Marriott buying good publicity for Bonvoy
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 20,878
Oh yes they do, and, as per the posts upthread, rather naïve to think otherwise.
#17
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: None - previously UA
Posts: 4,842
Honestly this is everything that's wrong with corporate America. Ruin a great program, make it obvious to members that they don't care, and then buy good publicity so they can tell investors that a bunch of people who saw some influencers and probably never stay in hotels view Marriott Bonvoy favorably, so give the C-suite a big bonus.
This is probably way cheaper than paying to replace passports exposed in the hack so they'll throw money at this while refusing to cover replacement costs of hacked passports because that doesn't costs more.
This is probably way cheaper than paying to replace passports exposed in the hack so they'll throw money at this while refusing to cover replacement costs of hacked passports because that doesn't costs more.
#18
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 905
There’s nothing very sinister in this as it relates to mainstream travel writers: they are obliged to acknowledge the source of the funding ( and reviews can be read through that prism). It gets murkier with travel bloggers, as they rarely acknowledge if they are the beneficiaries of free goods/services, including preferential treatment ( some do acknowledge, or decline to participate, and they deserve credit for it and to be taken more seriously). At the really murky/sleazy/corrupt end of the scale are the “social media influencers”, ie paid shills/agents of corporations,. And there’s all sorts of jiggery pokery going on in that space.
#19
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM MM SC; GE; Bonvoy Titanium; IHG Diamond
Posts: 2,306
Lol. Tell that to the instagrammers that email hotels saying they deserve comp'd rooms at 5 star accommodations because they're going to feature the hotel in an instagram post. They'll shame you right out the door with how instagram is a professional occupation and how they're real and deserving of anything they ask for.
There’s nothing very sinister in this as it relates to mainstream travel writers: they are obliged to acknowledge the source of the funding ( and reviews can be read through that prism). It gets murkier with travel bloggers, as they rarely acknowledge if they are the beneficiaries of free goods/services, including preferential treatment ( some do acknowledge, or decline to participate, and they deserve credit for it and to be taken more seriously). At the really murky/sleazy/corrupt end of the scale are the “social media influencers”, ie paid shills/agents of corporations,. And there’s all sorts of jiggery pokery going on in that space.
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Día Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,471
You're just likely not the target demographic (neither am I) and you're missing the point that Bonvoy is primarily a rebrand to market to a younger generation of Instagramming Millennials. Some of these people literally plan vacations around getting the perfect Instagram pic...
#21
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 184
You're just likely not the target demographic (neither am I) and you're missing the point that Bonvoy is primarily a rebrand to market to a younger generation of Instagramming Millennials. Some of these people literally plan vacations around getting the perfect Instagram pic...
My company gets multiple calls daily from all manner of “experts on millennials”.
#22
I'd love to find out which idiot in senior management decided that millennials (of which I am one) didn't want desks in their hotel rooms. I would hope that person is out of a job.
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: check swarm
Programs: DL DM & 2MM, SPG/Bonvoid LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, $tarbucks Titanium
Posts: 14,393
But Marriott International held a focus group at the Chick-fil-a in Odgen, Utah where the participants said they didn't really travel much but nodded at the statement from the Marriott guy that "desks were for old people and unnecessary".
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tokyo
Programs: JAL Metal Card (OWE), SAS Eurobonus Gold (*G), Marriott Titanium (LTP), Tokyu Hotels Platinum
Posts: 20,878
All that being said, I rarely use the desk in my hotel room, I am apparently millennial enough to use use the bed or sofa as a work station
#25
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,820
Is Marriott trying to buy reviews?
Just saw this
"Marriott has sent out invitations to various writers last week offering a paid trip to Hong Kong to showcase the brand in exchange for a pair of posts in two major publications. " quoted from live and lets fly blog.
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....rogatory-verb/
Is this really true? Shameful if it is - and maybe they're starting to see some effects of all their incompetence ?
"Marriott has sent out invitations to various writers last week offering a paid trip to Hong Kong to showcase the brand in exchange for a pair of posts in two major publications. " quoted from live and lets fly blog.
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....rogatory-verb/
Is this really true? Shameful if it is - and maybe they're starting to see some effects of all their incompetence ?
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA, VS, HH, IHG, MB, MR
Posts: 26,865
Just saw this
"Marriott has sent out invitations to various writers last week offering a paid trip to Hong Kong to showcase the brand in exchange for a pair of posts in two major publications. " quoted from live and lets fly blog.
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....rogatory-verb/
Is this really true? Shameful if it is - and maybe they're starting to see some effects of all their incompetence ?
"Marriott has sent out invitations to various writers last week offering a paid trip to Hong Kong to showcase the brand in exchange for a pair of posts in two major publications. " quoted from live and lets fly blog.
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....rogatory-verb/
Is this really true? Shameful if it is - and maybe they're starting to see some effects of all their incompetence ?
(In my case, based on Berlin last week, that would mean being given the keys to a room which is occupied and then quietly downgraded when you are reassigned another room.)
Most journos on such publications would get several offers like this each week. Note that flights are not covered.
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Día Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,471
#29
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: Marriott Titanium, IHG Spire Elite, Hilton Gold, United Silver, BA Bronze
Posts: 321
OMAAT had a good write up on this.
From reading that, it sounds fairly common across the industry. For those in this community, does it have much of an impact? Unless I actually know someone who has visited a property, I prioritise FT reviews and feedback - that's what makes these hotel forums so useful. After that I'll use Tripadvisor (being careful to weed out bogus reviewers with a single post), Google Reviews and bloggers I trust (typically OMAAT, Raffles or the LoyaltyLobby people).
If Marriott want to pay a staff member at TPG, a magazine columnist or an Instagram 'influencer' to visit properties for free, good for them.
From reading that, it sounds fairly common across the industry. For those in this community, does it have much of an impact? Unless I actually know someone who has visited a property, I prioritise FT reviews and feedback - that's what makes these hotel forums so useful. After that I'll use Tripadvisor (being careful to weed out bogus reviewers with a single post), Google Reviews and bloggers I trust (typically OMAAT, Raffles or the LoyaltyLobby people).
If Marriott want to pay a staff member at TPG, a magazine columnist or an Instagram 'influencer' to visit properties for free, good for them.
#30
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,820
I am lifetime Titanium - do I get meals at Michelin restaurants and spa treatments and concerts? Guess I missed that part in the terms and conditions