Marketing 16th Edition by William Pride,Ferrell

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have found that a growing number are interested in videoconferencing and other high-tech extras. To appeal to this segment, Manion has equipped many of its meeting rooms with the latest in recording and communications technology. It has also partnered with AT T and Cisco to offer "virtual meeting" capabilities in its Marriott, JW Marriott, and Renaissance Hotels. This teleconferencing technology allows a group gathered in one of Starrion's hotel meeting rooms to collaborate with coworkers, clients, or others anywhere in the world.
Because planning and managing a business meeting of any size can be a complicated process, Marriott offers online special tools for one-stop assistance. Meeting planners can log on to view photos and floor plans of different meeting rooms, reserve space, and hook hotel rooms for individual attendees. They can also use Marriott's web-based calculators to determine how large a meeting space they'll need and estimate costs. Downloadable checklists guide companies through every step, from selecting a site to promoting their meetings to attendees. Marriott understands that when a business meeting goes smoothly, the company is more likely to pick a Marriott meeting place next time around.
Targeting Green Travelers
The segment of consumers and business travelers who care about the environment is sizable these days, and Marriott wants its share of this growing market. The company has developed prototype green hotels for several of its brands, designing the public space and guest rooms with an eye toward conserving both water and energy. Marriott will build hundreds of these green hotels during the next decade. Thanks to the company's emphasis on saving power, 275 of its hotels already qualify (or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star designation.
Marriott is also going green by working with sup-pliers that operate in environmentally friendly ways. It provides pads made from recycled paper for attendees of business meetings held at its properties, for example,
and buys key cards made from recycled plastic. Even the pillows in guest rooms are made from recycled plastic bat
Getting the Database Details Right
Marriott set up a central database to capture details such as how longcustomers stay and what they purchase when they stay at any of its hotels or resorts. It also stores dernagraphic data and tracks individual preferences so it can better serve customers. By analyzing she information in this huge database, Marriott discovered that many of its customers visit more than one of its brands.
Therefore, the company created sophisticated statistical models to target customers for future marketing offers based on their history with Marriott. In one campaign, for instance, Marriott sent out 3 million e-mail messages customized according to each recipient's unique history with the hotel chain. Because of its database capabilities, Marriott was able to track whether recipients returned to one of its properties after this campaign-and actual sales results exceeded corporate expectations. This database technology has paid for itself many times over with improved targeting efficiency and higher response rata.
Watch for Marriott to continue its expansion into new markets and new brands with marketing initiatives targeting vacationers, business travelers, and meeting planners?'
1. How is Marriott segmenting the market for hotel services?
2. Which of the three targeting strategies is Marriott using? Explain your answer.
3. As Marriott builds more green hotels, should it reposition its hotel brands as being environmentally friendly? Why or why not?
4. What specific types of data should Marriott have in its customer database for segmentation purposes?