Marriott on the Move
David Scott says a
blog is “a special kind of website that is maintained by a person who is
passionate about the subject and wants the world to know about it” (Scott,
2015, pg. 224). Who better to run
Marriott’s “Marriott on the Move” blog than former CEO and executive chairman/
chairman of the board, Bill Marriott? Mr. Marriott’s blog follows many of the
guidelines David Scott set forth in The New Rules of Marketing and PR. The most
recent updates and blog posts are at the top of the site, with options to
search keywords in the search bar, and listen to audio versions of the blogs.
The blog is easily accessible from the Marriott’s homepage by clicking on the
“About Marriott” tab in the menu. Marriott’s homepage and hotel search options
are also easy to access from Mr. Marriott’s blog. Scott says that “the look and
feel of the blog could be complementary to your corporate design guidelines,
but not identical” (Scott, 2015, pg. 300). “Marriott on the Move” shares the
same color scheme and feel as the corporate website without mimicking the exact
layout and corporate feel. It is evident that the branding remains consistent
but they are not the exact same site. Bill Marriott really lets his personality
show through his blog, another recommendation of Scott’s, and is verbal about
his loyalty and dedication to both his employees and his consumers.
Mr. Marriott’s
blog posts allow for people to post comments in response to the content. There
is a section on his blog titled “Tag Cloud” where keywords are tagged so the
reader can jump to blogs surrounding certain topics- which likely also helps
with SEO. Scott says “Blogs are terrific way for marketers to tell authentic
stories to their buyers” (Scott, 2015, pg 288) and it seems as though Mr.
Marriott’s authenticity shows through his blog. In response to Mr. Marriott’s
January 4th blogpost about how he wants to help the world in 2016,
Fred Cronk posted “Mr. Marriott, you're blogs rock. They are always meaningful,
upbeat, and sincere. Keep on rockin Bill” (Cronk, 2016). Mr. Marriott’s human interest pieces and
inspirational posts really help market the brand in an authentic way. I overall
think this blog adheres to Scott’s criteria defined in The New Rules of Marketing and PR.
Employee Run Blogs
“Rather than focus
on putting guidelines on blogs…it is better to focus on guiding the way people
behave” (Scott, 2015, pg. 95). Adidas is one company who abides by Scott’s
recommendation to allow employees to engage in blogs and social media posts on
behalf of the company. Adidas calls its blog “The Adidas Group Blog” and its
goal is to give the consumer personal insights into its business in sports
(Adidas.com). According to Adidas Group’s Chief Corporate Communications
Officer Jan Runao, “this blog’s objective is to give you a personal and
holistic picture of the company behind the brands” (Runao, blog.adidas-group.com).
Runao claims that employees provide personal insights into adidas’s business in
sports, but also carefully mentions this disclaimer: “the postings on this site
are the author’s own thoughts and do not necessarily represent the position,
strategy or opinions of the adidas Group and its brands” (Runau, blog.adidas-group.com).
Adidas advocates
an “open communication culture” and encourages consumers to be a part of it
(Runao, blog.adidas-group.com). Adidas also posts the Adidas Group Blog guidelines which very
clearly dictate important instructions to the bloggers about how to conduct
themselves.
I think giving
employees the freedom to run a company blog adds a lot of authenticity to the
content, and also tells the employees that they are valued and trusted to
represent the company. This likely boosts morale. However I also think it can
be potentially dangerous. Having multiple people post content can add diversity
and flare, but could also make it difficult to maintain consistent messaging
and could end up breaching privacy and security policies. I think as long as
the employees are properly trained and given guidelines- taught what to do in
case of a mistake, taught how to appropriately represent the company, etc.- it
could work really well for some companies. It comes down to the individual design and culture
of the company.
About Marriott Hotels | Marriott
Corporate Business Information. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2016, from http://www.marriott.com/marriott/aboutmarriott.mi
Adidas Group blog guidelines - adidas Group blog. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2016, from http://blog.adidas-group.com/guidelines/
Cronk, F., Jr. (2016, January 05).
What's the Big Idea? - Marriott on the Move. Retrieved February 01, 2016, from http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marriott-on-the-move/2016/01/whats-the-big-idea.html
J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. Quotes [Photograph found in Culture, AZ Quotes]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.azquotes.com/author/23041-J_W_Bill_Marriott_Jr
Marriott, B., JR. (n.d.). Marriott
on the Move. Retrieved February 01, 2016, from http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marriott-on-the-move/
Marriott, B., Jr. (2016, January
04). What's the Big Idea? - Marriott on the Move. Retrieved February 01, 2016,
from http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marriott-on-the-move/2016/01/whats-the-big-idea.html
Scott, D.M. (2015). The new rules of
marketing and PR. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteScott comments on not only the substance of a blog being maintained by someone who is passionate about the subject matter but also that “a good blog written by someone within a large or small company, a nonprofit, a church, or a political campaign commands attention” (Scott, 2015, pg. 295). Bill Marriott humanizing himself and the entire company certainly commands attention. “Often when people visit a blog for the first time, they want to know about the blogger, so it is important to provide background” (Scott, 2015, pg. 301). Mr. Marriott’s bio is readily available and easy to find upon entering the site however could be seen as a little dated having not been updated since April of 2012. (Marriott, 2012).
