global hotel brands hard with a recent survey showing costs have rise 2-3 times faster than RevPAR among key hotel groups in the US.
With the search game dominated by intermediaries, hotel brands have to look to other ways and means to win a new generation of customers and original content has become the next battleground.
“The global content studio represents a bold step forward for Marriott, both in our industry and among leading brands,” said Karin Timpone, Marriott’s global marketing officer. “The purpose is to create and establish original content as a key component of the company’s global marketing strategy. The studio will consist of three groups: a Creative agency, Entertainment and Live – all focused on developing multi-platform content to engage consumers across all screens and formats worldwide.”
The Creative group oversees campaign, project, and initiative level creative and snackable travel lifestyle related content. The Entertainment team leads episodic story-driven content. The “always on” Live team will be responsible for publishing real time creative and content around trending topics, conversations, and events on social media.
Leading the studio is David Beebe, vice president, creative + content marketing, global marketing, who joined Marriott from Disney-ABC Television Group. “Rather than talk at consumers, we’re shifting to speaking with them using attention-grabbing content that adds value to consumers’ lives by providing them with information and entertainment at the right time and in the right context,” said Beebe.
“While content is just part of the overall travel experience we provide, we believe Marriott can become the world’s leading publisher of travel lifestyle content for the next generation. Our goal is to produce engaging content that builds communities of people passionate about travel that will drive commerce.”
To drive this, it has signed talent and project development deals to claim its position as a first-mover within the hotel industry in original content across all distribution platforms.
Among some projects it has in the works:
Two Bellmen is an action-comedy about a happy-go-lucky bellman and his hapless counterpart, who proves their company loyalty when the JW Marriott LA LIVE comes under siege by “The Purple Panthers,” the most notorious smash and grab art thieves of our time. The film will be directed by Daniel “Malakai” Cabrera and stars William Spencer, Caine Sinclair, and other amazing talents from Substance Over Hype. It will also showcase parkour, stunts, dance, and martial arts as story telling devices.
The Navigator Live, a Renaissance Hotels TV series already in distribution on AXS TV, produced in partnership with AEG. The series combines live performances by groundbreaking indie music artists discovering new experiences on the road including new and unusual restaurants, offbeat attractions, neighborhoods and travel adventures. Groups featured include Walk The Moon, DJ Cassidy, LaRoux and Capital Cities. The first episode aired September 17 with GroupLove
Marriott Rewards’ Year of Surprises is a series of 12 webisodes. Premiering in October 2014, the first episode will be hosted by basketball star Jordan Farmar.
The studio will leverage numerous delivery platforms, ranging from Marriott.com, which is the seventh-largest online retail website*; Marriott Mobile; owned social meeting channels; Marriott Rewards, which boasts 45 million members; and in-room television programming.
*Source: Rankings of top internet websites are from Internet Retailer (Top 500 Guide, 2009 edition), various public earnings reports and Marriott estimates.
