After six years of working with MEC, Marriott has selected Publicis Groupe's SapientRazorfish and Spark Foundry to handle its global media business, overseeing all media planning and buying.
Marriott kicked off the review last year in an effort to rethink the scale and scope of its global paid media needs after the hotel giant acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Ad Age previously reported.
The dedicated Publicis Groupe team — called Marriott One Media — will work with Marriott's internal media teams globally.
Marriott says the company has 30 brands with 6,500 hotels in 127 countries, and has more than 110 million members in its loyalty programs Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. That scale, the company says, led the company to create a "Global Marketing Optimization" team to make its marketing and media efforts more effective.
"This is a rare opportunity to reimagine our marketing practices in the digital age," Karin Timpone, global marketing officer of Marriott International, said in a statement, adding that Publicis Groupe was the right partner to achieve that. "We're combining our forces to develop cutting-edge marketing tactics that speak to individual guests worldwide. This personalization at scale will provide enormous value to our business."
Rob Silver, global client leader for Marriott One Media, says Marriott has "paired authentic human connection to digital innovation layered across its loyalty program and curated guest experiences." Marriott says Publicis has had an ongoing relationship that began more than 15 years ago with Starwood Preferred Guest participating brands.
Wavemaker, which was created when GroupM's MEC merged with Maxus last year, deferred comment to the client.
Timpone said in a statement she wanted to thank Wavemaker, "who has provided valuable strategic guidance in media, successfully working with us to launch award-winning campaigns."
The global budget for Marriott wasn't available, but the company spent $155 million on U.S. measured media alone in 2017, according to Kantar Media.
