Marriott launches targeted ads on its hotel screens and sites, as privacy changes reveal the value of "first party" data

Turning on the bathroom TV... to an ad for premium shampoo. As travel demand rebounded last quarter, Marriott’s hotel occupancy surged to nearly pre-pandemic levels. Now the chain’s getting creative with ways to monetize its returning guests (beyond $10 minibar waters): Marriott is rolling out a media network with Yahoo to let brands advertise on its digital and physical real estate.

• Targeted stays: Marriott will use anonymized guest data to help brands target ads. Think: theme-park commercials for families vs. BMW-rental ads for deep-pocketed businesspeople.
• Inescapable ways: The ads will appear on Marriott's hotel websites (think: WiFi portal) and on hotel screens (think: lobbies, gyms, bars, room TVs).

Prada blazer... for the forgetful biz traveler. Privacy developments like Apple's iOS change ("ask app not to track") and Google's plan to block third-party tracking cookies on Chrome have made ad targeting much harder. Now brands are increasingly looking to "first-party data" (aka: info they collect directly from consumers) rather than "third-party data" (think: targeting offered by Insta and YouTube).

• Marriott says it will use info from searches and bookings on its platforms to deliver relevant ads. It has 164M loyalty members and knows when and how they'll be traveling.
• Walmart, DoorDash, and CVS have also been leveraging customer data to offer marketers new ways to reach consumers (your 3 a.m. taco orders speak volumes).