Marriott Hands Out GoPro Cameras as Hotels Try to Encourage Social Posts

From SnapChat to music videos, Marriott International is betting on creative content to shift its brand reputation from staid and sophisticated to edgy and engaging.

The latest of these initiatives comes in the form of a partnership between GoPro and Marriott's flagship brand Marriott Hotels.

Guests who book their stay at one of the 17 participating Marriott hotels, all located in the Caribbean and Latin America, can ask the front desk for a complimentary GoPro Hero4 to test drive. They are then encouraged to share their GoPro videos and photos on social media using the hashtags #GoPro, #travelbrilliantly and #viajegenial.

Some user-generated content will also be shared on Marriott Hotels’ campaign hub TravelBrilliantly.com. Marriott launched the more than $60 million “Travel Brilliantly” campaign in June with the aim of attracting young business travelers.

Marriott isn’t the first hotel to give guests the tools they need for better photos on Instagram or Facebook. For example, the 1888 Hotel in Sydney has a "set" that encourages guests to take selfies in the lobby and the Mandarin Oriental Paris offers a “Selfies in Paris” package.”

Mammoth Mountain in California also partnered with GoPro for a crowdsourced content initiative around the hashtag #MammothStories.

The challenge with this initiative, and other social activations, is that it can be difficult to measure the return on investment. Marriott’s business, as is any hotel’s, is getting heads in beds.

"The Marriott+GoPro program is designed to elevate the guest experience and empower our guests to share amazing content," says a Marriott spokesperson.

"We will primarily be tracking customer sentiment through a variety of tools including social media listening, review sites and guest satisfaction surveys."

Initiatives such as these that raise or shift brand awareness are part of the journey towards that goal, but it will be difficult to discern if rooms get filled as a result of a GoPro video posted from the JW Marriott Hotel Rio de Janeiro.

Marriott's ad announcing the GoPro partnership can be found below: