Skift Podcast: Reinventing Travel Brands Through Modern Storytelling

The second season of the Skift Podcast is humming along, and for our fifth episode we take a deep dive into how Marriott is reshaping how brands — both in travel and beyond — rethink their role in content production and distribution.

Travel brands no longer rely on pretty pictures and guest reviews alone to market their products. And they no longer wait for magazines, newspapers, or others to tell their stories. Some brands now take the lead themselves on telling stories and creating relevant content in order to engage potential customers.

Marriott International is a great future case study on whether large legacy travel brands can reinvent themselves through storytelling — and then of course follow through and deliver on the actual soft-promise that they make through these efforts. It has been a pioneer in content marketing, launching its own studio in late 2014 to create content for the company’s brands. This team has produced short films, launched a digital travel magazine, and overseen programming on Snapchat, Medium, and more. It’s being closely watched by its hospitality rivals as well as brands outside of travel.

In this week’s episode of the Skift Podcast, we speak to David Beebe, Marriott International’s vice president of global creative and content marketing. He has more than 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry. David joins Skift senior editor Greg Oates and Skift Podcast host Hannah Sampson.

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