The voice and tone that Mr. Marriott uses truly reflects a personality that readers can relate to. It’s been shown that “bloggers whose personalities shine through their writing are often more appealing, engaging, readable, and influential than those who hide their true voices” (Turner, 2010). Based on the comments it appears he has quite the following!
On the other side of the spectrum is Adidas who, as you mentioned, allows their employees to blog on behalf of the company. They have certainly positioned themselves in such a way that projects the positive spin of engaging in this strategy. “This blog’s objective is to give you personal insights in our business in sports” (Adidas Group, n.d.) is the first thing a reader more than likely notices on their page. One of the concerns that would plague me is lack of a consistent message and branding among several other potential hazards you as you’ve outlined. Overall I think this is a risky move for an organization to take on and could open them up to a lot of potential issues. What type of design and culture do you think best warrants enabling employees to engage in blogging on behalf of the organization?
~Nicole
References
Adidas Group (n.d.) Welcome to the Adidas Group Blog. Retrieved from http://blog.adidas-group.com/
Marriott, B. JR. (2012, April). J.W. Marriott, JR. Retrieved from http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marriott-on-the-move//jw-marriott-jr.html
Scott, David M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Turner, K. (2010, July 11). Blogosphere Trends + Your Blog’s Tone. Retrieved from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2010/07/11/your-blogs-tone/
Hi Nicole,
DeleteGreat insight about Bill Marriott’s blog. I support all of your comments and agree that Mr. Marriott really humanizes his brand through his blogging. I appreciate many aspects of his blog including the fact that the reader never has to question who is running the blog and its authenticity.
In terms of which design and culture would be best suited for allowing employees to blog on behalf of the organization, I am having a hard time categorizing. I completely agree that this concept can be risky, but I also think it adds some authenticity. Some business types that may work well with an employee-run blog structure include:
-Modern clothing stores. Something like H&M. H&M’s goal is to offer “fashion and quality at the best price” (H&M.com). Perhaps a select few bloggers could blog about different styles and outfits, in different cultures. Because there are other aspects to H&M, too, like the H&M Conscious Foundation, there appears to be several topics employees could blog about to add authenticity to the brand and also to humanize it.
-Sporting goods stores like the example I gave with Adidas.
There are some business types that should definitely steer clear because the risk is just too high. These include financial institutions and medical facilities.
What do you think?
Danielle
Danielle,
DeleteThanks for the response!
I agree with what you said! I think many organizations within the fashion industry have an amazing chance to capture a larger share of the market when they have employee’s blogging. There are so many different styles and niches that it would be difficult for one person to effectively engage all of them. Carlos wrote about an example of employee run blogs on his most recent post (http://cmcastaneda.blogspot.com/).
I think that smaller organizations have a better chance at regulating employee’s blogging on their behalf. There is a more intimate culture where trust and transparency are easily monitored and maintained. It would be a real leap of faith for a large organization to open the flood gates to their employee’s blogging. I would personally want to vet them out first so they can prove themselves before setting them loose.
Perhaps I am being too conservative. I work for a financial institution and we would never let our employees freely blog on behalf of the company. It is far too risky and there is a very high chance of a mistake being made that could jeopardize privacy laws we abide by. We have even run into issues where on their personal Facebook Page the employee lists that they work for us, link it to our Facebook Page and then post questionable pictures, statutes, articles on their personal page. This is an instance that we have had a difficult time drawing a line for. What they are posting on their personal page reflects back to our institution and brand. However we can’t exactly dictate what they can or cannot post in their free time. Have you ever run into anything like this?
~Nicole
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to learn that Marriott’s On the Move blog is written from their former CEO. The fact that someone in his leadership position is able to take the time to blog after actively working for so many years speaks very highly on his passion and commitment to Marriott. It made it so much easier putting a face to the author knowing who he was. The bio that’s on the website certainly adds to his credibility.
I was also happy to see that the comments were enabled. I have noticed several companies (including Lululemon, which I examined for this week’s post) have disabled their comments which have made their blog a one way form of communication. Did you notice any negative comments or potential risk on the Marriott blog with the open comments?
While the blog was very informative. Do you think Marriott could benefit in allowing employees to also guest blog for On the Move? More people may be able to relate to content that is not written by someone so high up in leadership.
You also brought up that employee run blogs can give a blog authenticity. Many companies might not be moving forward with this due to fear of misrepresentation but I think companies need to trust their employees enough to blog for the organization since they are what make up a company. Scott (2015) explains that company policies on external communication can help control employee behavior.
One employee-run blog that I recently discovered is the Disney Parks Blog. It is run by a communications team and it shares different voices on different topics. Each post shows the name of the author and their title.
