VP Global Brand Marketing
Mara Hannula has been with Marriott for almost 20 years in a variety of roles that range from leading marketing and eCommerce teams to developing global strategies and implementing digital, social, experiential, and traditional marketing programs. She is now in the process of leading Marriott Hotels, the signature brand of Marriott International, in a new multi-year global marketing campaign called “Travel Brilliantly.” This bold program, dedicated to leading the future of travel, has been crafted to reflect the lifestyle choices of the travel’s next generation who live in a global, mobile, digital world and who naturally intermingle work and play.
In addition to digital, mobile and TV advertising, a new brand look and enhanced social programs, the travelbrilliantly.com website was developed as a co-creation platform to solicit user-generated ideas to engage the next generation in re-imagining the hotel of the future. And Marriott is serious about encouraging younger travelers to play a part in making these ideas a new reality. Not only is Mara Hannula and her team asking customers what they’d like to see in guest rooms, but a new innovation lab in the basement of Marriott’s Bethesda headquarters tests model rooms that can be reconfigured to provide customer feedback.
The comprehensive Travel Brilliantly campaign aims to disrupt the traditional industry notion that a hotel is bound by its four walls. It celebrates how the global travel experience opens minds and offers inspiration. Or as the launch ad announced, “This is not a hotel. It’s an idea that travel should be brilliant… It’s not only about where you’re staying. It’s about where you’re going.”
Ms. Hannula estimates that by 2018 half of all frequent business travelers will be Millennials. These younger travelers demand style and design, while technology is central to their lives. Marriott is transforming its brand perception now to serve these needs and is certainly not afraid to ask for the help of both Generations X and Y in the process.
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