Marriott - Business Description & Problem

Marriott International Incorporated (MAR) has been in the hospitality industry since the late 1920s. With more than 85 years of history, 3,900 properties in 72 countries, and 195,000 hotel rooms currently in development-making Marriott one of the leading hospitality company in the world. It is mostly recognized by their values, spirit to serve, and a corporate commitment to creating better places to live and work (Marriott, 2014).  Unfortunately, the decrease demand in the hospitality industry has made Marriott owners turn to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to increase sales and improve operations.

Marriott International is a top hospitality corporation that is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.  Today the company owns, franchises, and operates more than "4,000 properties, and more than 690,000 rooms in 78 countries and territories. (FundingUniverse, 2014)"  Currently there are approximately 330,000 employees working for Marriott international.  Marriott started out as a root beer shop in 1927 opened by J. William Marriott.  It's first hotel, the Twin Bridges, was opened in Arlington Virginia in 1957.  Incorporation of its name took place thereafter in 1967.  Marriott most recognized brands include Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, and Ramada International, etc.  There are eighteen brands in total.  Convenience and Customer satisfaction have always been the two main focal points for the business.  E-business strategies are being utilized to drive sales and increase revenues. 

In early 2001, the hospitality industry anticipated approximately a 5.6% decline in hotel profits(Carr, 2002).  As a result, Marriott wanted to get ahead of this potential decline.  In an effort to fine tune business practices, it used technology products to enhance sales management and operate more economically.

Analysis and Lessons Learned

Through Marriot's global market strategy and dedication to the consumer they were able to put into place a uniquely tailored Customer Relationship Management platform across their entire enterprise of over sixteen brands. This provided the customers what they wanted and the employees the tools and data that they needed to effectively and efficiently work with the customer. Moving into the change the focus on online sales, payments and booking was underestimated, however has proven to be a main contributor to the success of Marriott's brand globally. Consolidation of resources and customized systems plagued the brands locations and ease of use for the consumer and has since been cut-down and has the potential to consolidate further as to cut cost as well as manage facilities more efficiently (Information Week, 2001).

With more and more individuals and corporations using the Internet and e-mail these days, Marriott needed to address the 'spam' notifications that clutter up e-mail boxes. Part of their CRM implementation, data was used more practically and in a targeted approach of the consumer. This created a much better acceptance to consumers as it brought targeted ads and promotions to them rather than generalized junk that inevitably was deleted. These valuable CRM endeavors were able to increase sales within months of going live, climbing the international Marriott brand further up the ladder of success and setting precedence for competitors to follow.