Focus Groups - Marriott
 

Does Marriott has focus groups has anyone been apart of one and how were they chosen.

I did get a call a few months back to participate in a focus group in Bethesda. They asked me a whole bunch of questions about my travel habits, status in other programs, etc. They told me I was qualified and invited me to the focus group but (and this is irony at its best) I was going to be out of town staying at a Marriott so I missed it!

yes they have them, there are a few FT'ers that have over the years...as to how they select individuals, it really depends on the topic (research) they are discussing

I've been part of a focus group for Marriott, Hilton and United.

For Marriott they just wanted input on advertising when they were rolling out the new Revive stuff. Ironically enough they went w/ the ad campaign that our group didn't like.

For Hilton it was some promo they were running, and we caught where there would be confusion on the terms. In that one they ignored what we pointed out, and when they rolled out the promo there was indeed confusion, conflicting info from Hilton & long threads on FT re: it.

For United it was an ad campaign, but I don't remember which one. I had hoped it would be re: service but no such luck ;) .

Cheers.

How did they pick you? Was it because you were a member of their frequent guest/flyer programs, or was it just random luck from dialing folks at home?

I did a focus group once, but it was for a charity, actually. They were trying to figure out how to be noticed among all the other charities out there.

My guess is I was picked because I was a member of their frequent flyer/stay programs.

I remember in the Marriott one they had everyone go around the table & mention # of nights/flights type things. I was actually on the high end & for some reason felt a bit embarrassed about it, so mumbled my reply & they thought I hardly had any, and then of course I wanted to say no I travel a lot LOL. Can't remember if Hilton had us do that or not, and a couple of times on the United one.

I do know on all that you still have to answer questions/fit into certain criteria to actually be picked for the focus group.

Cheers.

Thanks

This is soooooo typical and sums up Marriots disrespect for its customers very well.MI would rather listen to some hired suits than to a real live customer-even one that is pretty Marriott positive.

Well I simply made the assumption that the other focus groups' participants liked the ad campaign better than ours did, so I don't know that it sums up their disrespect for their customers. We were not the only focus group. They had quite a few of them in dif parts of the country.

Actually in the examples above, Hilton should take a hit as we pointed out the potential problems w/ the promo they were running & they ran it w/o making the suggested changes, and ended up w/ confusion all-around.

Cheers.