Marriott International’s vice president of global creative and content marketing, David Beebe, explained: “We created M Live with an understanding that real-time marketing always starts with the guest, and the best way to engage with consumers is to start a two-way conversation that is relevant to their needs and preferences as travellers.”

M Live is designed to engage with guests around cultural moments that are relevant to what they are already talking about on social media.  “We’ve turned the tables from creating general content distributed to thousands of guests to listening and leveraging a single moment that’s relevant and shareable between thousands of guests.” Says Matthew Glick, senior director of global creative and content marketing, “Not only are we able to discover these moments to engage with consumers quickly, but also identify opportunities by brand, by discipline, by market and by channel to create memorable and shareable experiences.”

M Live is able to identify trending social stories around the world and quickly ascertain ways to join the conversation. A recent example saw M Live picking up a story about a New Zealand backpacker who was travelling the world with his favourite Lego figurines and documenting their adventures on social media. After connecting the dots to find @TheLegoBackpacker, Marriott was able to host The Lego Backpacker, and his real-life owner, at the AC Hotel Ciudad de Sevilla, resulting in content for the AC Hotels brand that was then amplified through Lego’s social channels bringing in an additional 370,000+ social followers into the conversation.

“We know that the next-generation of travellers are digitally savvy, constantly connected, and are looking for a more personalised one-to-one relationship with our portfolio of brands.” says Osama Hirzalla, vice president brand marketing and e-commerce, Europe. “The power of M Live Europe is that we can now engage with travellers in more regionally and culturally relevant ways that are meaningful to them.”

To date, M Live has created a number of successful real-time marketing efforts that have driven consumer engagement. Additionally, in partnership with HYP3R, M Live uses geo-fencing technology to uncover untagged social conversations that guests are having at Marriott properties and identifies opportunities to create a better guest experience. For example, the M Live team discovered a tweet that a guest posted from the Domes of Elounda Autograph Collection Hotel in Greece. M Live created an on-property breakfast moment and also surprised the guest with Marriott Rewards points leading him to share his excitement on Twitter and create user-generated content for the Autograph Collection brand and hotel.

About Marriott International, Inc.

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with nearly 4,500 properties in 87 countries and territories.  Marriott International reported revenues of more than $14 billion in fiscal year 2015. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, EDITION, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Delta Hotels by Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club, Gaylord Hotels, AC Hotels by Marriott, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, TownePlace Suites, Protea Hotels and Moxy Hotels. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program, which together comprise more than 56 million members.