Marketing
16 May 2022
With media network, Marriott is allowing brands to book ad space
It's a first for the hospitality industry, giving advertisers a new way to reach travelers.

It's a first for the hospitality industry, giving advertisers a new way to reach travelers.
As summer arrives, travel appears poised to bounce back in a big way. While vacationers make their plans and get their packing lists together, Marriott has a new way for brands to reach travelers during their journey.
In a first for the hospitality industry, the hotel brand is partnering with Yahoo to launch the Marriott Media Network. This will allow advertisers to reach brands across Marriott’s digital and physical properties.
It’s a sign of how digital advertising is evolving. Flush with third-party data, advertising technology and lots of users, platforms like Facebook have been the go-to option for brands seeking to reach customers over the last decade. But with rising customer acquisition costs, privacy changes by Apple and the forecast demise of the third-party cookie, brands are seeking new avenues to reach consumers.
This is leading to new advertising solutions beyond social platforms. Among the most popular are in-house media networks created by consumer marketplaces. Under this model, a marketplace uses customer data to target ads that are displayed within the marketplace itself. After the success of these models from Amazon, Walmart and Kroger, retailers like Nordstrom and Michaels launched their own media networks in the first quarter of this year.
The Marriott Media Network is bringing this concept to travel, where large audiences visit platforms to book and manage trips. It allows Marriott to offer advertisers new ways to reach travelers – an audience that is often in discovery mode with discretionary funds available. Going beyond advertising future bookings, a media network can allow advertising for products that travelers may be interested in, such as personal care items, weather-specific clothing or experiences in the locale they are visiting. As Marriott put it, “Marriott's audience has intent, and travelers will be in the right mindset when receiving these offerings.”
In turn, the ability to leverage anonymized data that will help to curate the content will allow a more focused experience for travelers, Marriott says.
Equally, it's notable that Marriott's rewards program is involved. In this new wave of digital advertising, first-party data, or data collected directly from customers, is key. Loyalty programs, such as rewards programs, are key to gathering this type of data.
From airlines to hotels, rewards programs have long been a mainstay of the travel industry. The media network points to how they can play a role in powering digital experiences, as well. Here's a quick breakdown:
Linking a media network with a rewards program could allow Marriott to add content alongside the perks Bonvoy offers. In the future, it's not hard to imaging them being linked together. Meanwhile, the rewards program is likely providing data that powers the curation of content.
With the resumption of activities like travel after the pre-pandemic lull, there will be lots of focus on whether business is returning to pre-pandemic levels. But it's important to remember that these in-person activities are also returning to a world that is more comfortable in digital modes, and one where new business opportunities exist within that digital ecosystem. Look for the companies that power these experiences to behave more like tech platforms, as well.
The quick commerce marketplace is partnering with Rokt to expand beyond CPG advertising.
(Photo via Gopuff)
In some ways, retail media campaigns function like promotions in a brick-and-mortar store.
With retail media, brands can reach customers with advertising on the websites where shopping is taking place. This proximity to the point of sale provides an opportunity for brands who are already selling within a marketplace to take advantage of opportunities to elevate their position in search results, and stand out from a crowd of listings. This is the same goal that many brands have when they purchase highly-trafficked space in a store. But instead of checkout aisle and endcap placements, there are now sponsored products in search results.
But that’s not the end of the story.
The fact that retail media is internet-based and powered by first-party data collected at the purchase level is poised to open up new opportunities to reach consumers that go beyond today’s norms.
One such example is the introduction of non-endemic advertising. This allows brands that aren’t directly selling a product within a marketplace to purchase ad space.
Why would a brand want to advertise in a place where they can’t make a direct sale? The thinking goes like this: The marketplaces have the audience, and the data on them that allows for precise targeting. They can be places to learn about a new product, just as much as they can be a place to buy.
One early example of the recognition of the opportunity in non-endemic advertising arrived this month. The quick delivery marketplace Gopuff partnered with ecommerce technology company Rokt to enable brands outside the CPG category to advertise on Gopuff’s app.
Under the hood, the companies are combining machine learning technology from Rokt that is designed to present relevant offers to customers with a Gopuff audience that is made up of Gen Zers and millennials, engaged and curious about trying new brands.
The partnership will enable advertisers to target customer segments by demographic and location. Customers will also receive offers to try new brands, such as Hulu, AdoreMe and Noom.
What sets this advertising approach apart will be the consumer categories where it is focused. Typically, ads on Gopuff are focused around the convenience store items already available on the app. Now, shoppers will see other kinds of products in the mix, and they will click through to checkout pages that are outside Gopuff if they are interested in buying. This also has the potential to change how advertisers approach media spend. It means everyone from a sporting goods brand to a car company can now consider Gopuff as they plan. They must also consider how these channels work together as a whole.
"We are thrilled to partner with Gopuff and enhance its ad business, helping it move beyond the CPG category," said Elizabeth Buchanan, CCO of Rokt, in a statement. "By delivering relevant offers to Gopuff users, Rokt will help Gopuff Ads' brand partners across all categories create more meaningful customer connections and drive incremental sales."
The partnership underscores how retail media networks have three key building blocks for digital advertising: They’re a destination that people visit with an intent to shop, they have the audience that brands want to reach and they have data that can help to reach the right consumers.
It points to how ecommerce marketplaces can not only become the new store, but also emerge as ad networks like Facebook and Google before them. It’s a big reason why retail media networks have exploded over the last year, and why growth is forecast to continue to accelerate.