By Lea Mira, HTN staff writer – 6.30.2025
Marriott International this month introduced MARRIOTT MEDIA, a new media network that aims to reframe how the company, and potentially the broader hotel industry, engages with travelers throughout the guest journey. The initiative signals Marriott’s intent to extend its reach beyond hospitality services into the realm of advertising and brand partnerships, using its significant digital and physical footprint.
MARRIOTT MEDIA is designed to give select brand partners the ability to reach guests through a range of touchpoints, including Marriott.com, the Marriott Bonvoy app, in-room placements, post-stay communications, and even third-party websites. Unlike more traditional ad networks, the platform is structured around contextual engagement and personalized content delivery, tailored to when and how travelers interact with Marriott’s channels.
With nearly 237 million Marriott Bonvoy members and a global footprint of more than 9,500 properties, Marriott is leveraging a large volume of first-party data to offer more targeted marketing opportunities. According to the company, the network supports over 200 targetable guest attributes, including demographic information, behavioral patterns, and travel preferences, and is designed to offer advertisers both brand lift metrics and closed-loop attribution. Guest data use will remain consent-based, with clear opt-out mechanisms and adherence to applicable regulations.
“Today’s travelers expect personalization and welcome thoughtful discovery,” said Peggy Roe, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Marriott International. “MARRIOTT MEDIA is designed to enrich, not interrupt, serving guests content, recommendations, and offers in ways that feel natural, relevant, and aligned with their travel experience.”
Chris Norton, appointed General Manager of the media initiative, noted that the network would allow partners to reach guests in high-attention environments with messaging that can be both useful and brand-enhancing. The platform has already run pilot campaigns with a range of well-known companies, including PepsiCo, Visa, United Airlines, Starbucks, Uber, Audible, and American Express.
The company also emphasized the media network’s integration with Marriott Bonvoy TV, its in-room content platform. This provides brand partners with opportunities to engage travelers through longer-form storytelling that appears throughout the hotel stay.
This initiative follows a trend seen across several industries, especially retail and travel, where companies with large customer bases and robust loyalty programs are transforming into media channels themselves. While Marriott is not the first hospitality company to explore advertising opportunities through its owned channels, the formalization of MARRIOTT MEDIA as a structured offering stands out for its scale and scope.
Other major hotel brands such as Hilton and IHG have also invested in personalization and guest-facing digital experiences but have yet to launch a comparable advertising network. In other parts of the travel sector, airlines like Delta and United have made strides with onboard content and loyalty-linked marketing programs. Marriott’s move could prompt competitors to evaluate similar opportunities for monetizing customer engagement.
The launch of MARRIOTT MEDIA may also impact hotel technology providers, particularly those involved in CRM, guest experience platforms, and content delivery systems. As Marriott integrates advertising into core guest touchpoints, systems that support personalization, data segmentation, and cross-channel communication will become increasingly important. Tech vendors may find new opportunities—or new requirements—as more brands look to develop or participate in similar ecosystems.
While Marriott plans to scale the network internationally, the company says it will localize experiences and maintain strong content curation standards to ensure brand safety. The network is positioned as an extension of the Marriott guest experience, with advertising designed to feel additive rather than disruptive.
For now, Marriott is targeting a relatively small number of brand partners, but the structure is in place for broader adoption. As more guests engage with Marriott’s digital properties, and as third-party data continues to decline in relevance, first-party ecosystems like MARRIOTT MEDIA could play a larger role in how hospitality brands think about customer relationships, loyalty, and revenue diversification.
