Marriott is the world’s largest hospitality group with over 8,500 properties across 31 hotel brands in more than 130 countries. They offer a range of accommodation options from luxury hotels and resorts to budget-friendly properties. Despite having an established digital presence in China, Marriott was falling behind in terms of performance and experience quality compared to competitors. The brief given to MADJOR was clear: to chart a path to digital leadership across all aspects of the brand experience.

The task at hand required a comprehensive approach combining experience innovation vision, UX thinking and technical foresight.

We started with an ambitious study of Chinese travelers’ planning, booking, stay and loyalty journey that framed digital platforms usage within the broader context of customers’ emotional and functional needs. This study allowed to paint a richer picture of unmet UX needs than was previously available.

Concurrently, we conducted an in-depth audit of Marriott’s digital properties, benchmarking them rigorously against competing hotel, OTA and new generation travel services channels. This process allowed us to identify critical gaps and gather inspiration for potential digital experience breakthroughs that could set Marriott apart.

Following this insights phase, we conducted a series of workshops with Marriott IT, data, sales and marketing teams to translate insights and strategic recommendations into a comprehensive digital investment roadmap. This roadmap identified 6 core innovation clusters corresponding to key experience and business outcomes. Each cluster was broken down into individual initiatives to be executed during the next 3 years

The project concluded with top management sign-off on Marriott’s digital vision and kick-started multiple work streams including re-design of the Chinese booking site, setup of new digital properties and forward-looking partnerships with new digital platforms. The end result was sustained leadership in quality, performance and innovativeness of digital experience for Marriott China that persists to this day.