A Marriott executive discussed the strategy behind a multifaceted mobile campaign to promote the SpringHill Suites brand in an exclusive interview.

For the SpringHill Suites campaign, Marriott is partnering with ad agency Carat, mobile ad networks Millennial Media, AdMob and Quattro Wireless, mobile video specialist Rhythm NewMedia and mobile publishers Pandora, go2 Media, Newsweek and ESPN.

The SpringHill Suites campaign includes a custom mobile site featuring video and click-to-call functionality, banner ads on Newsweek and ESPN mobile properties, expandable iPhone ads, interstitial BlackBerry ads, a branded relaxation playlist and click-to-video within Pandora applications, as well as preroll and interstitial video ads.

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Craig Fowler, director of marketing strategy and programs at Marriott International, Bethesda, MD. Here is what he had to say:

What is the strategy behind the SpringHill Suites by Marriott mobile ad campaign? What is the importance of mobile in Marriott/SpringHill's overall marketing strategy?
SpringHill Suites is leveraging mobile as a key strategic channel to build awareness and consideration of the brand's differentiated value proposition, offering affordable style and space in an upper-moderate-tier hotel.

The mobile platform allows the brand to utilize high share of voice placements that can break through the clutter and successfully reach our target guests. 

The recent advances in mobile advertising technology allow SpringHill to utilize rich-media ads and a dynamic brand experience site to communicate its unique product benefits.

This has proven very successful in delivering the brand's key messages and increasing consumer favorability and intent to stay with the brand.

Similar to the online environment, we are able to align with contextually relevant content where we know our target guests frequent.

A key difference is that in many cases we are competing with less advertising clutter on a mobile page and thus achieving higher share of mind.  

What is SpringHill Suites' target demographic? How do mobile ad networks help Marriott/SpringHill Suites target and reach that demographic on mobile?
The mobile campaign is primarily focused on reaching the SpringHill Suites target guest, a frequent business traveler who is looking for a stylish and spacious alternative to help soothe the stress of travel and allow them to leave feeling more refreshed than when they arrived.

We know that our target is very tech-savvy, with the vast majority carrying a mobile device on their travels. Therefore, we are finding that mobile is an excellent way to get the SpringHill Suites message in front of our target consumers. 

Millennial Media has been a good partner for Marriott and has been successful in moving the needle on key brand metrics for SpringHill Suites.

Partnering with Millennial allows SpringHill to run extremely cost-efficient targeted media across a broad network of high-indexing sites in the news, travel and weather categories.

With the introduction of Millennial's BlackBerry expandable ads, SpringHill Suites will be the first to expand their reach with rich-media advertising to a range of RIM devices, reaching a wider target audience of business and leisure travelers who are looking for stylish and spacious surroundings at an affordable price.

With a focus on utility, the expandables offer easy access to essential brand information for busy professionals and travelers on-the-go.

On which mobile sites and within which apps are the SpringHill Suites ads running?
SpringHill Suites is currently running with a number of properties on the mobile Web and within BlackBerry and iPhone applications.

In addition to Millennial, SpringHill is also running with two of the other major mobile ad networks in Quattro Wireless and AdMob.

Both AdMob and Quattro are running SpringHill Suites iPhone expandable banners that host all of the same features of the SpringHill Suites mobile site itself.

Interstitial units are also being tested on a number of devices across these networks and on publishers such as ESPN.

Rhythm NewMedia was brought in as a partner to extend Springhill's video assets to a broader audience.

SpringHill Suites has also extended online partnerships with Newsweek and Pandora into the mobile space. Users now have the mobile option to add the same SpringHill Suites branded "Relaxation" custom Playlist on Pandora that they listen to online.

What is the call-to-action of the mobile ads? What is the functionality (i.e. click-to-call, click-to-WAP, click-to-video, etc.)?
SpringHill currently has all of the above in market. Most banners drive traffic directly to the SpringHill Suites mobile site with the call-to-action being "Click to Book."

We also have AdMob CPC banners using click-to-call functionality, expandable banners offering all the functionality of the mobile site itself and Pandora click-to-video and click-to-add SpringHill Suites relaxation playlist

Has Marriott launched any mobile apps? Do any of its brands have a mobile Web/WAP site?
Marriott International has a fully functional mobile booking site, which receives more than 500,000 visitors each month. Users can get to the mobile site by simply typing http://www.marriot.com into a mobile browser.

Marriott is continuing to explore options for creating dedicated applications.

In the case of SpringHill Suites, we wanted to first drive users to a custom mobile experience to encourage brand engagement and interaction.

Users then have the option of clicking straight to the Marriott mobile booking site, clicking to call, accessing local info via Go2 or taking a video or photo gallery tour of the hotel amenities.

Working in partnership with Quattro and our mobile agency Carat, we have seen fantastic results from the mobile site at http://springhill.qwapi.com.