Disney also has open comments, which allows people to ask questions, express concerns, show praise, etc. One particular comment on a blog post sharing tips for moms and how they can get the most of their vacation stood out to me. Benjamin said, “You know I have to ask this every chance I get: Why is this called the Mom’s Panel when it also includes (and is intended for) fathers? Can we please start calling this the Parents Panel?” (O’Reagan, 2016). Benjamin commented on the post last night but I am curious as to how the blog author will respond. Do you think it’s important for the author to respond to this comment? I’ll be monitoring the blog the next few days to see how the author responds.
O’Reagan, L. (2016). Moms Panel Monday: Getting the Most Out of Your Vacation Time. Retrieved from http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/02/moms-panel-monday-getting-the-most-out-of-your-vacation-time/
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts regarding blogs run by former executives, referencing the Harvard Business Review. I agree that it is important for executives to blog for many reasons, including avoiding allowing others to speak on their behalf. Lauren Caggiano wrote an article for Relevance.com titled “4 Reasons Why Your Executives Should Blog.” Caggiano’s (2014) four main points include: it can build credibility and strengthen your professional brand, it can put a human face on a brand, it is scalable and shareable and it can translate to offline success. Of these four, “it can put a human face on a brand” (Caggiano, 2014) resonates the most. Like you, I really enjoy that Bill Marriott includes personal stories because it really seems to humanize the brand, which is something I appreciate.
In terms of my own blog, I have a lot of work to do! I have plans to add a lot more personal information and change the style. I currently have the settings I chose when initially creating the blog site. Revamping is on this weeks agenda for sure.
Caggiano, L. (2014, November 18). 4 Reasons Why Your Executives Should Blog. Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://relevance.com/4-reasons-why-your-executives-should-blog/#
Hi Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI spent some time going through many comments on a few different blog posts looking for something negative, but I didn’t see anything. Though, that is not to say there isn’t any.
In terms of adding employee based blogs, I absolutely think this is a good idea. I love this concept and agree with you that though it may be risky, it adds authenticity when done right. Marriott on the Move was posted as one of a few different options in the “Corporate Overview” tab on Marriott.com. Directly next to Bill Marriott’s blog is Arne Sorenson’s (President and CEO of Marriott International) blog. Directly next to Arne Sorenson’s blog is the “Heart of the House Blog.” This is a pretty cool concept that is a half-way point between allowing employees to blog and not.
“‘Heart of the House’ is a home for stories about exceptional guest service and community service by people working at Marriott’s managed and franchised hotels” (Marriott.com). Apparently anyone can submit a story, “including Marriott International’s associates, the employees of our franchisees and our guests. Just complete the online submission form” (Marriott.com).
It is not an employee run blog, as all posts need to be approved by the editorial board who has the right to refuse or remove any stories. While it doesn’t give employees free roam of the blog site, I do think it adds some authenticity and context to the people behind the scenes.
What do you think about this topic?
Danielle
Marriott Stories | Heart of the House. (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://stories.marriott.com/about-this-site/
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI was not aware that so many people in leadership were blogging for Marriott. It's actually amazing to me that people with so much power can make the time to blog- this just goes to show how important it is to the company.
I just finished skimming "Heart of the House," and I really love the concept of the blog. It's a nice place for employees and customers alike to share their views. Since Marriott is a franchise, It think their idea was unique and is also a safe way for employees to publish content. I also noticed several new blog posts for this week so I am sure employees are encouraged to blog about all of the good they are doing for the community. Do you think this a blog that a Marriott customer would follow or do you think this is geared more towards employees?
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I like your description of Bill Marriott’s blog site and how well organized and structured it appears to users. I also agree with you in what Scott (2015) explains about good practices for blogs. Particularly, this blog is a very good PR example on how to utilize the blog tool to promote the brand. Of course, Mr. Marriott is not interested in generating controversy or in motivating discussion through his blog.
However, his blog site is more designed to keep an “open window” to show and live the “Marriott spirit” through some informal posts and comments from his own employees. This concept is related to some of the concepts Scott (2015) explained throughout his book, specifically talking about niche products and long tail Marketing: “If you have a small niche, you may interest only a few hundred readers. But you'll reach the right readers— those people who are interested in what you and your organization have to say.” (p. 297)
Building upon some good posts that could talk very positively about Marriott as a brand and build that brand on a more personal level, Mr. Marriott can certainly also set a structure that could eventually allow the hotel to communicate a PR message, replacing a Press Release, for example. I think this is a good example of how a blog can reflect a PR approach to social media.
Thanks again for the good post.
Carlos
References:
Scott, D.M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and pr: How to use social media, online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly.[Kindle version]. Retrieved from amazon.com
Very interesting to learn that Marriott’s On the Move blog is written from their former CEO. The fact that someone in his leadership position is able to take the time to blog after actively working for so many years speaks very highly on his passion and commitment to Marriott. It made it so much easier putting a face to the author knowing who he was. The bio that’s on the website certainly adds to his credibility.
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