Marriott International took a bold step for its biannual sales, revenue management, and event management meeting, which brought 900 managers to a Marriott resort in Cancun, Mexico, last November.
When organizers solicited feedback on the previous edition of the conference, held in 2013, attendees' preferences became clear. "They said they wanted less PowerPoint and felt that the general sessions were too long," said Sjaloom Stringer, vice president of brand communications, training, recognition, and event services for Marriott. "So we cut it short and gave them more time for individual breakouts, because they wanted more time to discuss and talk to their colleagues."
Marriott also overhauled how it delivered information. One of the most buzzed-about presentations was one designed to help sales managers really know who their target customer was. Rather than list bullet points on a screen, organizers went for a more immersive experience with a fashion show, depicting fashion labels that organizers felt best depicted brands across Marriott’s diverse portfolio.
For instance, luxury label Louis Vuitton represented Ritz-Carlton; polished and sophisticated British label Burberry illustrated the JW Marriott brand; and youthful, cutting-edge Moxy was depicted by Swedish “fast fashion” favorite H&M.
Giving attendees a visual made a tremendous difference in engagement, Stringer said. “We were able to capture everyone in the audience’s attention. Because these people have to sell the brand, they have to understand the type of customers they're selling to," Stringer said, adding of the fashion show, "It made the connection very, very well."
Getting people to think of creative ways to present information worked so well that Marriott is taking some of the ideas and principles it learned from this event and applying them to future internal meetings for the company.
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